Telling the Easter Story
Religion Teacher Techniques for Easter Lessons
Mar 2, 2007 Diane Laney Fitzpatrick
The Passion is such a wonderful story, full of the most beautiful symbols of our church. The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection can be moving for any age child, as compelling as a Harry Potter book and as action-packed as a Shrek movie.
Here is an Easter lesson idea that allows each child to tell part of the story, using the Word and symbols of our faith. It gets the children involved and allows them to take an active role in the lesson.
You will need large plastic Easter eggs, one for each child. Using a fat Sharpie or permanent marker, number the bottom of each egg on the outside.
Fill each egg with a symbol and a tiny strip of paper with the corresponding Bible verse on it.
Have an Easter egg hunt and tell each child to find one egg. Have them sit in a circle with the egg that they found.
Starting with Egg #1, call out numbers and have the child with that numbered egg open his or her egg, show the symbol to the class and read the Bible verse. You may want to add to the story as it goes, filling in the gaps, since the verses alone don’t tell the whole story.
Here are some suggestions for the contents of the eggs:
- Egg #1: Small piece of bread - Matthew 26:26 – “While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples. ‘Take and eat it,’ he said, ‘This is my body given for you.’”
- Egg #2: Plastic or real grape - Matthew 26:27 – “Then he took a cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
- Egg #3: Coin - Matthew 27:3 – “Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying, ‘I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.’”
- Egg #4: Strip of leather - Mark 15:15 – “Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crucified.”
- Egg #5: Swatch of purple cloth - Mark 15:17 – “They put a purple robe on Jesus . . . “
- Egg #6: Thorn - Matthew 27:29 – “Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’”
- Egg #7: Small toy rooster (I used one from our Fisher Price barn) - Mark 14:70 – “‘I do not know this man about whom you are talking.’ And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the words that Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.’ He broke down and wept.”
- Egg #8: Small wooden or metal cross - John 19:17-18 – “He went out, carrying his cross, and came to The Place of the Skull as it is called. In Hebrew it is called Golgotha.”
- Egg #9: Large nail - Luke 23:33 -- “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.”
- Egg #10: Small piece of a sponge - Matthew 27:48 – “One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine and put it on the end of a stick. And tried to make Him drink it.”
- Egg #11: Tiny toy knife (I used one from a Lego pirate set) - John 19:34 – “One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus’ side and at once blood and water poured out.”
- Egg #12: Rock - Matthew 27:59-60 – “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.”
- Egg #13: The last egg is empty, without a symbol. The Bible verse is: Matthew 28:6 – “He is not here. He has risen, just as He said.”
Some variations:
- Instead of including the Bible verses in the eggs, print them on a large board and number them. As their number comes up, the children may go to the board, open their egg, show the symbol and then read the corresponding verse off of the board. This method actually makes the last egg – the empty one – more dramatic, because it truly is empty.
- For older teens, skip the Easter egg hunt and pass a basket of eggs around the circle, allowing them to choose an egg.
- For younger children, too young to read, leave out the Bible verse slips. As each child opens his egg and shows the class his symbol, the teacher can read the corresponding Bible verse.
For more Catholic teaching ideas on Suite 101, see:
And on the web:
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