Saturday, April 4, 2009

Special Easter Egg Hunt

Hide the eggs. Have a basket sitting in the middle of the room or yard. Tell the kids to find the eggs and bring them back to the basket. When all the eggs are found, have everyone sit down. Read each egg in order. This will help the children understand the true meaning of Easter.

One: When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people waved branches because that’s what people used to do when a king walked by.

Two: Later, Jesus had a special dinner with his friends. A woman came and poured perfume on his head. This showed that she knew that he was the Christ and she knew that he would die soon. (have kids smell the perfume on the cloth)

Three: The next day, Jesus had another special meal with his friends. We call this The Last Supper. This is when the sacrament began, because Jesus said that people who followed Him should have bread and wine or water to help them remember Him.

Four: Jesus went to a garden to pray. Here, he suffered for our sins. Because He did this for us, we can repent and live in heaven again.

Five:
Judas was supposed to be one of Jesus’ special helpers, but instead he helped other men arrest Jesus. He did this because those men paid him money.

Six: After Jesus was arrested, the soldiers were really mean to Him and made fun of Him. One thing that they did was to put a purple robe on Him. Only kings wore purple robes. They didn’t realize that He really was a King and they were just teasing Him because people thought He was a king!

Seven: Jesus was crucified on a cross.

Eight: When the soldiers put Jesus on the cross, they pounded nails into His hands and feet.

Nine: Another thing the soldiers did to make fun of Jesus was to put a sign on the cross that said “THE KING OF THE JEWS?” Again, they thought they were making fun of Him and they didn't realize that He really was the King of the Jews!

Ten: After Jesus died, His friends put his body in a tomb. Later, some of the women who followed Him came to the tomb to put spices on His body. That was something they did back then when someone died.
Eleven: The tomb had a rock that could roll over the opening to seal it. While the women were walking to the tomb, they wondered how they would get the stone out of the way.
Twelve: When they got to the tomb, they were amazed to find that the stone had been rolled out of the way and Jesus’ body was gone! Then an angel came and told them, “He is risen; he is not here” (Mark 16:66). This egg is empty because Jesus’ tomb was empty. Jesus’ tomb was empty because He was resurrected!