Seasons > Easter > Activities for the Home > 10 fun ways to celebrate Easter > 30 objects for Resurrection Eggs
Resurrection eggs are a great way to teach the Easter story
These plastic eggs are pretty enough to use as an Easter decoration if they are kept in a basket. Then each day your children can take turns opening one egg and putting the item on a knick-knack shelf. Read short passages from the Bible, or tell the story to them bit by bit each day. Once they are familiar with the story, they can be the ones to tell the story. I used 24 eggs, but you can do it with as few as 12 eggs. I wrote numbers on our eggs and also kept them in egg cartons to keep them in order. Our kids decorated the cartons and eggs. If you are not so familiar with the story yourself, you can read it to your children from a Bible story book, or put a small strip of paper with the corresponding Bible reference in each egg so you or your child can read the Bible passage.
Displaying the items on a knick-knack shelf can be another Easter decoration along with the basket of eggs--a bit like a Christmas advent calendar. It doesn’t have to be a house shape, but if it is, you can add a popsicle stick cross to the top to represent a church since Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” If you can’t find a house shaped shelf, you can add a triangular box to the top of a rectangular shelf, or make one out of small cardboard boxes taped or glued together, then cover it with contact paper. (100 yen stores sell rolls of these plastic sheets in the wall paper section, and it comes in a number of designs, including wood)
Where to Find it
You can order pre-made Resurrection Egg sets (12 objects) from :
Family Christian Stores: http://www.familychristian.com/
Christian Books: http://www.christianbook.com/easter
The Sugarcraft website sells candy molds (for making chocolate crosses, lambs, doves, praying hands, etc)
Websites that sell plastic eggs, objects that fit in the eggs, and crafts
Oriental Trading Company does ship things overseas. Look at what they have on line, then call or mail in your order--you can’t order on line outside of the U.S. We usually get our order within a week. For Japan, if you keep the order under $150, you don’t have to pay tax. They also sell various sets of items that can fit in the eggs, such as sheep or globes. The only problem is that they come in large batches--the sheep are sold by the dozen (12) and the globes by the gross (144.) You can share extras with other people in your church, or decorate your Christmas Tree with them
http://www.orientaltrading.com/holidays/easter-a1-90000+1232-5-0.fltr
In Japan, you can often find plastic eggs that come with candy (m’n’m’s inside, or a chocolate egg on the outside) or with toys inside (often dinosaurs) . Buy a dozen of these and have an Easter egg hunt before you fill them with objects that teach the Easter story ( if you don’t want your children to eat all that candy, give some to the children in your Sunday school.) Once you have the eggs, you and your children can decorate the eggs, or leave them plain. Then start looking for small objects to go inside. Both 100 yen stores and Nitori have sold house shaped shelves in the past. Some stores will special order things if you ask them, especially if you are willing to buy the whole box of items. The shelf pictured above was purchased at a hundred yen store, and twice I asked for one store to order more, and they did it for me! So, if you have to buy the whole box, get all the families in your church to make a set of Resurrection eggs, or join forces with nearby churches.
Triumphal Entry:
Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem
1. Donkeys are the hardest objects to find--they sometimes come with a set of farm animals in toy stores and craft stores. You don’t have to have a donkey--you can just put a palm branch and coat in the egg.
2. Palm branch or tree: make palm branches by cutting notches out of fake leaves (I use bamboo leaves from the hundred yen store) Sometimes small plastic trees can be found--they have to be really small to fit.
3. Coat: Cut cloth and hem, or cut out of felt
4. Rock: pick up off the ground or make from clay
Dinner at Bethany
when Jesus was anointed with perfume
5. Perfume: Any small bottle will work for this, but it is most exciting if it has real perfume that they can smell or put on. One option: small plastic containers used for soy sauce in lunch boxes sold at hundred yen stores. If you don’t have perfume to fill the bottle with, use this as an excuse to buy yourself some, or ask your friends if any would be willing to donate a bit.
Cleansing of the Temple
when Jesus threw out the money changers
6. Doves can often be found in craft stores where wedding supplies are sold. They can be made out of light weight clay such as Hearty (Karui Kaminendo sold at 100 yen stores,) or cut from paper or felt.
View pattern for cutting doves out of paper or felt.
Sheep and coins could also be used to represent this story in place of the doves. See # 7 and 8 below for ideas of where to get them.
Story
Object
Where to find or how to make the objects
Judas’ Betrayal
when Judas received 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus
7. Thirty pieces of Silver--spray paint 30 rocks, or use real coins. One yen coins are not worth much, and kids know it--it is much more impressive to have 30 hundred yen coins. These don’t have to be a permanent part of the collection--you can spend them once Easter is over!
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8.A pouch can be made out of fabric, felt, or leather. Cut two rectangles or circles and sew or glue together. Add a draw string or fold over a flap and fasten with a button and loop. (this tiny pouch was purchased at a hundred yen store.)
Last Supper
when Jesus instituted communion
Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed, Judas betrayed, and Peter tried to save Jesus with a sword
9. Sheep: sometimes toys sheep can be found in toy stores or craft stores, especially as part of a farm set, or in the miniature section. Some hundred yen stores sell pairs of wooden sheep in the toy section. Or make a chocolate lamb (see Sugarcraft link above)
See above for link to Oriental Trading company for sheep
10. Unleavened bread: Make from airy-drying clay such as Hearty (shown here,) (Karui Kaminendo) or cut out squares from EVA foam sheets. For a more fun option: put a cracker or small piece of Matza (unleavened bread) in the egg so that they can really eat it.
11. Grape juice (Wine): If your daughter has small cups for her dolls, ask her if you can borrow one. If not, any place that sells miniatures will have cups, if a bit pricey. The goblet shown here was purchased at an American craft store in the scrap booking section. If your church uses disposable communion cups, take them home and wash them. Put them in the egg, and when you child takes them out of the egg, pour grape juice in them so they can drink it and talk about it.
Reference
12. Flowers: most hundred yen stores sell “silk” flowers--just choose small ones
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13.Praying hands: make them out of clay such as Hearty (Karui Kaminendo sold at 100 yen stores) or buy a mold from Sugarcraft (see link above). Or take a photo of your child’s praying hands, cut them out, and mount them on a piece of cardboard, or cover with contact paper. to make it more durable.
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14.Sword: Sometimes you can find toy swords, especially with Leggo sets. I made the one shown on the left: I cut the blade from a tin can with tin snips (you can purchase wire cutters at some hundred yen stores in the tool section) and formed the handle from Sculpy and baked it till it was hard. It was so small that it burned a bit, so be sure to keep an eye on it, if you make one. Be sure to cut the tip blunt so your children don’t hurt themselves.
Jesus’ Trials
when Jesus was flogged and beaten, and Peter denied that he knew Jesus 3 times. and Pilot washed his hands of the whole affair
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15.Rooster: You might be able to find one where they sell miniatures or farm animals, or make it out of clay such as Hearty (Karui Kaminendo)
17. Crown of thorns: Cut a short branch of Pyracantha or rose bush and form it into a circle--bend the end inside the ring. Make sure it fits inside the egg before it gets too brittle to work with!
18. Purple robe: Buy a small piece of purple cloth.
19. Bowl and Towel: If you can’t find a toy bowl small enough to fit in the egg, you can make one out of copper. Buy a strip of copper in the gardening section of the hundred yen store that is used for keeping snails off plants. Buy wire cutters in the tool section of a hundred yen store and cut a circle out of the copper. Put the copper on a soft surface, and pound it with the round end of a hammer until it is a bowl shape. Cut a piece of cloth for a towel.
16. Whip: I used leather strips that were sold in the jewelry making section of hundred yen stores. If you can’t find this, you can use string or leather shoe strings--cut 3 lengths, fold in half, and wrap thread around the folded end to form the handle. Tie knots in the 6 loose ends.
20. Cross: Pick up a twig, or trim a tree in your yard, or buy a dowel at a hundred yen store, or use disposable chopsticks. Cut a long piece and a short piece, and tie them together. Check to make sure it fits in the egg--both directions. Box cutters and saws are both sold at hundred yen stores and can be used to cut these sticks. You could include 3 nails.
21. Sign: Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. You can simply write this on a piece of paper or cardboard, but it would be better to write it on a small piece of wood, such as balsa wood or even a popsicle stick.
22. Dice: Most Hundred yen stores sell dice, some even sell wooden dice, even though it is not the shape the Roman soldiers used to cast lots.
23. Sponge: poke a small piece of sponge onto a toothpick. You can sometimes find natural sponges at the hundred yen store--just cut off a small piece to poke onto the toothpick.
Jesus’ Crucifixtion
when Jesus was nailed to the cross, the soldiers drew lots for his cloths, and the temple curtain ripped from top to bottom
24. Curtain: Because the temple curtain was embroidered with blue and red and purple, I used a brocade ribbon and tore it in half. If you want your children to be able to tear the “curtain” in half each year, you may prefer to buy a small piece of inexpensive cloth and cut a new curtain each year. If you snip a small cut in the top, it will be easier to rip.
Jesus’ Burial
when Jesus’ body was wrapped in a cloth and sealed in a tomb
25. White cloth and spices: Cut a long narrow strip of white cloth. Cut a separate smaller one for the head piece if you like. I put whole spices in with the cloth so my children could experience this with all their senses, even though it was not the same scent as the 70 pounds put on Jesus’ body.
26. Stone: You can probably find a round smooth stone on the road on a walk, or near a stream. If not, many hundred yen stores sell small bags of stones in the gardening section. If not, you can make a “stone” out of clay (kaminendo.) You can make this even more fun by letting your children “seal” the stone. Drip a bit of candle wax on the stone, then press something with a raised design on it, (such as an ornate metal button).
27 Angel: Some sets have an empty egg to represent the empty grave, but my children were disappointed to find nothing in the egg, So I used a tiny angel instead. You can find angels more easily around Christmas whether it is a pin, an earring, or a tree ornament. (Yes, even hundred yen stores sometimes sell angel Christmas ornaments--a dozen to a pack, for the smaller sizes.)
28. Fish: This ceramic fish is actually a hundred yen chopstick rest. You can also find fish in the toy section or as part of a mobile. If you can’t find any of these, it is pretty easy to make a fish out of clay such as Hearty (Karui Kaminendo, sold in most hundred yen stores.)
29. Globe: These globe key chains can be purchased from the Oriental Trading Company. See above for the link. If ordering them is not an option, you can make a sort-of-globe by mixing white and blue clay such as Hearty (Karui Kaminendo) sold at 100 yen stores) and roll it into a ball.
30. Cloud: Anything fluffy and white--a cotton ball, a bit of batting, even the cotton in the tops of some vitamin bottles.
31. Dove or candle or match to represent a flame: Although a dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, a flame is more accurate in this situation. You can use a birthday candle and light it while you are telling that part of the story. If you do not want a real flame, you can use a piece of dried mango to be the flame, or squeeze white glue onto a piece of tinfoil, add yellow and orange food coloring and let it dry. Peel off the tinfoil and cut and twist it into a flame shape.
Jesus’ Resurrection
First the angels announced it, then Jesus appeared to Mary
Jesus’ Great Commission
when Jesus’ told his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples
Jesus’ Ascension
when Jesus returned to heaven
Pentecost
when the Holy Spirit came
Triumphal Entry:
Matt. 21:1-11
Mark 11:1-11
Luke 19:28-44
John 12:12-19
Dinner at Bethany:
Matt.26:6-13
Mark 14:1-11
John 12:1-11
Cleansing of temple:
Matt. 21:12-17
Mark 11:12-19
Luke 19:45-48
Judas’ Betrayal:
Matt.26:14-25, 26:47-55
Luke 22:1-6
Last Supper:
Matt. 26:17-30
Mark 14:12-26
Luke 22:7-38
John 13:1-38
Garden of Gethsemane:
Matt. 26:31-56
Mark 14:27-51
Luke 22:39-53
John 18:1-11
Jesus’ Trial:
Matt.26:57-27:31
Mark 14:53- 15:20
Luke 22:63- 23:25
John 12-19:16
Peter’s denial:
Matt.26:69-75
Luke 22:54-62
John 18:15-27
Jesus’ crucifixion:
Matt. 27:32-55
Mark 15:21-32
Luke 23:26-49
John 19:16-37
Jesus’ Burial:
Matt. 27:57-60
Mark 15:42-47
Luke 23:50-56
John 19:38-42
Jesus’ Resurrection:
Matt. 28:1-15
Mark 16:1-14
Luke 24:1-12
John 20:1-9
Jesus’ Resurrection
First Jesus appears in a locked room and eats fish, Later he makes breakfast on the beach when the disciples went fishing
Jesus appeared:
Road to Emmaus :
Luke 24:13-35
Disciples:
Luke 24:36-49
Mary:
John 20:10-18
Disciples:
John 20:19-23
Thomas:
John 20:24-31
Disciples fishing:
John 21:1-15
Peter:
John 21:15-25
Jesus’ Great Commision:
Matt. 28:16-20
Mark 16:15-20
Acts 1:8
Jesus’ Ascension
Luke 24:50-53
Acts 1:1-11
Coming of’ Holy Spirit:
Acts 1:4-5,2:1-4
