Easter Curriculum for Children's Church
Includes 3 possible lessons for Easter Sunday!The Real Meaning of the Easter Basket
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![He Came, He Saw, He Conquered! Children Sunday School Lessons on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus by [Wilson, Rev. Stephen R.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Nlat5JR7L.jpg) |
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Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach kids the symbolism of the Easter basket.
Needed: Easter
basket, Easter grass, chocolate coins or chocolate with some kind of
shiny wrapping (Hershey’s Kisses, York Peppermint Patties, etc.),
chicken or rooster-shaped candy (a chocolate rooster, or chick-shaped
Peeps), a plastic egg with something inside of it, rolls of toilet
paper, cones or another place marker
Intro Game: The Life of Jesus Relay
Divide students into two or more teams. When you say, “Go!” the first student on each team will perform the first leg of the relay race, traveling to the other side of your play area and back to their team. The second student on each team then does the second leg, and so on until that team completes the last leg. The first team to complete all legs of the race wins.
Leg 1. Crying. Cry like a baby to show Jesus was born as a baby.
Leg 2. Crawl. Crawl like a baby to show that Jesus had to crawl when he was little.
Leg 3. Slow Walk. Walk slowly like a one-year-old to show that Jesus had to learn to walk.
Leg 4. Run. Run like a child, as Jesus did when He was a boy.
Leg 5. Hammer the Ground. Hit the ground like you’re a man hammering nails to show that Jesus learned how to be a carpenter.
Leg 6. Spin. Spin around saying, “You’re healed! You’re healed!” to show that Jesus helped all the people around Him.
Leg 7. Crucifix Run. Run with your arms outstretched to the sides to show that Jesus was crucified on a cross.
Leg 8. Backward Walk. Walk backward with your arms crossed over your chest to show that Jesus died.
Leg 9. Skip. Skip, yelling, “Ta-da!” to show that Jesus came back to life.
Lesson
Place objects in your Easter basket beforehand so that it’s ready to show to students.
Ask students, how many of you got an Easter basket this morning?
Did
any of your Easter baskets have this grass in the bottom? (Pull out
some grass from your basket.) The grass reminds us of the hay that Jesus
slept on in the manger when He was born.
Did
any of you get any chocolate wrapped up in shiny foil, like Hershey
Kisses, or York Peppermint Patties, or Rolos, or Reeses’ miniatures?
(Pull out your chocolate coins.) When we see shiny wrapping, it reminds
us of the 30 shiny coins that the priests gave to Judas so that Judas
would tell them where Jesus was so that they could arrest Him.
Did
any of you get any roosters or chickens in your Easter basket, like a
chocolate rooster, or some Peeps? (Pull out your item.) Chickens and
roosters remind us of how Peter said that He didn’t know Jesus three
times the night Jesus was arrested, and then, a rooster crowed just as
Jesus said it would, and Peter felt sorry about saying He didn’t know
Jesus.
What
about your baskets? Did it look like mine with the wood or plastic
pieces woven together like this? Our baskets remind us of how the
soldiers tied together some thorns and put them on Jesus’ head.
Did
any of you get plastic eggs with something inside of them? (Show your
plastic egg and empty it.) When we take the candy out of our eggs, it
reminds us of how Jesus came out of the grave. The egg is like the
grave, and the candy is like Jesus, coming out of the grave.
So,
our Easter baskets were meant to tell us the story of how Jesus was
born, how He died, and how He came back to life on Easter!
Game: Resurrection Race
Divide students into pairs. Have each pair line up along one line. Place cones a good distance from the line, directly in front of the pairs.
Give
each pair two rolls of toilet paper. On, “Go!” the first person from
each pair will wrap their partner in toilet paper, using the whole roll.
The wrapped person will then break free of the toilet paper and run
around the cone and back toward their partner. They will then wrap their
partner, and the second person will do the same thing. The first pair
to have both people wrapped and run around the cone wins.
Explain
to students that this is what will happen to us. Our bodies will be
dead, but then when Jesus comes back, He will bring our bodies back to
life, just like God brought Jesus’ body back to life.
Game: Resurrection Tag
Pick one student to be It. That student is Death. Pick another student to be Jesus. When Death tags someone, they fall down and lie on the ground like they’re dead. Jesus can then come to tag them, and they can get back up. If Death tags Jesus, Jesus must count to three (because Jesus was dead for three days), but can then get up again. If Jesus tags Death, the round is over. Play until everyone has had a chance to be both Death and Jesus or as long as time permits.
Remind
students that Jesus will come back one day and will raise everyone who
believes in Him back to life, just as God raised Jesus back to life on
Easter morning.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, we thank You for taking our place on the cross and for coming again one day to raise us all up so that we can live forever with You. Amen.Jesus is Raised!
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Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach kids about Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday and our resurrection when He comes again.
Needed: Bibles, toilet paper rolls, cones or another placement marker
Lesson
Read Matthew 27:62-66.
“The
next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the
Pharisees went to Pilate. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while He
was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise
again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third
day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the body and tell the
people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will
be worse than the first.’
“‘Take
a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know
how.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the
stone and posting the guard.”
On
the Saturday after Jesus died, the priests asked Pilate, the Roman
governor, to put guards around Jesus’ grave. Why does it say that they
did that? (The priests didn’t want Jesus’ followers to come steal Jesus’
body and then, lie and tell people that Jesus came back to life.)
(Read Matthew 28:1-10.)
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
“There
was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from
heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His
appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The
guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
“The
angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are
looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just
as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and
tell His disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of
you into Galilee. There you will see Him.” Now I have told you.’
“So
the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and
ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ He
said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus
said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to
Galilee; there they will see Me.’
How did Jesus come back to life? (After Jesus died, God brought Him back to life.)
God
can do anything. He can even make dead people come back to life. One
day, when Jesus comes back to Earth, He will make our souls go back into
our bodies and bring our bodies back to life. Our bodies will be
perfect, and we will live forever with Jesus and God forever.
(Read Matthew 28:11-15.)
“While
the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and
reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the
chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the
soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His
disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were
asleep.” If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and
keep you out of trouble.’ So the soldiers took the money and did as they
were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the
Jews to this very day.”
Why did the priests pay the guards to lie about Jesus being alive again?
The
priests didn’t want people to believe in Jesus, and they didn’t want
people to know He came back to life, so they paid the guards to lie
about what happened.
Game: Resurrection Race
Divide students into pairs. Have each pair line up along one line. Place cones a good distance from the line, directly in front of the pairs.
Give
each pair two rolls of toilet paper. On, “Go!” the first person from
each pair will wrap their partner in toilet paper, using the whole roll.
The wrapped person will then break free of the toilet paper and run
around the cone and back toward their partner. They will then wrap their
partner, and the second person will do the same thing. The first pair
to have both people wrapped and run around the cone wins.
Explain
to students that this is what will happen to us. Our bodies will be
dead, but then when Jesus comes back, He will bring our bodies back to
life, just like God brought Jesus’ body back to life.
Game: Resurrection Tag
Pick one student to be It. That student is Death. Pick another student to be Jesus. When Death tags someone, they fall down and lie on the ground like they’re dead. Jesus can then come to tag them, and they can get back up. If Death tags Jesus, Jesus must count to three (because Jesus was dead for three days), but can then get up again. If Jesus tags Death, the round is over. Play until everyone has had a chance to be both Death and Jesus or as long as time permits.
Remind
students that Jesus will come back one day and will raise everyone who
believes in Him back to life, just as God raised Jesus back to life on
Easter morning.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we praise You for bringing Jesus back to life and for promising to raise us again one day. Help us always to believe in You so that we’ll be ready when Jesus returns one day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.The Empty Grave
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Use this children’s Sunday School lesson to teach kids about the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection when He comes again.
Needed: Bibles, balloons, a box, three signs saying “Sorry. He’s Not Here!”, cupcakes for each student with re-lighting candles in them
Intro Game: Don’t Let it Fall!
Gather students in a circle. As you toss a balloon up into the air in the middle of the circle, call one of the student’s names. That student must run to hit the balloon back into the air before it touches the ground. The student next to them then runs to hit the balloon. The round continues until the balloon hits the floor.
Play
as many rounds as you like. The last time the balloon drops (or if it
ever pops), announce, “I’m sorry, kids. The balloon has dropped for the
last time and now, it’s dead. Let’s have a funeral for our dear
balloon.”
Gather the balloon and place it in the box. Say a few words over it and invite others to do the same.
Lesson
Read John 19:38.
“Later,
Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a
disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.
With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.”
It
says that Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly
because he was afraid of the Jews. Why do you think he was afraid to
tell the Jews that he was a follower of Jesus? (It was against the law
to believe in Jesus, so he was afraid that he would be arrested like
Jesus was.)
Should he have been afraid to tell people he believed in Jesus? (No.)
We
should never be afraid or embarrassed to say that we believe in Jesus.
We have to stand up and speak out for Jesus so that other people can
believe in Him too and be saved.
(Read John 19:39-20:18.)
“He
was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at
night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about
seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it,
with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish
burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a
garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been
laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb
was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
“Early
on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene
went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the
entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
and we don’t know where they have put Him!’
“So
Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running,
but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent
over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb.
He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had
been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place,
separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached
the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did
not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
“Now
Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look
into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had
been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
“They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’
“‘They
have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have
put Him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but
she did not realize that it was Jesus.
“He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’
“Thinking
He was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell
me where You have put Him, and I will get Him.’
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’
“She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means “Teacher”).
“Jesus
said, ‘Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father
and your Father, to my God and your God.”’
“Mary
Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’
And she told them that He had said these things to her.”
How did Jesus come back to life? (After Jesus died, God brought Him back to life.)
God
can do anything. He can even make dead people come back to life. One
day, when Jesus comes back to Earth, He will make our souls go back into
our bodies and bring our bodies back to life. Our bodies will be
perfect, and we will live with Jesus and God forever.
Jesus told Mary that He was going back to God. When had Jesus been with God before?
Jesus was in Heaven with God before He became a human baby. Jesus is part of God Himself.
Now
that Jesus’ work of teaching us and dying on the cross for us was done,
He said He was going back up to Heaven to be with God again. Someday,
Jesus is going to come back to Earth to bring us all back from the dead,
and we will live with Him and God forever.
Game: Don’t Let it Fall! part 2
Play the intro game again, taking the balloon back out of the box or blowing up a new one. Explain that even though your balloon was dead, it came back to life just like Jesus came back to life and will bring all of us back to life when He comes again.Activity: Resurrection Hunt
Before class, find three rooms or areas in your church that you can use for this activity. In each room, place a large sign that reads, "Sorry. He’s Not Here!"
Say,
Wow! What an experience Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John had that
morning. Think about it. All three of them went to the tomb and saw that
the big rock had been rolled away from the entrance. They looked in and
found nothing but the special wrappings that had been around Jesus’
body. For a while, all they could imagine was that someone had stolen
Jesus’ body. Then they wondered, What if He really has come back to
life?
Today, you’re going hunting for Jesus just as Mary and Peter and John did.
(Take
children to visit the rooms you chose earlier. If you’re in an area of
your church where you will not disturb others, you can let children run
ahead once they know which room you’re heading to. When you get to each
room, ask one child to carry away the sign that reads, "Sorry. He’s Not
Here!")
(After visiting all the empty rooms, go to where you’ll be serving a snack and say:)
How did you feel each time we got to a room and found the sign telling us Jesus wasn’t there?
Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John were probably pretty disappointed when they couldn’t find Jesus’ body.
When
we go looking for something and don’t find it, we have lots of
questions. I’m sure Peter and John wondered what had happened to Jesus’
body. But the Bible says that John "saw and believed." That means he
knew that Jesus was alive. God wants us to know that Jesus is alive too.
Mary
Magdalene, Peter, and John eventually did see Jesus. They found what
they were looking for. So, since you all did such a great job looking
too, I have something for you.
(Give each student a cupcake with a trick candle in it. Light the candles and have students try to blow them out.)
What happened to the candles? (They kept lighting back up.)
That’s
kind of what happened on Easter morning. People thought they had gotten
rid Jesus, just as you thought you had blown out your candles. But God
had other plans. God brought Jesus back to life, just like your candles
kept lighting back up.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank You for bringing Jesus back to life. And we thank You that You’re going to bring us back to life one day too. Help us to keep believing in You until that day happens. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.Recommended Extras
Superbook: He is Risen! – an animated video from the updated Superbook series, includes time-traveling children who learn lessons from the story
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Greatest Adventures Stories from the Bible: The Easter Story – animated video with time-traveling teenagers who witness the Biblical story, realistic art style
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| More info... |
Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Last Supper, Crucifixion, and Resurrection – another animated video with a Disneyesque art style and no time traveling
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| More info... |
God’s Story: Easter – a free video telling the story of Jesus, along with application, in about four and a half minutes
Family Life Resurrection Eggs – a set of Easter Eggs with different items inside representing elements of the Easter story
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| More info... |
Easter Stickers – an alternative to Easter candy that also reminds kids of the reason for the holy day
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| More info... |
The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible – for telling the stories with beautiful artwork and Biblical accuracy
The Beginner’s Bible: Timeless Stories for Children
– for telling the stories to younger children
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| More info... |
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| More info... |
Jesus - To Eternity and Beyond (Discover 4 Yourself series) – in-depth Bible study book for older children based on John 17-21
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| More info... |
He is Alive Easter Lesson – a free lesson that includes a neat activity in which the author recommends placing various items related to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in plastic Easter eggs. Kids search for the eggs, open them, and talk about what they know of the Easter story.
God Colors Our Lives – a free object lesson that uses colored Easter eggs to demonstrate how God makes our lives vibrant and exciting
Jesus Rises from the Dead – free coloring and activity pages
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