Easter IDEA - Egg Carton Surprise
Kids Time idea – Easter
Purchase a dozen plastic, refillable eggs from a craft or ‘two dollar’ shop and place them into a recycled egg carton.
Choose twelve of the items listed below to place inside the eggs. If you are having trouble finding the actual items you could use a picture of some of the items instead.
Explain to the children that you will be using the eggs and the secret items inside them to help remind them about what Easter means.
Ask a child to open one of the eggs and reveal what is inside. Use the information below to explain the meaning of that particular symbol of Easter.
Build excitement by saying things like, “I wonder what will be in the next egg?” “I can’t wait to see what we will find next”
You can also place a Scripture verse inside each egg (some suggestions have been given) and have one of the older children or adults read each one aloud.
This can be done in a single lesson or spread out over a number of lessons, opening some eggs each week. The eggs can be opened in a sequential order if preferred but the order is not overly important.
- Easter Lilies: Easter lilies are beautiful white flowers. In many countries they grow at Easter time. They remind us that Jesus lived a good life. He never did anything wrong! These lilies are clean and white and bright, like the life of Jesus. At Easter time we remember that when Jesus rose from the dead he also offered to make our lives clean and white and bright, as if the wrong things that we have done never happened at all. 1 Corinthians 1:30
- Bunny: The Bunny is a symbol of Springtime and new life. The bunny reminds us that Jesus offers to give us a new life that starts now and goes on forever. John 3:14
- Chocolate Egg: The egg also reminds us of new life. Baby animals hatch from their eggs and start afresh. When we become friends with Jesus he offers to wipe away all the mistakes we have made and let us start afresh.
- Chick: The chick is another symbol of the new life that we can start with Jesus because he died and rose again.
- Donkey: Before Jesus died he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. In those days, the king rode on a donkey. The donkey reminds us that Jesus is the King of Kings. That means that he is in charge of everyone and everything. He cares about and looks after us all. Luke 19:28-30 and 35-38
- Rooster: Jesus had some great friends. (Ask the children if any of them have a great friend). But just before Jesus died, when he was in big trouble and needed his friends the most, they said they didn’t even know him. They were worried about getting into trouble themselves. Jesus best friend was Peter. Peter told three people that he didn’t know Jesus then a rooster crowed. Suddenly Peter realised how mean he had been and he was very sorry. John 18:25-27
- Coins: Another one of Jesus friends, Judas, knew that he could make some money if he ‘dobbed in’ Jesus. Judas was given thirty silver coins for ‘dobbing in’ Jesus. After Jesus was arrested and killed Judas also felt very sorry for what he had done.
Mark 14:10-11 - Dice: Before Jesus was nailed to the cross, his clothes were taken away from him. Instead of throwing the clothes away, some of the soldiers started rolling dice. They played a game to see who would win the clothes. They knew Jesus was going to die and figured he wouldn’t need his clothes anymore. What they didn’t know was that Jesus would come back to life! Matthew 27:35-36
- Nail: Easter isn’t just a happy time. There’s a very sad part to Easter too. Jesus was treated very cruelly. Soldiers put nails into Jesus hands and feet and left him to die. But Jesus was willing to go through this so that we could learn about God and how he wants to be our friend. Luke 23: 32-33
- Cross: The cross reminds us about the ‘sacrifice’ of Jesus. Sacrifice means that we give up something for someone else. If we have two chocolates we might give up one so that our friend can have one. But Jesus’ sacrifice was bigger than that, much bigger. He gave up his life so that we can live forever with God.
- Heart: The heart reminds us that the reason Jesus died is because he loves us so much. John 3:16
- Candle: At Easter time, candles remind us that Jesus is the ‘Light of the World’. He is the light of the world because his teaching helps us to see that God loves us; His life helps us to see how God wants us to live; and his death and return to life help us to see that God wants to make us his friends.
- Empty: (“Oh no! Did we forget to put something in here? Maybe the empty egg has a reminder for us at Easter time”) Sometimes at Easter we get big, empty chocolate eggs. The hollow egg reminds us that even though Jesus’ body went into the tomb, he didn’t stay there. When Jesus friends’ came to find him to say ‘goodbye’ they found that his body was gone and the tomb was empty. Luke 24:1-4
- Angel: Angels came when Jesus was born and announced that God had sent him to save the world. When Jesus died God sent an angel to give us even more good news. When Jesus’ friends found the empty tomb on Easter Sunday an angel came and told them not to be sad because Jesus is not dead, he is alive. Matthew 28:5-7
- Butterfly: a caterpillar goes into a cocoon and stays inside for a time. When it comes out, it is no longer a caterpillar but a butterfly. It flies away leaving the cocoon behind. At Easter time we remember that Jesus went into a tomb and stayed there for three days. When he came out he was no longer dead but alive. He rose up to Heaven, leaving the tomb behind. Luke 24:50-51
- Fish: After Jesus came back to life he met up with his friends very early one morning on the beach. His friends had been out fishing and Jesus cooked them some fish for breakfast. While they were talking, Jesus told his friend Peter that he forgave him for letting him down. Jesus also says that he will forgive us and keep being his friends if we are sorry for the mistakes we make.