Sharing the Easter Story with Resurrection Eggs

In my babysitting days, I remember when one of my sweet girls came home with an egg carton telling the Easter Story.  She shared the whole story with those little eggs.  I want my children to know the Most Wonderful Story too, using this simple and thoughtful method, so I researched for ideas and made our own carton of Resurrection Eggs.  I found many wonderful resources around — I listed them below — but I decided to make my own printable to go along with the objects and Scriptures that I felt were the most important.

Making your own Resurrection eggs is easy!  All you need is an empty (and clean) egg carton and 12 plastic eggs (these are the only thing that I actually bought — for $1!)  Now fill the eggs with the below items from around your house!

Fill an egg carton with plastic eggs. Number the eggs 1 – 12:

Click here for the printable that I made for the Resurrection eggs:

(At first I cut these in strips and put them in the eggs, but that seemed to distract from the objects inside the eggs, so I laminated this and keep it with the eggs.)

Now fill the eggs with the following items:

1: Donkey & Palm Branch

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon [a donkey].” Zechariah 9:9

Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David;
 Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”Matthew 21:8-9

2: Bread

“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.’” Matthew 26:26

3: 3 dimes

“Then one of the twelve disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?’ They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him.” Matthew 26: 14-15

4: Small string

“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” Mark 15:15

5: Purple cloth and crown of thorns

“They stripped Jesus’ clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him. “Long live the King, of the Jews,” They said.” Matthew 27:28-29

6: Cross

“He went out, carrying His cross, and came to Golgotha, that is ‘The Place of the Skull.’ There they crucified Him.” John 19: 17-18

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

7: 3 small nails

“They nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes.” Mark 15:24

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:20 

8: Sign reading King of the Jews

“Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Luke 23:38

9: Sponge and spear

“One of them ran up at once, took a sponge. He filled it with vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.” Matthew 27:48

“One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water poured out. John 19:34

10: White cloth and spices

“Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.” John 19:40

11: Rock

“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.” Matthew 27:59-60

12: Empty

“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.” Matthew 28:5-7

I was creative in a lot of them, but I think it all works : )

I used a bay leaf for my palm branch, I know that’s a horse and not a donkey, but my son can’t tell,

a gluten-free roll for my bread (my son can’t touch gluten),

a piece of string,

a cut purple felt shirt and a little branch I shaped into a crown of thorns,

a popsicle stick broken and colored with red marker and a cut up sponge,

and a cut white t-shirt for the linens and spices from home – cinnamon and dried chives.

My son absolutely loves this and keeps wanting to “play Easter eggs” every time I bring it out.  He is slowly learning about the crucifixion and how Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  He gets a sad, sweet look on his face when we talk about the nails and I think he is really grasping some of it, in his innocent little mind.  I am so thankful for this hand-on tool!

I resourced this idea from Play Eat Grow, Women Living Well, and ICC Religious Education.

The Resurrection Eggs can be bought at any Christian Book store or right over line on Family Life website or you can make them yourself, I found these on Pinterest.

I hope this blesses you and your family!