Easter Sunday

 I shared about Palm Sunday.  This is what we did the next week for Easter!

We reviewed Palm Sunday and then went through our lesson and picture cards from our curriculum book including Jesus' death and Resurrection.  (Our curriculum is usually only the lesson and a craft or worksheet, so I pull together ideas that I come up with or dig online for additional resources to help reinforce the lesson!)  

We made our craft.  

I promised them a party!  So to begin, they went on an Easter egg hunt in the classroom!  This was the last egg to be found.  They laughed and laughed that it was SO easy to find, yet took them the longest.  

For the follow up activity from the lesson, I let the girls open an egg one at a time.  Inside, were pictures used from Resurrection Eggs. We talked about each of the pictures and what they represented.  They were honestly disappointed not to see candy inside.  (That was intentional.)  After we talked about each, we pointed out the especially "yucky and awful" parts.  We talked about how Jesus took our place.  He never sinned.  We did, and He paid the price.  We talked about trading.  "Have you ever traded anything with your friends?"  One girl mentioned trading Pokemon cards.  "If there's a card you really want to get, can you trade a junky card for it?  Can you trade something not worth much for something really valuable?"  They all agreed that you can't.  Kids like to make sure things are fair and equal!  Jesus' sacrifice was not fair- all His suffering was for our benefit.  It wasn't an equal trade, but it was perfect.  He did it all because He loves us.  So, I had them, one at a time, hand me the yucky, awful cards.  As they handed me the crown of thorns, I told them, "Jesus paid the price, so we could have the reward.  He wore the awful thorny crown that hurt him, that was full of mockery and teasing.  He did that for us."  Then I handed them a piece of chocolate as I took the card.  (I reinforced, candy is not our reward.  Salvation from our sins and eternal life with Jesus is our great reward!)  They gave me the card showing the whips with the awful sharp objects that shred His skin.  "Jesus paid the price, so we could have the reward."  I gave them a piece of chocolate.  The nails, the coins Judas received, the dice, the spear, the cross.... were all traded in for our reward.

"Jesus paid the price, so we could have the reward."

Why?

"Because He loves us!"

Each time I handed them a piece of candy, the kids were silent.  You could tell it was sinking in (as well as such a topic can for 6, 7, and 10 year olds.)  I was choked up and emotional.  It was a deeply meaningful lesson.  Included in the curriculum for that week is an invitation to pray for Jesus to enter their hearts.  At this point, we all read and prayed that together.  It was a very memorable class.

Then they got to decorate some Easter cookies for celebration- one to enjoy themselves and one to share!  We can't keep the good news all to ourselves!