The Easter story is the most important Biblical story, so it should be taught to kids. It is the reason for Christianity. Elementary students should know the Easter story.
Easter is the epitome of the Gospel and the climax of the Bible. It shows the good news that Jesus died for our sins, so we can be with Him forever in Heaven. Without the Easter story, there would be no reason for hope or joy in our lives. So, with the Easter season, it is supremely important to teach the story of Easter.
Teaching young children can be challenging because they have limited life experience. Explaining the Gospel to full-grown adults is challenging itself, but trying to communicate the Easter story to kids is even more difficult.
For your Easter Sunday message in kids’ church, you should use an object lesson to better communicate the story. An object lesson is using a physical thing to communicate a Biblical story.
In this article, I’ll talk about a way to teach the Easter story to kids that is easy to understand. I will give some suggestions on how to lead your Sunday school class.
You are welcome to use any ideas presented in this article, and you can even change things to suit your kids better. With that being said, here is a fun Easter object lesson for kids.
The True Meaning of Easter
The first portion of an Easter Sunday school lesson should connect with your kids. Connecting and engaging the kids is key to getting the message across about Easter.
Kids love Easter, so you can engage them by asking them what their favorite Easter traditions are. Get the kids to talk about what they love about Easter. They will probably end up saying things like Easter egg hunts, the Easter bunny, or Easter baskets.
These are all great Easter traditions. You can even have each of these things during the service. Give an Easter basket away or have the Easter bunny make a guest appearance.
After the kids have had fun talking about their favorite Easter traditions, ask them, “Did you know that none of these things are the real meaning of Easter?” This serves as your way to hook the students by piquing their curiosity.
Talk about your favorite Easter traditions, then says, “But, although those things are fun, Easter is really about the story of Jesus.” From there, you can tell the kids that you are going to talk about the Easter story and explain what’s so great about Easter.
Tell the Easter Story
After getting the kids’ attention, start to explain the gospel story. Explain that the story is super important and that each one of them should listen.
The Background
Start by telling them who Jesus was. Jesus was the Son of God, and He came and lived a perfect life. Tell the kids that we have all messed up at some point by lying to our parents, saying mean things to people, or cheating at school. Then, tell them again that Jesus never did anything wrong.
The Gospel Story
From there, tell the kids that there was a group of people who hated Jesus because they did not like what He was teaching. Ask the kids if they’ve ever met someone who didn’t like them. Jesus even had people who didn’t like Him.
Tell the kids, that those people hated Jesus so much that they wanted to kill Him. This part might surprise the kids.
Explain to them that one of Jesus’ close friends, Judas, betrayed Jesus and sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. Judas gave Jesus over to the bad people.
Teach them that the people who didn’t like Jesus had him sent to be killed. Don’t go into too much detail, but explain that Jesus was going to be nailed to a cross, wear a crown of thorns, and get whipped. Reiterate that Jesus was perfect, but He was still taking punishment.,
Tell them that Jesus died on the cross on a Friday. Explain how that Friday is known as Good Friday, and that as Jesus died the sky got dark and there was a huge earthquake.
Explain to the kids that Jesus was placed in a tomb for 3 days, but that on the third day, something crazy happened. Mary Magdalene discovered the tomb was empty and the stone that covered it was rolled away.
Tell them that for some time, Jesus went around showing people that He was alive. He appeared to the disciples and eventually went back to Heaven to be with God. You can also mention that Jesus said He was going to send the Holy Spirit to help people.
Explain the Significance of the Easter Story
You just covered a long story, so you need to elaborate on what Jesus’ death and resurrection mean.
Start by mentioning again that everyone has messed up. Jesus was perfect, but everyone else messed up at some point. Everyone has done something bad.
Tell the kids that that means that people are destined to spend eternity in hell. Explain that eternity is where we go after we die, and we can either spend eternity in hell (away from God) or Heaven (a perfect place with God.)
Teach them that without Jesus there was no way to spend eternity to with God. We are all destined to be away from God.
Then tell them that, because of Jesus, we are able to have a relationship with God and go to Heaven when we die.
Once you get the big ideas across about Jesus and His story, you can move on to the Bible object lesson.
Easter Object Lesson: Resurrection Eggs
During the Easter object lesson, you will employ different objects to remind the kids of the story that they learned. Using an object lesson is super important to helping the kids retain the story.
For this Easter object lesson, you will need a carton of plastic Easter eggs. You can get a regular box of eggs and remove all of the regular eggs. Then, you can replace the regular eggs with plastic eggs. At first, the eggs will be hollow eggs, but you will fill them with different things.
In each of the different eggs, there will be a different item that was involved in the Easter story. The symbols in the eggs are reminders of different aspects of the Holy Week from the story.
Kids love opening eggs because it is exciting. There is an anticipation that builds whenever you open each egg.
So let’s look at what going on in each egg.
1. A Tiny Plastic Donkey
The first egg will need a tiny plastic donkey. The donkey reminds the kids that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Good Friday on a donkey, and He was humble by doing it.
2. A Tiny Perfume Bottle
The second egg will need a tiny perfume bottle. You can get a perfume sample bottle and put it in the egg. That reminds the kids of Mary who washed Jesus’ feet with perfume.
3. A Tiny Piece of Bread
The next item in the eggs will be a piece of bread. The bread reminds the kids about the last supper, and it shows that Jesus’ body was broken.
4. 3 Nickels
After the egg with the piece of bread, the next egg will need 3 nickels. Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but you probably can’t fit 30 nickels or dimes in an Easter egg. You should just try to use 3 nickels.
5. A Cross
The next egg should have a cross. The cross can be wooden or it can be from a necklace. The cross in the egg reminds the kids that Jesus died on a cross.
6. A Thorn
After that, the next egg can have a thorn in it to remind the kids that Jesus wore a crown of thorns. It shows that Jesus was mocked and hurt by people.
7. Dice
Then, the following egg can have a dice in it, which resembles the Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothing. It is another reminder of the humiliation Jesus faced.
8. A Nail
Next, put a small nail into an empty egg. This part shows the nails that we in Jesus’s hand, and it is another reminder of the pain that Jesus experienced.
9. A Sponge
The next egg should have a small sponge in it. The sponge was a part of Jesus’ story, and they offered a sponge to him with wine to ease the pain. Jesus refused the sponge because it was a prophecy.
10. Spices
In the following egg, put a small shaker of spices. The spices represent Jesus being prepared for burial.
11. Stone
The next egg should have a stone in it. This stone represents the stone that was in front of Jesus’ tomb. It shows that Jesus was dead and buried.
12. An Empty Egg
The final egg should be empty. It shows the empty tomb, and Jesus was no longer dead. It reminds the kids about Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning.
Memory Verse
A great memory verse for this message is John 20:18a which says, “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”
Discussion Questions
To close your Easter object lesson, you should send the kids with leaders to discussion groups. Here, they will share their favorite part of the story, and what they learned. Because it is children’s ministry, try to keep the questions simple and easy to understand.
Here are some sample questions that you might want to use to guide your group discussions.
- Ask the kids to retell the Easter story from the lesson.
- What did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on?
- Why did people not like Jesus?
- What does Eternal life mean?
- What do we have to do to have a relationship with God?
Easter Coloring Pages
A great way to end your Easter object lesson is to have coloring pages for the kids to do. You can give them watercolors or colored pencils to create an art piece. This can help younger children to remember the story that you taught better.
I hope that this Easter object lesson has been helpful for you and that you were able to get some ideas for your churches Easter services. If you would like some more ideas for children’s services, check out the other articles on our page.
We have a few articles on messages for children’s ministry, so check out our message on Zaccheaus for kids.
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