Easter Traditions

On Tuesday mornings I attend something called W.I.S.H. at our church. It stands for Women Intentionally Seeking Him, great, right? I am reading Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmeland a friend of mine is leading the class to go along with it. In class this week we were talking about Easter Traditions that teach the REAL meaning of this Resurrection Sunday.

The first one she mentioned was Resurrection Eggs.

Have you heard of these? This is something we do in our family and love it! I'll give you instructions on how to make the eggs in just a moment but first I want to say we still have a little fun with Resurrection Eggs. They're included in our Easter egg hunt and our girls know if they find an egg with a number on it they have a special egg. Once we're done with our egg hunt we sit down as a family and ask our little chicks to pull out all their numbered eggs and starting with egg number 1 we go through the story from the last supper through the resurrection.

If you're intrigued by what I've already told you, you have a couple options. You can run to a local Christian book and supply store and pay about $15 for Resurrection eggs or you can make your own for little to no money. When I made ours, I spent no extra money, we had everything on hand.

Now for what you'll need.

• 12 plastic eggs
• egg carton
• Sharpie marker, Chalk pen or vinyl numbers
• 11 items {listed below} to go in eggs along with scripture

In each egg you'll place a special item and you can either include a small piece of paper with the scripture written on it or have a list of the scripture that you can refer to. We include the scripture in the egg because two of our three little chicks can read and I think get more from it if they actually see the reference for themselves. Now for what you'll find in each egg.

1. A small piece of bread & Matthew 26:26.

While they were eating Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. "Take it and eat it," He said, "This is My body."

2. Silver coins & Matthew 26: 14-15

Then one of the twelve disciples, name 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.

3. Purple cloth {representing a purple robe} & Mark 15:17

They put a purple robe on Jesus...

4. Thorns {we used cloves} & Matthew 27:29

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.

5. Scourge {a small piece of rope or thick string} &Mark 15:15

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.

6. A small cross & John 19:17-18a

He went out, carrying His cross, and came to "The Place of the Skull," as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called "Galgotha.") There they crucified Him.

7. Nails & John 20:25b

Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in His hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in His side, I will not believe."

8. Sign saying "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" & Luke 23:38

Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

9. Small piece of sponge & Matthew 27:48

One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make Him drink it.

10. Something representing a spear {we use a toothpick} & John 19:34

One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out.

11. Rock & Matthew 27:59-60

Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new lined 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.

12. Empty egg & Matthew 28:6

He is not here He has risen just as He said.

There you go. A fun way to teach your children the true meaning of Easter. Here are a few pictures of what my Resurrection Eggs look like.

Inside the carton.

Inside one egg.

And the outside of the carton.

I used a piece of scrapbook paper from Michael's and my Cricut for the letter.

You can also try these ideas; Easter Cookies or Resurrection Bread. I have not tried these myself but from what I can tell they are educational and will keep your child's attention. Do you have your own special tradition to celebrate Easter?

Blessings.