I’m passionate (PASSIONATE!) about using Christmas and Easter to lead our kids to Jesus. I think these bright-and-shiny, larger-than-life holidays are the perfect platforms to make Jesus the center of life and conversation.
I’ve written extensively about both of these holidays and written some ebook devotionals to match (see Truth in the Tinsel and Sense of the Resurrection) so I thought it would be fun for me and easy for you to have all my favorite FAVORITE celebrate-Jesus-on-Easter (or as I like to call it, Resurrection Day) ideas all in one big spot. These aren’t just my ideas—I added lots of other ideas I’ve used or admired through the years. And there are great resources (books, movies, music, etc.) included here, too.
Go ahead! Peruse and enjoy!
1. Do the 12 fun activities from A Sense of the Resurrection: An Easter Experience for Families!
2. Make a Resurrection Garden on Good Friday.
3. Give an unEaster Basket to your kids.
4. Read Benjamin’s Box.
5. Do the Spotless Lamb science experiment.
6. Make (and eat) some yummy Resurrection Rolls.
7. Have an Salvation Art Show at home.
8. Make a paper dogwood & tell the legend of the dogwood.
9. Read Easter, Easter Almost Here! before Palm Sunday.
10. Make some Palm Sunday palm branches and have a dance party!
11. Sing Yancy’s 123 Jesus is Alive! (MY FAVORITE SONG EVER.)
12. Read God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren.
13. Listen to the Sense of the Resurrection playlist on Spotify.
14. Read Miracle Man by John Hendrix.
16. Watch God Rocks’ The Rock That Rolled.
17. Have a Resurrection Day party!
18. Print free downloadable Scripture art and hang it on your walls!
19. Read The Easter Robin and make your own robin.
20. Make an empty tomb cake!
21. Have a Spring Party on the first day of Spring!
22. Join in with the Sense of the Resurrection fun! (Have I mentioned this already?)
23. Watch What’s in the Bible? Episode 10 to see the best explanation and visual of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
24. Read the Jesus Storybook Bible. Like all of it.
25. Wear a reminder around your neck.
26. Listen to Yancy’s Hosanna (and the remix) on Palm Sunday.
27. Have a neighborhood party!
29. Read Easter in the Garden.
30. Memorize Scripture.
31. Read Bunny’s First Spring by Sally Lloyd Jones.
32. Do a kid-friendly Passover seder.
33. Talk about the crucifixion.
34. Read The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs and make a Handprint Lily to go with it!
35. Lead your kids in a romp!
36. Color a mini egg book.
37. Make your own Resurrection Eggs.
39. Watch The Jesus Movie. (If you did Truth in the Tinsel, you can review the Christmas story because this one begins with the announcement of Jesus’ birth!)
40. Decorate your house with some Sense of the Resurrection flags!
Lent begins March 1, 2017, friends. That’s 40 days till Resurrection Day. Don’t let these 40 days slip away without preparation for Jesus’ greatest gift to us. Your small actions–reading a book, making a craft, setting up a fun experience will stay with your kids forever and make a lasting impression!
I’d love to know how you’re celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection this year! Leave a comment or visit me on Facebook or Instagram. If you join the Sense of the Resurrection fun, make sure to tag me and use the hashtag #SenseoftheResurrection so we can all join in the fun!
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What great ideas! We’re definitely doing Sense of the Resurrection again this year. My boy loved it so much. Can I add one more thing to the list? Watch the two parts of the easter story on the Bible app for kids by You Version. My four year old son loves this and it has started a lot of great questions from him.
Awesome! Thanks for the suggestion!
(After I wrote this list, I thought of about 4 other things to add, too. Maybe I need a Part 2?)
a
Love the list!! Just checking, for number 23, is it really episode 13? Or did you mean episode 10? Thanks for using your gifts to help us teach our kids!
Ack! You’re right! I linked to the wrong one! Yikes. #10 it is!
Thanks!
a
Thanks so much for this list! I definitely want to do more with my son this year!
Wow, what an amazing list! Thanks so much for including my book Amanda! I can’t wait to go through all the links and find more fun Easter stuff to do. We have a little more time this year since Easter’s not in March!
Melissa~
I purchased the ebook for sense of the resurrection,
But could not open the link. Can you email it to me? I paid through Paypal.
Thanks!!!!
Please email me amanda at ohamanda dot com and include the email address associated w/your paypal account.
a
I have not personally taught about Easter to my kids. Well, except read Easter books with them. I know they know the Easter story from church and watching kids videos. I’m excited to try out some of your good ideas here. Thank you for sharing.
Just ran across this sticker/activity book by Zondervan! 🙂 http://tiffanymalloy.com/2015/02/24/review-the-beginners-bible-come-celebrate-easter-activity-and-sticker-book/
I feel the same way about using those big holidays to talk about Jesus rather than put the focus on all the other stuff! Thanks for sharing your passion with us, I really want to try these ideas!
I agree that the holidays are such a good time to pass on to our children the values we treasure. God knew we would need anchors with all the distractions in life. Thanks for all the great ideas. This is what we’re doing this year. http://wonderfilleddays.com/forty-day-easter-journaling/