5 Free Easter Lessons for Your Family
Here’s 5 free Easter lessons to share with your family. I’ve prepared many Easter lessons for Kid’s Church over the years but these favourites can be easily taught to your kids at home. Some (the Inside Story) I have used again and again while others (Take Courage) are new. Whether you choose to use one story or all of them, from Passover to Resurrection Sunday, I know these lessons will bless you and your family this Easter when we remember, and celebrate, all that Jesus has done for us.
1. Chocolate in the Desert?
This lesson introduces children to God’s big picture by explaining Passover. Who is the lamb? Where did God first reveal his plan to bring us out of slavery? This Easter, teach your children how a loving God sacrificed His own Son, so they could be free! Ministry to the children teaches kids about the Lamb’s Book of Life. Memory Verse fun includes a bit of drama, with someone dressing up as Simon the Israelite, who has lost a lot of household objects in his hurry to leave Egypt. He needs the children’s help to find them. (Each object has a word of the Memory Verse on it!) Play a game of Mr Crocodile, May We Cross the River? And there’s a fun craft idea: the shaking head sheep!
https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Chocolate-in-the-Desert.pdf
2. Copycat Kids
The story of Palm Sunday from the combined account in the four Gospels. Begin your family devotions with a game of Follow the Leader. Make your kids laugh when two family members copy each other. The story ‘Copycat Kids’ is about the children in the temple copying the adults. Ministry time explains how Jesus wants kids to be copycats, after all, He is imitating His Father! Follow up with a Jesus Call and a Memory Verse with a rhythmic challenge. Games include Copycat (of course) and Simon Says, with a trickier game of Changing the Leader for older children. There’s two craft ideas for different ages. A peg leg donkey, or a Cross made from a palm leaf.
https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Copycat-Kids.pdf
3. Take Courage!
A lesson that looks at Joseph of Arimathea, a secret follower of Jesus. He ‘took courage’ and asked for the body of Jesus so he could lay him in his own tomb. Children learn they have to ‘take courage’ and be seen as followers of Jesus, too. But first, warm up with a game of ‘Where Do You Stand?’ Use a secret decoder to learn the Memory Verse, ‘In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b) Play a game of Stuck in the Mud and make a cardboard tomb with a stone that rolls away.
https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Take-Courage.pdf
4. God’s Astonishing Plan (and the Devil Dumbfounded)
This lesson begins with a Memory Verse Pass the Parcel game with a tricky ending…can you guess? Then flashcards or a PowerPoint presentation can be used to explain to kids how hard the Devil tried to get rid of Jesus. And he thought he’d finally succeeded until Jesus rose from the dead! Little did the Devil know God’s astonishing plan! Ministry to the children explains how children are part of God’s plan, too. Children can craft a Cross Box, a cardboard box in the shape of a cross.
https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Easter-Gods-Astonishing-Plan.pdf
5. Easter: The Inside Story
Always a favourite. The story of Easter told using a carton of plastic eggs! Inside each egg is an object to explain the next part of the Bible story. But first, investigative reporter Penny Pryer, is searching for the real meaning of Easter and needs the children’s help. She’s on the hunt for the Memory Verse…which leads to more questions. Penny knows the story is about to break wide open! Make a ‘wordless bracelet’ and play a game of ‘In the tomb, Out of the tomb’. Enjoy Hot Cross Buns for Morning Tea and then, using paint and masking tape, make a stained glass cross for craft.
https://cooeekidsministry.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Easter-The-Inside-Story.pdf