Easter is just around the corner. While the bunnies and eggs are cute, do not let Easter go by without sharing with your children The Easter Story.

1.  Purchase or make some Resurrection Eggs to discuss with your family.  We purchased these at a Christian Book Store a few years ago.  Each year around Easter, we will get these eggs out and go through them as a family.  If you are not famiar with these, they are plastic eggs, but instead of candy inside, there is a tiny symbol related to the Easter Story.  We did these together at home and with our girls’ book club as well.

2.  Read the Easter Story.  You can find this account in:  John 20, Matthew 27:45-28, 21.  If your children are younger, you can have them dramatize it for the family as you read it alound.

3.  Re-use the plastic eggs.  We often hide them over and over.  Sometimes we will put a penny in each one, or a tiny note.  You can give coupons for a game time, or extra ten minutes of bedtime reading, or a coupon for a date night out with mom or dad.

4.  Make Resurrection Cookies.  There are many versions of this found freely all over the itnernet.  Here is one version I found:

Resurrection Cookies

1 cup whole pecans
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 pinch of salt

You’ll also need: a baggie, a rolling pin or wooden spoon, a baking sheet lined with parchment paper if possible, some tape, and a Bible. Preheat your oven to 300.

Each step in the instructions goes along with part of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. I have put in the Bible verses, so the kids can see the Biblical truths that correspond with the activity.

1. Read John 19:1-3 — Put the nuts into a baggie and let the kids crush them with a wooden spoon or a rolling pin. If your family doesn’t like nuts, crush some hard candies, like peppermints or lemon drops, or you can even break up a chocolate bar in this manner. As they beat the nuts (or whatever) remind them that Jesus was beaten.

2. Read John: 19:28-30 — Let the kids sniff the vinegar and even taste it. Put one teaspoon of vinegar into a mixing bowl. Remind the children that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given a bitter drink.

3. Read John 10:10-11 — Add the egg whites to the bowl. Eggs represent life, and this is to remind us that Jesus gave His life so we could live.

4. Read Luke 23:27 — Let the kids taste the salt and then sprinkle a little into the bowl. The salt represents the tears that Jesus’ friends shed for him and the bitterness of our own sin.

5. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16 — The sugar stands for the sweetest part of the story, that Jesus died because of His great love for us.

6. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3 — Beat the ingredients in the bowl on high speed for 11-15 minutes, or until it forms stiff peaks. This will turn white, which represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

7. Matthew 27:65-66 — Fold in the broken nuts, and drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Each mound (cookie) looks like the rocky tomb where Jesus was laid.

8. Matthew 27:65-66 — Put the cookies in the oven. Close the door and turn the oven OFF. Let the kids seal the door with tape to remind them that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

9. John 16:20 and 22 — Now it is time to go to bed and forget about the cookies. Leave the oven off, shut, and sealed. If they complain or feel sad, remind them that Jesus’ friends were not happy about this, either.

10. Matthew 28:1-9 — In the morning, you can unseal the oven and remove the cookies. The cookies will be hollow, just like Jesus’ tomb.
What ideas do you have for celebrating Easter?