“Teacher, when you tell stories, do you think sometimes you could tell me the one about the cross. I keep wondering what that cross is about.” I will never forget that question from a little boy who attended church and my Bible class for the first time.

This little boy had loved the Bible story and learning activities that day. He told his parents and me that he wanted to come back every Sunday (and he did). What he experienced that day with us was extremely important in his faith journey but it was clear that we were not the beginning of his journey. God had been planting seeds in his heart all along the way. Seeds were planted every time this young man passed a church building with a cross on it. Seeds were planted when he would see jewelry and billboards and bibles with crosses on the front.

Seeds are planted at Easter time. Children see the crosses people are putting up on signs and in decorations. The words “Christ”, “Christian”, “Jesus”,”resurrection” and phrases like “He is risen” are uttered by many people whether they understand deeper truths or not. Many children (and adults) wonder, “What does it mean?”

Any day is a good day to share the story of Jesus but Easter time creates a perfect opportunity to answer the questions children are wondering about.

Resources for Telling the Story of Jesus

• 25 Ways to Teach Children about the Resurrection
• The Triumphal Entry (the beginning of Jesus’ last week before the cross)
• The Last Supper
• Night of Betrayal and Prayer
• The Trial of Jesus
• Jesus is Crucified
• Burial and Resurrection
• Burial and Resurrection_Family Bible Time (a lesson for adults and children together)

The One About the Cross

And yes, I shared the story of the cross with that little boy that first day. It was a condensed version but I wanted to make sure he knew that this was one of the most important questions anyone could ever ask.

I told him that God created the whole world and he wanted everyone to be happy and love him. Sadly, people made bad choices and that has made lots of bad things happen in this world. Sometimes people even die. God was very sad that people had caused the earth to be so bad. Even though many people did not follow him he still loved them. So God sent his son, Jesus, from heaven to earth to show everyone how to obey God and make good choices.

But many people did not believe Jesus and got so angry that they made him die on a cross.

But guess what!? He was dead but after 3 days Jesus came alive again! Jesus showed that he is stronger than death and stronger than any bad thing that can ever happen.

Soon after he came back to life, the time came for Jesus to go to heaven to live with his Father again in heaven. Before Jesus left he told his followers to be sure and tell other people the good news. The good news is that “Jesus died but he came alive again!” God says that Jesus dying on the cross means that people can change from being bad to being good. People who follow Jesus do not have to be afraid of dying. If you follow Jesus then you will also come alive again to live in heaven someday!”

And THAT is the one about the cross!

Many teachers are making plans to tell the resurrection story on Easter Sunday.  Whether at Easter or any other time here are some ideas that will help you share what is the most important event in the Bible.

“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.”
Romans 6:9, NIV

1. Learn about the Burial and Resurrection of Jesus so you will understand the story and feel comfortable sharing it with a child.
2. Gather your family together for quality time  and learn about the Burial and Resurrection in this Family Bible Time lesson
3. Download and view a slideshow and pictures from http://www.freebibleimages.org/photos/jesus-alive/
4. Sing songs together from the church hymnal about the resurrection.  Search for songs on YouTube:
   • Low in the Grave He Lay
   • Christ the Lord is Risen Today
   • Rabboni!
   • He Lives
   • Lord I Lift Your Name on High
5. Visit a mature older Christian and ask them to share why the Resurrection is important to them.
6. Black out the windows of your classroom to make it dark like the tomb.  Quietly tell the story of the resurrection by the light of a candle or by torch/flashlight
7. Place a dark cloth over a small table to form a “tomb”. Ask someone to be the body inside. Place a cardboard rock at the entrance. Let the children see the body inside and then put the stone in place. “The body” crawls out the back and the children remove the stone to see an empty tomb. Young ones love this obvious re-enactment.
8. Choose words related to the resurrection story and tape them onto stones.  Before class begins hide the stones so that children can hunt for them.  As the children collect the stone discuss the meaning of the words.  Here are some words you might use:
   • Death
   • Burial
   • Resurrection
   • Cross
   • Tomb
   • Forgiveness
9. After telling about the Resurrection guide a child in praying thanks to God.
10. Read a book about Easter.
11. Use these instructions for The Story of the Cross to learn a simple way to tell the story using one sheet of paper.
12. Responsive Drawing:  Guide older children in reading today’s scripture references.  Then have them draw about what they have read.  Use a blank piece of paper or print this worksheet: The Burial and Resurrection of Jesus_Drawing Response
13. Responsive Writing:  Guide older children in reading today’s scripture references.  Then have them draw about what they have read.  Use a blank piece of paper or print this worksheet: The Burial and Resurrection of Jesus_Writing Response
14. Ask younger children to draw the story of the resurrection.
15. Make use of plastic eggs on sale at Easter time.  Use these instructions for “Resurrection Eggs” to re-tell the story of the resurrection.
16. Make a tomb craft from a paper plate.  Cut a paper plate in half, paint if desired, and then staple the top rims together.  To make the body of Christ cut a simple body shape from cardboard, wrap with one layer of toilet paper and dampen with water from a spray bottle, repeat layers and let dry.  The stone is just crumpled brown paper.  In one class we had the children each make a tomb and then put the body inside.  During the week I moved the stones and removed the bodies.  The next week we were going to be studying about the resurrection.  When the children arrived that day they immediately went to the tombs they had made and were shocked to find the body missing.  I let them search and conjecture for awhile before leading into the story of how the women came to the tomb to find Jesus’ body missing.  The children could totally relate to how the women must have felt.  At the end of class I returned the “bodies” so that the children could take the craft home and recreate the event for their families.
17. Write the individual words of Romans 6:9  on a whiteboard or chalkboard.  Say the verse together. Erase one word or phrase and say the verse again. Say it over and over, eliminating one word or phrase each time.  Soon, the children will have it memorised.
18. Write the individual words of Romans 6:9 on pieces of paper and then mix them up.  Children can unscramble the verse  and practice repeating it to memorise it.
19. Print and use a colouring page or puzzle from one of these online resources.
    • Colouring page and puzzle worksheets (Resurrection) at   https://calvarycurriculum.com/pdf/Curriculum/Original/Curriculum/CURR238.PDF
    • Colouring page and puzzle worksheets (Peter and John visiting the tomb) at http://calvarycurriculum.com/pdf/Curriculum/Original/Curriculum/CURR239.PDF
    • Colouring page at http://www.sermons4kids.com/easter-sunday-colorpg.htm
    • Colouring page at http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/clrpg015.html
20. Cook bread rolls that share the story of the resurrection: Cooking craft: Short youtube video on how to make Resurrection Rolls to tell the story- from CullensABCs at http://youtu.be/louAYkJPETQ
21. Make a mobile using these instructions at http://www.sundayschoolcrafts.net/jesus-rose-from-the-dead-moblie.php
22. Make a miniature garden using instructions at http://www.sundayschoolcrafts.net/garden-with-tomb.php
23. Make a salt dough tomb using instructions from one of these online resources:
    • http://www.sundayschoolcrafts.net/easter-tomb-salt-dough.php
    • http://nolongerconforming.blogspot.co.nz/2010/04/empty-tomb-craft.html
24.  Try out some of the ideas on the Pinterest Board: Life of Christ (late ministry)
25. More puzzles and worksheets to print:
    • Worksheets and Puzzles: A printable (Easter) booklet containing a number of puzzles at http://sundayschoolresources.co.uk/activities.php
    • A children’s sermon and activities at https://sermons4kids.com/surprise.html
    • Wordsearch puzzle (1) from http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/wrdsrch6.html
    • Wordsearch puzzle (2) from http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/wordsearch-resurrection.html

This post is an update of one published 22 March 2015.

The header image is the copyright of the www.LumoProject.com (Big Book Media) and distributed for free download, under license exclusively by FreeBibleimages for teaching purposes only.  All rights reserved.

In two Wednesday evening bible classes I taught a group of children about the Burial and Resurrection of Jesus.

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important story a child will ever hear because it is the core of the Gospel.  If it was not for the sacrificial death of Jesus and his resurrection from the dead none of us could receive forgiveness of sins and a relationship with God.  (see I Corinthians 15:1-5)

To help the children experience this story I chose a craft as an activity.  If a teacher chooses an appropriate and meaningful craft then the time spent making it can be used the time to “chat” or talk about what the bible says happened.

The children were given paper plates, paper and toilet tissue to make their own tomb, body and stone to re-enact the story.

The Tomb:

We cut a paper plate in half and cut out a “door” on one of the halves.  We painted one side of the plate black and the other grey to resemble the stone tomb.  Then we used staples to attach the edges together (see photo above).
As we made the tombs we talked about how Joseph of Arimathea arranged for the burial (John 19:38-42)

The Body:

We cut a simple outline of a body from cardboard.  Then we wrapped the body with a couple of layers of toilet paper.  After this first layer of toilet paper we then sprayed it lightly with water to dampen it.  (I supplied a spray bottle filled with water to make this easy)  Then we added a second layer of toilet paper and sprayed it. To add a scent like the spices we dapped on a little perfume.  We repeated this with a few layers until the damp (but not soggy) shape resembled a linen-wrapped body.  When this dried all of toilet paper remained stuck together.
Again, we continued the discussion (from the Scripture above) about burial customs and how they wrapped bodies in linen and placed spices in between the cloths.

The Stone:

This was simple to make by crumpling up paper into a ball.
As we made the stones we talked about how this big stone was put in place and guards placed over it (see Matthew 27:57-66)

At this point each child placed their tomb on a table and put the body inside.  Each carefully rolled the stone in place.  Because everything was still a bit damp we decided to leave them in the classroom until the next week.

The Resurrection!

Just before class the next week I went into the room and removed the “body” from each tomb and put it away.  Then I waited.  Just as I predicted, one by one the children arrived and went straight to the tomb they had created and moved the stone to look inside.  Each one found the tomb empty.  One child said, “Oh, no!  Who took my Jesus?”

Of course I told returned the bodies I had hidden but their reaction to an empty tomb was the perfect way to begin the class and talk about the resurrection.  The children got to experience the same emotions as the soldiers, the women and the apostles as they each found the tomb empty.  Mary Magdelene used almost the same words (verse 13) as the children when she said, “They have taken my Lord away…and I don’t know where they have put him.” (John 20:1-18).

This was a great class!

Note: You could teach this story in one lesson but you will need to distract the children while a helper removes the bodies from the tombs.

• Matthew 28:1-15
• Mark 15:42- 16:14
• Luke 23:50-24:44
• John 19:38-20:31
• Romans 5:8
• Romans 6:1-14

Sometimes it seems like the resurrection of Jesus is just mixed in with the Easter bunny and Easter eggs and that makes me uncomfortable.

I remember, as a young mother, what the “after Easter slump” felt like.  The children were grumpy after their sugar high.  Little bits of fractured egg shell were in the carpet.  I would find candy wrappers and Easter basket grass in all sorts of secret hiding places for weeks to come.

I don’t want to put away the story of Jesus along with the Easter decorations!  It has occurred to me that the days following Easter are a great time to review the story of the resurrection and talk about the impact this event has on our lives every day of the year.

You might notice how shops tend to put all of their Easter decorations on sale after Easter.  How about buying a dozen of those plastic Easter eggs (the kind you open and put things inside)?  You can use them to review the story of the resurrection.  Of course you don’t have to use plastic eggs at all if they are not available.  You can just show the items to the children one after the other.  The eggs are just easy to use and store away.

Here’s what you do:
(click here for printable instructions)

1. Collect 12 plastic eggs and a used egg carton to store them in.
2. Use a permanent marker to number the eggs from one to twelve.
3. Collect representative items (listed below) and put them inside the eggs.  Place the eggs inside the egg carton.
4. Introduce the story by asking the children how they would feel if they went on an Easter egg hunt and every egg they found was empty.  Lead into the lesson by saying sometimes it is GOOD if an egg is empty.  Sometimes an empty egg is the best egg of all.
5. Open the egg carton and begin the lesson by opening egg number one.
6. As you open the eggs one at a time you re-tell the story to the children.  You might let them guess what each of the items might represent.
7. After you tell the story distribute the eggs to the children and let them take turns re-telling the story.
8. If you are able and have fewer children then you might help the children make one of these sets each to take home.

Here’s a list of items for inside the eggs:

• Egg #1: A leaf or twig for the Triumphal Entry– Matthew 21:1-11
• Egg #2: A cracker or communion cup for The Last Supper– Luke 22:7-23
• Egg #3: Coins for Judas betraying Jesus– Matthew 26:14-16
• Egg #4: Thorns from a bush for the crown of thorns Matthew 27:27-31
• Egg #5: A cross for Jesus carrying the cross John 19:17
• Egg #6: Nails for Jesus being nailed to the cross John 19:18; John 20:25-29
• Egg #7: Dice and purple cloth for the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes– John 19:23-24
• Egg# 8: Black paper or cloth for darkness covering the earth– Matthew 27:45
• Egg #9: Sponge for the offer of vinegar on a sponge– Matthew 27:46-48
• Egg #10: Cloth (white) for Joseph of Arimathea wrapping Jesus in cloth– Matthew 27:57-60
• Egg #11: A stone for the stone that was rolled away– Matthew 28:1-4
• Egg #12: EMPTY!!- Jesus is alive!  Matthew 28:5-7

This idea is not new with me.  I’ve listed some sites below that explain some other variations.

• Teaching items in eggs and printable scripture references at http://www.playeatgrow.com/2012/03/play-and-grow-homemade-resurrection.html
• If you are in a rush then here is one example with printable picture cards to put inside the eggs at http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/wp-content/uploads/CPP/BibleHolidays/Easter/ResurrectionEggsUpdate.pdf