First number 12 plastic Easter eggs.
Next put the following items into the eggs:
1-leaf - real or plastic ( the more it look like a palm leaf the better
2- piece of cloth with a little perfume on it
3- piece of tortilla or pita shaped to look like flat bread
4- picture of Jesus or a family picture
5- 3 dimes
6- piece of purple cloth or paper
7- cross made of toothpicks
8- a nail
9- piece of paper that says " KING OF THE JEWS"
10- a little bundle (wrapped in cloth or a baggie) of spices (cloves)
11- a round stone
12- leave empty
Let each child take turns opening the eggs and talk about each item that is in the egg. Here is some ideas of what you can say about each egg and a scripture reference you can look up:
1- When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people waved branches because that is what people used to do when a king walked by. (Mark 1 8-9)
2-Later, Jesus had a special dinner with his friends. A woman came and poured perfume on his head. This showed that she knew that he was the Christ. (Mark 14:3)
3- The next day, Jesus had another special meal with His friends. We call this the Last Supper. This is when the sacrament began, because Jesus said that people who followed Him should have bread and wine or water to help them remember Him.(Mark 14:22)
4- Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Here, he suffered for our sins. Because He did this for us, we can repent and live with Him again. (D&C 19:16-19)
5- Judas was supposed to be one of Jesus special helpers, but instead he helped other men arrest Jesus. He did this because the other men paid him money. (three pieces of silver)( Mark 14:10-11)
6- After Jesus was arrested, the soldiers were really mean to Him and made fun of Him. One thing they did was to put a purple robe on Him. Only kings wore purple robes. They didnt realize he really was a king, they were just teasing Him because people thought he was a king.(Mark 15:16-18)
7- Jesus was crucified ( Mark 15:25)
8- When the soldiers put Jesus on the cross, they pounded nails into his hands and feet ( D&C 6:37)
9- Another thing the soldiers did to make fun of Jesus was put a sign on the cross that said KING OF THE JEWS. Again they thought they were making fun of Him. They didnt realize he really was King of the Jews. ( Mark 15:26)
10- After Jesus died His friends put His body in a tomb. Later, some of the women who followed Him came to the tomb to put spices on His body. That is something they did back then when people died. (Mark 16:1)
11- The tomb had a rock that could roll over the opening to seal it. While the women were walking to the tomb, they wondered how they would get the stone out of the way. (Mark 16: 3-4)
12- When they got to the tomb they were suprised to see that the stone had already been rolled out of the way and Jesus body was gone. Then an angel came and told them, He is risen, he is not here. (Mark 16:66) This egg is empty because Jesus tomb was empty. Jesus tomb was empty because He was resurrected! You may want to share your testimony of the resurrection at this point.
My kids really enjoyed this activity and it was really on their level. When I did it I made the number 12 egg special, I used a shiny golden egg, and the whole time the kids were opening the eggs Dakota kept saying that he wanted to open the golden egg, when we got down to only a couple of eggs left, it was Dakotas turn to open an egg then it was Brielles, I told Brielle to open the next egg and she said "No its Kodas turn", I said "No he just opened one" Then she said " No its Kodas turn" I caught on to what she was doing. She had counted the eggs and realized that it was going to be her turn to open when it got to the golden egg so she let him take two turns so he would get to open the golden egg! She can be such a sweetheart it almost brought tears to my eyes to see her do such a nice thing for her brother all on her own, I need to be more like her.
Before we did this lesson we had a treat and made string Easter eggs. I remember doing these when I was little and I always had fun doing them.
To make them you make cornstarch glue by combining 1 c. cornstarch and 2 c. water in a saucepan stirring until smooth. Heat the mixture over med heat until thick. Allow to cool to the touch. If you think its to thick you can a little warm water to it to thin it. After that prepare to get messy! Dip string in the glue and wrap it around the balloon make sure your string has plenty of glue on it.
After your balloon is covered in string let the balloon sit overnight, or longer, until the string on the balloon is dried and hard.
When its dry pop the balloon inside and remove it. You end up with a string Easter Egg! You can fill it with Easter grass and treat or anything you want.
