Expanding the Impact of Your Gifts of Encouragement

Easter Event Outline

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Jesus Lives for Me!This event outline provides ideas for a one-hour Resurrection Day or

Easter event based on the theme Jesus Lives for Me! It’s perfect as a spring

outreach event for children ages 3 to 8. It can also be adapted for your

Sunday school Easter celebration or as a special event for your church’s

Bible club.

The event includes a Bible story presentation, snack idea, and activities.

Choose the activities you wish to use, taking into account the size of your

group, the children’s ages and interests, their background knowledge and

skill levels, and the time available to you.

May God bless you as you share the joy of Jesus’ resurrection with the

children in your care!

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As Children Arrive Position group leaders throughout your welcome area and urge them to greet families warmly as they arrive. Gather children into groups, four to six children per group. Mix older children with younger ones in each group. That way, experienced children can help the little ones. Assign one or two adult leaders to stay with each group throughout the event.

Group leaders can prepare a goodie bag for each child by writing the child’s name on the bag with a permanent marker (order item #JLV19TS12 for goodie bags alone or #JLV19SCTS for the softcover book with free goodie bag). Encourage the children to use the bags to gather items from each of the event activities.

As you wait for everyone to arrive, leaders should pique children’s interest with conversations and activities like these:

• Show children a fl ower bulb. Encourage them to talk about the bulb. Suggest answers that describe the bulb as small, brown, dirty-looking, lifeless, and so on. Then, show the children an Easter lily. Say: Can you believe that dirty, brown bulb turned into this beautiful fl ower? How did it happen? Gardeners dig a hole and put this ugly bulb in the soil. Then, they cover it up and wait. In just a few weeks, a beautiful plant grows out of the ground. This Easter lily reminds people of Jesus. Just like that bulb, people didn’t think much of Jesus after he died on the cross. They thought he would stay dead, so they covered him up in a tomb. But he didn’t stay dead! Jesus rose on Easter morning! He’s alive—living for me and living for you!

• Ask for a volunteer to join you for this challenge: sit back-to-back with the child and see if you can both stand up. You can’t use your hands or arms! Say: Jesus is our Savior! He always has our back. He’s always there for us. He died on the cross to forgive our sins and he rose from the dead three days later. Now, he lives and we’ll never be alone!

• Show the children some moderately brown bananas. Ask: What should we do with these? Maybe we should throw them away . . . they look pretty old and gross. They probably aren’t good for anything. (Accept other answers and discussion from the children.) Say: Did you know that you can make some really yummy treats using old bananas like this? You can make banana bread, banana muffi ns, smoothies, and even banana ice cream! Like these bananas, sin makes us pretty yucky, too. And God knows it! But he didn’t throw us away. He loves us, so he sent Jesus to turn us into something new. Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins. He rose again so that we could have

a new life! Now that our sins have been washed way, God can use us to tell everyone about Jesus!

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• Ask children about the most exciting movie they’ve ever seen. Provide a few kid-friendly examples of your own. Then, introduce the concept of stunt doubles. These people are specially trained to stand in for the real actors. The stunt doubles do things the actors can’t do or things that are too dangerous for the actors to do. Say: God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to be kind of like a stunt double for us—only it wasn’t for a movie; it was for real life. God sent Jesus, our Savior, to take our sins and die on the cross in our place. We deserved that punishment, but Jesus took it for us. We could never save ourselves from our sins, but Jesus did! He died and then rose on Easter morning! He’s alive and he’s with us every day!

After everyone arrives, it’s time to begin the small-group activities. Get everyone’s attention and explain that the groups will be moving from one activity to the next. Let them know that you will give a signal (ringing a bell, sounding a whistle, or playing “traveling music”) every fi fteen minutes to indicate that it’s time to rotate.

Small-Group Activities That Teach Familiarize yourself with the book Jesus Lives for Me! (Item #JLV19SC). You can also download the PowerPoint version of the book in the Resource & Idea Center at www.CTAinc.com/Resources. Before you begin, have the children sit in a circle and hand each child a small instrument. This could be a tambourine (Item #JLV19TY6P), whistle, drum, jingle bell, kazoo, maracas, or any other small noisemaker.

Tell the children to follow the story carefully. When you fi nish reading each page, they should play their instruments and shout, “Jesus lives for me!” If there is time, read the book multiple times and allow the children to switch instruments each time.

When you fi nish the book, use the following questions to talk about the Easter story:

• Who sent Jesus for us? (God sent Jesus for us because he loves us so much!)

• Why did Jesus die on the cross? (He died to take away our sins.)

• Is Jesus still dead? (No! He lives! He lives for me!)

• How do you feel on Easter? (Happy, excited, joyful)

I’m so glad I was able to share that Easter message with you! It all started with God’s love for us. He loves us so much that he sent Jesus to be our Savior. Jesus took all of

our sins to the cross and he died there. But he rose up again on Easter! Jesus defeated our sins. Now he lives for me and he lives for you!

After story time, helpers can hand out Jesus Lives for Me! books for the children to take home. Encourage the children to share the book and the story of Easter with a grown-up, sibling, or friend.

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Snack Time Plan to serve kid-friendly Easter snacks. In choosing your snacks, please be conscious of children with allergies.

Some ideas include . . .

Pudding Comes to Life!

What you’ll need:• Instant pudding

• Cold milk

• Sprinkles

• Large mixing bowl

• Large whisk

• Individual bowls

• Spoons

• Water

• Cups

What you’ll do:You will be making the pudding in front of the children. Consider the size of your group. All participants should be able to see you make the pudding. If your group is large, you may want to stay in small groups and have the small-group leaders make their own pudding.

Before the event, take the bag of pudding mix out of the box, measure the milk into a glass measuring cup, and pour the sprinkles into a small bowl.

What you’ll say:Welcome, everybody! What do you think about the ingredients I have up here? Does anybody know what this is? (Hold up the bag of pudding mix. Allow answers.) This is pudding, but why is it a powder? I don’t think I want to eat it like this! Now, what about this? (Hold up the milk. Allow responses from the children.) Yes, this is milk. But we can’t do much with it like this. We could drink it, but that’s about it. Now, these. (Hold up the

sprinkles.) Yes! Sprinkles! Do you think they would taste good? Of course! But they are kind of diffi cult to eat like this, aren’t they? (Try to pick up the sprinkles and eat them individually.)

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On their own, these ingredients aren’t very useful—they’re not quite right. We might be able to eat them, but they’re not very exciting or tasty. They would taste pretty boring on their own, right? So let’s bring them to life!

(Make the pudding. Tell the children what you’re doing as you go. Add the sprinkles on top at the very end.)

Wow! Now this is something! We took those three ingredients and made something wonderful! Yummy pudding with sprinkles! (Provide scoops of pudding with sprinkles to the children. Also serve water to drink.)

This reminds me of the Easter story. On our own, we aren’t quite right. We can try to do things on our own, but it doesn’t go very well. We make mistakes. We sin. We don’t know how to make it right by ourselves.

But Jesus came to change all of that! He died on the cross to forgive our sins and to bring us life. Listen to what he says: “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25).

Did you hear that? Jesus is life! He lives to give us life—a life of faith here with our family and friends, and a forever life in heaven with him!

Edible Empty Tomb

What you’ll need:• Small apples (one for each child)

• Chocolate-hazelnut spread (two tablespoons for each child)

• Pretzel rods (one for each child)

• Almond bark (vanilla or chocolate, one 24-ounce package will make 30 crosses)

• Paper plates and napkins

• Parchment paper

• Tongs

• Sheet pan(s)

• Water

• Cups

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What you’ll do:Before the event, create crosses using almond bark and pretzel rods. First, break the pretzel rods. You’ll need two-thirds of the pretzel to be the upright piece and one-third of the pretzel to be the cross beam. This does not have to be exact—a rustic-looking cross will be fi ne! Lay the pretzels on a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Melt the almond bark according to the package instructions. Be careful—it burns quickly! (If you’re making a large number of crosses, you may consider melting only a small portion of almond bark at one time.) Once it’s melted, dip the top half of the longer pretzel piece in the almond bark and lay it on the foil. Then, use tongs to dip the entire shorter pretzel into the almond bark and lay it across the longer pretzel—this forms the cross shape. Allow the crosses to dry until the almond bark hardens.

At your event, prepare the “apple tombs.” Cut off a small portion of one side of the apple, leaving a small circle of apple fl esh exposed. Cover this exposed apple fl esh with chocolate-hazelnut spread. Place the apple on a paper plate. Also include the apple piece you cut off —this serves as the stone rolled away from the tomb. Insert the pretzel cross into the top of the apple. Gently twist the pretzel cross while pushing downward and secure with a dab of hazelnut spread. Serve the apple tombs to the children, along with water to drink.

What you’ll say:Before the children start eating, say: God loves us—that’s why he sent Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins. But praise God—that’s not the end of the story. Jesus is risen! He came out of the tomb to live for me and to live for you! He is living for us every day. That means he is always with you and you can go to him in prayer any time. Let’s pray now. Repeat after me:

Dear Jesus,/

Thank you for taking away all of my sins./

Thank you for always being my friend./

Thank you for living for me!/

Amen.

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CraftsHere are two options. Choose the craft that best fi ts your situation and the children at your event.

Pop-Up Resurrection Egg Tomb

What you’ll need:• Egg-tomb template (see pages at the end), printed on white cardstock, one for each child

• Jesus coloring picture (see pages at the end), printed on white cardstock, one for each child

• 5" x 2" piece of white cardstock (one for each child)

• Large wooden craft sticks (two for each child)

• Transparent tape

• Safety scissors

• Pencils

• Crayons and markers

What you’ll do:1. Prior to the event, create a sample of the completed craft for the children to see.

Also print out one egg-tomb template and one Jesus coloring picture for each child. Depending on the age of your participants and the time available, you may wish to cut out the egg-tomb templates prior to the event. You will cut out the entire oval and then cut the oval in half along the wavy line.

2. As children arrive, show them the example of the craft. Say: After Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins, his friends took his body and put it in a big tomb that had been carved out of a hill. The tomb was sealed with a giant stone. But not even that huge rock could keep our Savior in the tomb. He rose on Easter morning! He defeated sin and death. Now, he lives for me and he lives for you!

3. If you did not cut out the egg-tomb templates, instruct the children to cut them out now. They should also color each half of their egg tombs—suggest gray or dark colors—and their picture of Jesus—suggest bright, happy colors.

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4. After coloring, assist children in taping the small rectangular piece of cardstock to the back of the bottom portion of the tomb, just below the wavy line. Tape only the sides—this piece of paper forms a pocket.

5. Take the top piece of the egg tomb, make sure the backside is facing up, and tape the front of the picture of Jesus to it. Be careful not to overlap too much. You want to be able to see Jesus.

6. Tape a wooden craft stick to the back of the top egg-tomb piece and picture of Jesus. The top of the craft stick should be close to the top of the egg tomb.

7. Then, align the back of egg-tomb pieces together on the table so they are “closed.” Tape another craft stick to the back of the Jesus picture, making sure this craft stick extends below the tomb as a sort of handle for the children to hold. The craft sticks may overlap.

8. Slide the bottom craft stick and the bottom of the Jesus picture through the pocket on the bottom of the tomb. Holding the bottom piece in one hand and the bottom craft stick in the other hand, children will be able to make their tomb open and close.

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Resurrection Garden

What you’ll need:• Jesus Lives for Me! Outreach Card with Plantable Seed Cross (one for each child, Item

#JLV19SB)

• Small terracotta pots (one for each child)

• White chalk paint

• Foam paint brushes

• Scissors (for adult use ONLY!)

• Hot glue gun and glue sticks (for adult use ONLY!)

• Permanent markers, various colors with chisel tips

• John 11:25 Bible verse memory card (see pages at the end), one for each child

• Paper punch

• Markers and crayons

What you’ll do:1. Before the event, print the Bible verse memory cards on cardstock and cut them out.

Punch the hole where indicated.

Also, paint the main body of the terracotta pots with white chalk paint, leaving the rim unpainted. Then, cut strips of twine that will go around the pot and leave room for tying on the Bible verse memory card. Use hot glue to attach the twine near the rim of the pot. Leave the loose ends of twine as is and plan to tie on the Bible verse memory cards during the event.

2. When it’s time to begin, hand out the Jesus Lives for Me! cards that came with the plantable seed crosses. Invite a child to read the Bible verse on the front of the card. Then, read the poem on the back of the card to the group. Then, say: On Easter, we remember Jesus’ victory over sin. He took all of our sins to the cross. He took the punishment for our sins and he died in our place. Then, he rose three days later. Now, sin has no power over us! When we turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness, he gives it to us right away because he loves us. Jesus lives for me and he lives for you!

3. Give each child one Bible verse memory card. Encourage them to color the letters of the Bible verse using regular markers and crayons. Children should write their names on the back of the memory cards.

4. Encourage the children to use the permanent markers to draw designs on their pots.

5. Assist children in threading their Bible verse memory cards and tying the twine.

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When everyone is fi nished, say: You’ll take this pot home today. Ask agrown-up to help you plant these seeds. When you fi rst plant the seeds,you won’t see any fl owers. They are buried. But put the pot in your kitchenwindow and wait a few days. You’ll see a wonderful surprise—you’ll see thefl owers come out! After Jesus died on the cross, he was buried, too. Nobodythought they’d see him again. But nothing could hold Jesus down—he came outof the tomb! He lives for me and he lives for you!

Games and Fun Choose the game(s) below that will work best in your setting and are age appropriate for your participants. Before each game, explain the rules. Also, remind the children how each game reminds us of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Resurrection Hopscotch

On your church’s sidewalk, parking lot, or other outdoor space, draw a few hopscotch courts. Instead of putting numbers in the hopscotch squares, put the words of the Bible verse in order:

[Jesus said,] I am the resurrection, and the life. John 11:25

When the children arrive, say: Today, we are learning all about the Easter story. The teachers here today have told you about Jesus’ death and resurrection on Easter, but another great way to hear about God and all of his works is by reading a very special book: the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word. It tells us about how much God loves us and why he sent Jesus to be our Savior. We can go to God’s Word any time. It gives us joy when we feel sad, comfort when we are lonely, and guidance when we feel lost. Now we are going to play a game and practice learning one specifi c verse from the Bible.

Divide the children into teams among the hopscotch courts. Let them take turns hopping onto the squares and saying the Bible verse as they go. After some time goes by, challenge the children with a competition. See which team can make it through the hopscotch game the fastest—they have to recite the Bible verse correctly, too!

Send everyone home with Jesus Lives for Me! Sidewalk Chalk (Item #JLV19WC) and encourage them to use hopscotch to memorize more Bible verses at home.

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Bridge Ball

You will need a medium-sized ball and an open space, indoors or outdoors, to play this game.

When the children arrive, have them gather into a circle. They should stand with their feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. Help them stand close enough so that their feet touch. The object of the game is to use your hands (no feet allowed!) to roll the ball through another person’s “bridge”—the space between their legs. The children should focus on trying to hit the ball, as well as trying to protect their “bridge” with their hands. When the ball goes through a person’s bridge, that person turns around and plays backwards. He or she can turn back around after hitting the ball three times.

When a few minutes of time remain, have the children sit down in a circle. Say: You all make pretty great bridges! Did you know that Jesus is kind of like a bridge, too? Sin separates us from God—he hates sin! But he loves us! So, he sent us our Savior. Jesus bridges the gap that sin creates between us and God. Since Jesus died on the cross and now he lives, we are close to God again. We are friends of God forever!

Up and Down

You’ll need 30 to 60 plastic cups, depending on the size of your group and the space available. Place these cups throughout the space, putting half of them right-side up and half of them upside down.

When the children arrive, divide them into two teams. One team is “ups” and one team is “downs.” Explain the rules of the game. Each round will last one minute. When you start the timer, the “ups” team will run and pick up the cups that are right-side up. The “downs” team will pick up the cups that are upside down. Teams can put their cups in separate piles near the starting area. The team who has the most cups at the end of time wins!

When a few minutes of time remain, say: Sometimes we feel up—happy and excited! And sometimes, we feel down—sad or worried. But nothing, nothing, can change how Jesus feels about us—he loves us so much that he died for our sins and rose again! He is our forever Friend! No matter if we are happy, sad, angry, or excited, he is always living in our hearts. Jesus lives for me and he lives for you!

#JLV19DCE

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Large-Group Egg Hunt Before children arrive for the egg hunt, hide plastic eggs fi lled with candy or small prizes. Also, hide one jumbo Gospel Easter Egg® for each child (Item #ESG19EGBU or #ESG19EGTY). As children complete their last small-group activity, have them go outside for the egg hunt or to the indoor area where you’ve hidden the eggs.

As each group arrives, sing this song (to the tune of “The Wise Man Built His House upona Rock”):

Jesus died upon the cross to take my sins.Jesus died upon the cross to take my sins.Jesus died upon the cross to take my sins,And they buried him in a tomb.

On Easter morning, Jesus rose again.On Easter morning, Jesus rose again.On Easter morning, Jesus rose again.And, now Jesus lives for me!

Keep repeating the song, but as the children learn it, add pats, claps, stomps, jumps, and cheers, as you like. You may also add in the instruments the children used while reading the book.

If you haven’t already given goodie bags to the children, hand them out now. Explain the guidelines you have set for your egg hunt. Be sure the children understand that they may take only one of the special jumbo Gospel Easter Eggs®. If they fi nd a second one, they should leave it for a friend to fi nd. You may want to pair up young children with older children or adult helpers to make sure each participant fi nds and keeps just one jumbo Gospel Easter Egg®.

When the children fi nish the egg hunt, invite them to come back to the main meeting area one last time. Repeat the song once again. Thank the kids for coming and make sure they have their goodie bags and take-home items. In addition, give visiting children a letter, brochure, or postcard that invites them and other family members to join your church family for worship this Easter and in the weeks beyond.

After the event and cleanup, gather volunteers. Pray together for the children who attended and for their families, asking the Holy Spirit to bless the Word he has planted in their hearts. Ask that Jesus’ love and the gift of forgiveness will be with them wherever they go.

© 2019 CTA, Inc. www.CTAinc.com Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale.

The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.

Pop-Up Resurrection Egg Tomb

�

[Jesus said,]“I am the resurrection,

and the life.”

John 11:25

Pop-Up Resurrection Egg Tomb

[Jesus said,]“I am

the resurrection,and the life.”

John 11:25

[Jesus said,]“I am

the resurrection,and the life.”

John 11:25

[Jesus said,]“I am

the resurrection,and the life.”

John 11:25

[Jesus said,]“I am

the resurrection,and the life.”

John 11:25

Resurrection Garden