A Time for DIY Resurrection Eggs

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: ~John 11:25

With Easter just a few short days away I thought I would share with you how I made my own set of "resurrection eggs". This is the activity we will be doing with our Good News Club kids on Friday. Each of them will make their own set to take home and share with their friends and family. This is a fun, interactive way to share the Easter story with young and old alike.

To get started you will need an empty egg carton and 12 plastic easter eggs. Take a permanent marker and give each egg a number starting with 1 and finishing with 12. Next you need to decide which verses you will use to tell your story. There are different versions of resurrection eggs, each with small differences. I will give you the list of verses that I used for each egg and which object I chose to put inside the egg to represent what the verse is speaking of. You can tweak your set however you see fit. I needed enough supplies to make 21 sets so some objects that others use were not going to work for me because it was either too costly or I couldn't find enough of that object, in the size needed to fit inside an easter egg.

Egg 1: Matt. 21: 8-9

This is talking about the triumphal entry. I could not find donkeys to place in the eggs so I instead put a large leaf in the egg to represent the palm branch. 

Egg 2: Matt. 26:14-16

This is talking about what was given  to Judas to betray Jesus. I used two real dimes to put inside the egg but you could use plastic silver play money too.

Egg 3: Matt. 26:26-28

This is talking about the last supper Jesus had with his disciples. I used a sponge and cut it into small squares to represent bread. It actually looks a lot like bread. I suppose you could use a cracker and just replace it every year. Some sets use small goblets but I couldn't find any. 

Egg 4: Matt. 36-38

This is talking about when Jesus was praying in the garden before he was arrested. I put a small fake flower in the egg to represent the garden. Some sets use praying hands but I was not able to find that either.

Egg 5: Matt. 27:2

This is talking about Jesus being bound and handed over to Pilot. I used twine to represent this (about a 6" piece). 

Egg 6: Matt 26:75

This is talking about Peter's denial of Christ three times before the rooster crowed. I used a computer image of a rooster. I cut them into small squares.

Egg 7: Matt. 27:26

This is talking about Jesus being beaten. I used leather string to represent the whip. 

Egg 8: Matt 27:28-30

This is talking about Jesus being mocked by the soldiers. Most sets use a crown of thorns for this egg but I could not find anything that would work so I cut up a red t-shirt and put strips of red fabric in the egg to represent the scarlet robe they put on him. 

Egg 9: John 19: 17-18

This is talking about the cross Jesus was nailed to when he was crucified. I used a small wooden cross to put in the egg but many sets use a cross made from nails. 

Egg 10: John 19:32-34

This is talking about Jesus' side being pierced. I could not find small spears like most sets use so I used a toothpick to represent the spear. I had to cut them in half to make it fit in the egg.

Egg 11: Matt 27:59-60

This is talking about Jesus being laid in a tomb made out of rock. I used fake rocks (used for flower arrangements, etc.) and put one in each egg. I would have used real rocks but ours are currently all under snow. 

Egg 12: Matt. 28:2-6

This is talking about the resurrection of Christ. This egg is empty to represent the empty tomb. 

Once you have all the verses printed out and all your objects ready to place inside the eggs here is what you want to do. Print out your verses with the reference, label the verses 1-12 so you know which verse goes in which egg, identify which object is in the corresponding egg and what it represents. I typed out the full verse for this so when you are telling the story the verses are right there for you. Here is an example of what one strip of paper looks like:

#4 Flower represents Jesus praying in the garden before he was arrested. Matt 26: 36-38

 “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”

Once it's printed you will cut each verse into strips and place the strip of paper in it's corresponding egg along with the object. You can paint your egg carton and decorate it if you want but you don't have to. We won't have time to do that part at Good News Club but I will encourage the kids to do so at home. 

This was a little time consuming because of all the steps and planning that goes into it but so worth it. You can buy these sets for about $10-15 but I was able to make each one for just under $1 because the majority of the items I had here at home. The only things I had to buy were the plastic eggs, one bunch of artificial flowers that had 25 buds on it (I paid $0.69 for it) and a branch of leaves that had more leaves than I needed on it for the same price. I love the idea of these sets and what a great way it is to teach our kids how to learn the Easter story and also to retell it.