Easter is approaching, the time we celebrate our risen Savior. This truly sets Christianity apart from other religions as we worship Jesus, who is alive today. He conquered death to give us an opportunity for eternal life through Him. This is something special, right?
Sometimes, Easter can be so busy that we forget the importance of this day. We skip right past it to hurry to lunches or family members and all the modern things that go along with Easter. On an Easter weekend in your classroom, you may encounter children who have been there every week, and you may encounter new families who are choosing this weekend to try out church for the first time.
The variety of levels of Biblical knowledge could prove challenging when looking at a Sunday School lesson, but do not let that alarm you. Instead, use this as an amazing opportunity to impact children with this amazing truth – we serve a risen Savior! An easy way to do this is through fun, meaningful crafts that kids and parents will enjoy. Check out some of these easy crafts to implement into your Sunday school classes this Easter.
1. Palm Sunday Reminder
Items needed:
- paint stir sticks (found at a local hardware store)
- green construction paper
- markers
- glue dots
This craft will enter kids into the Easter season through the story of Palm Sunday. The Palm Sunday, or triumphant entry, narrative can be found in Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, or John 12. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he is greeted by multitudes praising him, laying down palm branches. You can make your own by cutting green construction paper into one to two-inch strips. Give 8-10 to each child. Invite them to write descriptive words about Jesus on each one. Pass out a paint stir stick to each child and glue dots. They can attach their green “leaves” to the stir stick at an angle to resemble a palm branch. After everyone is finished, reenact the story allowing each child to wave their palm branches praising Jesus.
2. No Prep Construction Paper Easter Scene
Items needed:
construction paper
glue
scissors
Give each child a white piece of construction paper or cardstock. Ask the class to write “Jesus Is Risen” on the top of their paper. Invite them to make an Easter scene using gray (tomb), green (grass), and blue (sky) construction paper, scissors and glue or glue dots. Guide them by showing an example, or walking them through making it their own. Remember, to continue to remind them that the tomb is empty. After everyone is finished, invite those that would like to share their scene with the class.
3. Craft Packs
This is a great, easy, option for those that have a budget available. These can be purchased from Oriental Trading or Amazon. Oriental trading offers everything from color your own fuzzy posters, to stand-up cross craft, and even cross-string art for older kids. These crafts are individually wrapped and have all of the needed items and instructions making them so easy to implement during your lesson.
4. Group craft
Items needed:
- posterboard or canvases
- permanent markers
We all know, at times, kids lose their crafts before getting out to their cars much less make it all the way home. Doing a group craft is a great opportunity to involve the whole class, and have something that can be on display after the Easter weekend. Provide posterboard or canvases with a phrase to discuss in class, like “It makes all the difference” or a phrase of your choice. Lead a discussion with your class about why Jesus rising from the dead makes all the difference for us. As they share ideas, invite them to write them on the poster or canvas. Encourage your kids to be creative, using various colored markers, and writing anywhere to create a class mural. Display this proudly as a weekly reminder of why Jesus being alive truly makes all the difference.
5. Tissue Paper Cross
Items needed:
- white paper
- glue sticks
- small pieces of tissue paper
Before class, draw or print a cross outline onto the white paper for the kids to use as a guide. Give each child a glue stick and some small squares of tissue paper (most craft stores or amazon sell tissue paper already cut into small squares. If you cannot find these, the small squares will need to be prepped). Kids can be creative and design their own tissue paper cross by layering the squares within the cross outline. As they are completing their craft, discuss the importance of the cross to the Easter story.
6. Three Crosses
Items needed:
- white construction paper
- 3 black crosses per student
- chalk or colored pencils
- glue
Pass out a piece of white construction paper and three crosses to each child. Invite them to draw a hill and glue the three crosses on the top of the hill. This sets the scene as it was when Jesus died on the cross in between two others. Allow children to work in groups and share colored pencils or chalk to color the background. They can use a mix of colors to create a sunset or rainbow look behind the crosses. Invite those who are interested to share their cross mural with the class when finished.
7. The Empty Tomb
Items needed:
- brads
- paper plates
- markers
- gray construction
- paper circles
Pass out a paper plate and markers to each child. Encourage them to draw or color the tomb scene with the tomb and circle in the middle (the circle will be covered up by the “stone” so it needs to be smaller than the construction paper circles). Inside the tomb, invite the class to write “Jesus is alive!” or “Jesus has risen!” They can draw the sun, trees, and anything they would like to add to the landscape. Pass out the gray circles and a brad to each child. They will cover up the opening to the tomb they drew and press the brad through the bottom left. The brad will help the stone be rolled away from the tomb showing the phrase on the inside. As kids draw and put together this craft, discuss with them the importance of the empty tomb and who saw the empty tomb on that Easter Sunday.
Crafts are a simple, easy way to solidify the point of the lesson. In each craft, there is room for creativity, discussion, Scripture implementation, and a lot of fun! Easter makes all the difference because Jesus’ resurrection means we can have a relationship with God through His sacrifice now and forever. Let us not forget the importance of impacting our kids with this truth through every aspect of the lesson in our Sunday School classes this Easter season.
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