Teaching Kids about Easter

Andy & I had such a blast with the kiddos tonight while Mandy and Fi (& Efraim) went on a date. We told them the story of Easter using Resurrection Eggs. They are a great resource for parents to teach their kids in a fun, interactive way.

When you think about it, teaching children about Easter is quite different than teaching them the story of Christmas. One involves a cute, cuddly baby...the other betrayal, fierce beatings, and murder. So how do you teach your kids the most important story of all time without giving them nightmares?

Here's a few ideas that might be helpful if you try to do Resurrection Eggs with your kids:

1. Hide the eggs first and let the kids "hunt" for them. We had each kid find 4 eggs and then come sit down.
2. I started off by saying, "Tonight I'm going to tell you a sad story, but it has a really happy ending."
3. Have pictures that correspond with the part of the story you are telling. I searched Google images and found artwork to represent each section of the story. It was a little tricky finding pics that weren't bloody and scary. Sorry, Mel Gibson, none of your shots made my 3 year old's slideshow. 
4. Tell the story; don't read it. And keep it super simple and concrete. I didn't talk at all about the symbolism or significance of the various elements. Just told what happened. When I asked if anyone knew why Jesus died on the cross Caedmon was able to say, "He died for our sins." But I don't think he understands that yet; we've just told him a million times.

After the Resurrection Eggs we had another Easter egg hunt for eggs with jelly beans in them. They loved this! Then it was off to bath time where we caught this video:

Bath Time Fun from Stacie Wood on Vimeo.