Getting Acquainted:
“Perfectly Joined Together”... I Corinthians 1:10
The object of this game is to join Bible verses back together. Print the verses from the web page, Perfectly Joined Together or use your own. As you cut out each verse, tape the first part of the verse to one side of a plastic egg and tape the second part of the verse to the other side. Using different colored eggs will make the game easier. (This is fun for older children and adults. You may need other activities for children who are too young to read.)To pair up for a Bible Word Game: (An Easter Crossword, Names Of Jesus , Jesus the great "I Am", and other puzzles are found on the Questions Page) Count the number of guests and use one egg for each two guests. Take the eggs apart and put all the halves in an Easter basket. Give each person a half. The guests must connect their verse to find their partner. To play a game: Divide into teams and give each team a basket of egg halves containing the Bible verses. The first team to put the verses back together correctly wins the game. Bible references are provided for all verses.For A Spoon Race: (Use two different colors of eggs for two teams, or three different colors for a larger group for three teams.) Give each guest two different colored halves. Each person must trade egg halves with other guests to complete his or her verse. You may wish to award a small prize to each guest as you check his/her verse. Tell them to keep their eggs for the spoon race. After each person has a complete verse, group each color together for the spoon race. Line each team up at point A and place a basket for each team at point B. The first player in each line must carry his or her egg, on a spoon, and put the egg in the basket. He/she then runs back to the next player and hands him/her the spoon. If the egg is dropped the player must begin again at point A. The team which puts all their eggs in the basket first wins."Why Stand We In Jeopardy?" ... I Corinthians 15:30
For the Easter season, we have an Easter Bible Jeopardy game. The Bible questions are listed under the following categories: In Your Easter Bonnet (Bible questions relating to "Hair"), Brightly Colored Eggs (Bible questions about "Colors"), Bunnies And Chicks (Bible questions about "Animals"), Hiding Easter Eggs (Things "Hidden" in the Bible), and Easter "Crosswords" ("Words of Jesus on the cross"). Divide into teams and use this game to take turns answering Bible questions that are ranked according to difficulty. "Feed My Lambs" ... John 21:15
The activities above are good for older children and adults. But an Easter egg hunt is a good time to get even the very young children involved. Here are some ideas from our Easter party...0 The teens hid the eggs in two different areas so that the youngest children could find eggs easily hidden and the older children could have more of a challenge to find them.
0 We had miniature bowling pins on a table where the children could bowl with an egg. A small bouncy ball inside a plastic egg makes the egg wobble as it rolls so the pins can be fairly close to the child. (We set this up on an air hockey table and the sides of the table kept the ball, or egg, and pins from falling to the floor.)
0 One of the Sunday School Teachers brought a pet rabbit and some baby chicks for the children to see.
0 We played a guessing game using 4 plastic eggs of the same color. The child watched as small prizes, such as chenille chicks, bouncy balls, and candy, were put in each egg. The eggs were put in a small basket and rolled around. The child chose two eggs and got to keep the prizes in each. This was not suitable for children under 3 because the prizes were so small.
0 We played a matching guessing game using 8 plastic eggs, 4 blue and 4 pink. Matching prizes were put in the eggs: a stretchy rabbit in the blue and a stretchy rabbit in the pink; an Easter eraser in each; a chenille chick in each; and a piece of candy in each. The child chose a blue egg and opened it. He then chose a pink egg to see if the two prizes matched. Each child kept playing until he found two matching prizes. There were four bowls of prizes that matched the prizes in the eggs. Have other prizes available for children under 3 years old.
0 Young children enjoyed playing the "Lucky Ducky" game. Seal the hole in the bottom of several rubber ducks with clear finger nail polish and print a number, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., on the bottom of each duck with a permanent marker. Let the ducks float in a small blue pail and have prizes in small baskets or buckets with corresponding numbers. The child picks a duck and gets a prize from the basket with the same number.
The game can also be played using plastic eggs. Print numbers on ping pong balls and place each ball in a plastic egg. Put all the eggs in a basket and each child chooses an egg and picks a prize from the basket with the same number. Prizes might include Easter pencils, colorful erasers, small toys, candy, etc.0 This year we added a duck race. We put a few inches of water in a long plastic storage container (34" x 16" x 6") on a low table. One child stood on the right side and another on the left. Each used a straw to blow air on his or her duck to make it swim to the other end. You will need different color ducks, a package of drinking straws, and a towel for the ducks to rest on between swims.
0 We had a large stuffed rabbit sitting on the floor with a large basket and let the children have an egg toss. They tossed plastic eggs into the basket for a small prize.
0 We had two craft tables set up this year. On one table we had "cross" plastic sun-catchers and glitter paint that each child enjoyed painting. On another table we had various colors of paper and foam crosses and stickers available for the children that wanted to make Easter cards.
0 We let all the children take home prizes in addition to the eggs they found, such as... coloring books and crayons, bubbles, and candy.
0 The small children enjoyed the spoon race as described above.
0 We taped balloons on a white wall as a background and took pictures of each child holding a basket, or toy rabbit. We told them we would have the pictures for them at Sunday School the next morning. This was to encourage the visitors to come to Sunday School. We printed the pictures on our home computer and took them to church for the children. The pictures were given to the children without charge and they did not care that they were not professionally done. (The next year we taped 2 rolls of colorful wrapping paper on the wall as the background.)
0 We alternate pictures on the bulletin board at church so that the children can see them. This is to encourage those who come to Sunday School to also join us for additional activities. We keep a photo album up to date with each new set of photos we take down.
Door Prize:
“Marvelous Things Without Number”... Job 5:9
Fill a plastic decorative jar with Jelly Beans. (Count the number of Jelly Beans before anyone arrives and seal the answer in an envelope.) Write "Name" and "Guess" on the top of a sheet of paper. Everyone should put his/her name and the number he/she guesses on the paper. Explain that no one can use a number someone else has guessed. The person nearest the actual number wins the jar of candy. Have a second jar on hand in case of a tie, or explain that "the closest number without going over is the winner." If you have guests which count layers and multiply to find the answer you may wish to use an oddly shaped jar or use different sizes of candy, such as combining small and large robins' eggs. You may also fill a large basket with plastic eggs and the person to guess the number of eggs could win a small stuffed rabbit. “To The Right Hand, Or To The Left”... Genesis 24:49
This is a fun idea for door prizes hidden in plastic eggs. Everyone sits or stands in a large circle holding a plastic egg (taped close) with a prize inside. As they listen to the story they pass the eggs to the right when they hear the word "right" and to the left when they hear the word "left". At the end of the story each person gets to keep the egg he or she is holding. Follow the link for a story to read for the game. Right Left GameRefreshments:
“Bake Twelve Cakes”... Leviticus 24:5
This verse makes me think of cup cakes. Cup cakes and finger foods are a good choice for refreshments for an Easter Egg Hunt or spring party. Sandwiches, pizza, or even hot dogs can easily be taken outdoors if the weather is nice. You can decorate cup cakes by putting green coconut on the frosting. (A few drops of green food coloring in a tablespoon of milk can be added to a ziplock bag of coconut and shaken.) Add jelly beans on top of the coconut. Everyone doesn't like coconut, so leave a few cup cakes with just frosting. Devotions:
“Behold The Lamb”... John 1:29
Easter is the story of the dear Lamb of God, who came to be our sacrifice. There may be guests who don't know the true Easter story. Tell them how Christ died a cruel death on the cross, but that He arose and lives again. Explain how "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). And that Christ died so that we might live. John preached, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) Salvation comes by believing. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9 & 10) Another idea for young children... you can put Easter symbols in plastic eggs and explain the meaning of each, one at a time. The young children enjoy taking turns opening the eggs to see what is hiding inside. Examples might include a stone (which was rolled away), purple cloth (for the purple robe), coins (for the pieces of silver), a nail, etc. and leave the last one empty for the empty tomb. Out Reach:
“Thy Word Have I Hid”... Psalm 119:11
For an Easter egg hunt, or for take-home treats, you can use plastic eggs to hide verses in. Print out some Bible verses and put them inside the eggs along with a piece of candy. Thy Word Have I Hid is a page of Bible verses which could be used for this purpose.Projects:
“My Hiding Place”... Psalm 32:7
I think most children enjoy an Easter egg hunt. The older teens in your group could sponsor an egg hunt for smaller children. (Make a note on your invitations asking the children to bring a large Easter basket. It is also a good idea to have a few Easter baskets on hand in case some of the children forget to bring one.) Groups could visit families in the neighborhood around your church and hand out invitations to the egg hunt and invitations to visit your church. Many people go to church on Easter Sunday even though they don't attend church regularly throughout the year.“For God So Loved The World”... John 3:16
Our youth group met together and made Easter cards for a nursing home, and for the widows and widowers in our church. I printed John 3:16 on the left inside and "Happy Easter from our church name" on the right side. I found a box of foam crosses and Christian words and symbols in the craft section of a local store. The children glued these to the front part of the cards and added Easter stickers on the inside. The children enjoyed this, so I also set aside a table at our Easter party so that each child could make a cross picture to take home. I printed John 3:16 on different colors of card stock paper and each child decorated a page with the foam cut-outs. The craft kits came with glitter glue sticks, which made the cards pretty, but were messy for the younger children.
