He is risen! Three days after being buried in a borrowed tomb, Jesus did what he said he would do. Use these ideas to help your preschoolers understand what happened.

The ideas below may help you when teaching a lesson on the Easter story and the Resurrection of Jesus. Feel free to use these ideas to supplement your current curriculum or to make your own lesson.

Story Suggestions

• Luke 24:1-53
• John 20-21

Key Verse: "Then the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is not here! He has risen!'..." (Luke 24:5b-6a ~ NIrV)

Game Ideas

Easter Egg Hunt

Directions: Ask each child to bring in six specific color plastic eggs. Have their parents stuff each color with a specified item like pennies, stickers, wrapper candy, etc. What makes this a great learning activity as well as a non-competitive one, is that when it is time for the hunt, the teacher holds up a large cut out of an egg shape in the color the children are to hunt for. They still get the excitement of hunting, but without all the commotion of looking for all the eggs at once. They also get a great color reinforcement activity in the process. Take this time to teach your children about the history of the Easter Egg.

Jelly Bean Match

Directions: You will need jelly beans and a few clean egg cartons, so pairs of children can share one egg carton. Color the bottom of one row in the carton various colors that match the colors of the jelly beans you are using. Have the children sort the jelly beans into the appropriate holes on the corresponding side of the egg carton.

Version of the Jelly Bean History: "Eggs have long been a symbol of fertility and spring renewal associated with Easter. The jelly bean's beguiling resemblance to small bird eggs was evident, and that along with their colorful appearance made them a natural addition to Easter festivities." (By Shaun Stanert, Associated Content, April 7, 2007)

Snacks

A good snack idea for this lesson would be:

Easter Bagels

Directions: Separate some cream cheese into small bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring into each bowl and stir in the cream cheese until mixed well. Give each child a half of a bagel and a plastic knife. Let the children spread different colors of cream cheese on their bagels and eat.

Another good snack for this lesson would be Resurrection Buns.

Art Center Ideas

Jelly Bean Prayer Craft

Materials:

• Jelly beans that are red, green, yellow, orange, black, white, purple, and pink
• Snack size zip-lock baggies
• Hole punch
• Ribbon
• Copy of poem (print out below)

Directions:

Preparation: Make copies of the Jelly Bean Prayer (print out below) small enough to go with the snack size zip-lock baggies. Place a hole near the top of each poem. You can laminate the poem for durability, if you desire.

1. Place the assorted colors of jelly beans in their own bowl.
2. Give each child a snack size zip-lock baggie.
3. As you read each line of the poem, have the children put that color jelly bean in their baggie.
4. Once all of the jelly beans are distributed into baggies, have the children seal their bag.
5. Place a hole punch near the top of the zip-lock baggie, and have the children line up the hole in the poem with the hole in the baggie. Let them string a piece of ribbon through the holes and tie a knot.
6. Instruct the children to give this gift to someone they love and want to remember the Easter story.

Cross Craft

Materials:

• Air-drying clay
• Poster paints (various colors)
• Paintbrushes
• Glitter or sequins
• Acrylic

Directions:

1. Pat the air-drying clay into the shape of a pancake.
2. Form the clay into the shape of a cross. Let the clay dry for a few moments.
3. Paint the cross any color you like.
4. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle glitter or sequins onto the cross.
5. Adult: When the paint is dry, cover it with acrylic to keep the glitter/sequins in place.

Suggested Prayer (or use your own)

Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins. We only hope that we can live a life that is pleasing to you. Help us God in all we do. Amen.

See the full list of Sunday School lesson ideas on both the Old Testament and the New Testament!