Around this time of year grocery stores fill up with eggs and candy. There is talk circumventing cities and schools about Easter bunnies and egg hunts. For many children today, the true meaning of Easter is shrouded in mystery. I remember being a child and sitting through the lengthy two hour Easter service on Sunday morning. I can still envision my seven-year-old self counting down the minutes until church ended. I knew that if I could just make it through service, I would be allowed to hunt eggs to my heart’s content. Many years passed before I realized the true gift that was given on Easter, a gift far far more precious than candy. However, just like seven-year-old me, there are a lot of Christian kids that are more excited about the gift of candy than they are about the gift of Jesus.
Let’s not allow our little ones to believe that the fun part of Easter is reserved for an egg hunt. Here are some fun-filled kitchen activities that will leave your little ones giggling while teaching them the true meaning of Easter.
- Resurrection Rolls
What you’ll need: crescent rolls, marshmallows, red sprinkles, melted butter, a Bible
- Step One: Gather your family in the kitchen and read the Easter story from the Bible. Be sure to read from a translation that your little ones can understand. Don’t forget to bring up parts of the Easter story throughout the baking process!
- Step Two: Have your kids help you spread out the crescent rolls on a baking sheet.
- What you say, “These rolls represent Jesus’ tomb.”
- Step Three: Have your kids roll one marshmallow first in butter and then red sprinkles.
- What you say, “This represents Jesus’ death on the Cross. Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we can be with Him in heaven one day.”
- Step Four: Have your kids place the sprinkled covered marshmallow in the center of the crescent roll.
- What you say, “A man named Joseph wanted to make sure that Jesus had a proper burial. He took Jesus to his tomb and laid Him inside.”
- Step Five: Have your kids wrap the marshmallow up and press the edges together so the crescent roll seals.
- What you say, “This represents the Roman soldiers coming and sealing Jesus’ tomb.”
- Step Six: Bake the crescent rolls according to the directions on the package. Have your kids set a timer and wait for the rolls to finish baking.
- What you say, “Over the next day, everyone thought Jesus had died. Because it was the Sabbath, no one was allowed to go check on Jesus’ tomb. The disciples had to sit and wait. Waiting can be super hard and I am sure the disciples were really worried.”
- Step Seven: Allow the rolls to cool a bit, then gather your kids around you and open one of the rolls. The marshmallow should have disappeared!
- What you say, “Just like in the story we read, when they arrived at the tomb the next morning, the stone was rolled away and Jesus was no longer in it! He had risen from the dead just like He promised. Remember, the reason we celebrate Easter is because our Savior is no longer in a tomb, He is alive!”
- Easter Story Cookies
What you need: 1 cup of whole pecans, 1 tsp of vinegar, 3 egg whites, a pinch of salt, 1 cup of sugar, a gallon size Zip-Lock bag, a wooden spoon, and some tape.
- Step 1: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
- Step 2: Place your pecans inside your zipper baggie.
- What you do: Read John 19: 1-3, “Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. They came up to him saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands.”
- Step 3: Let your children take turns beating the pecans into small pieces with your wooden spoon.
- Step 4: Take out the vinegar and let all the children smell it. Explain to them that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, this is what the Roman soldiers offered him to drink.
- What you do: Read John 19:28-30 “After this Jesus… said , ‘I thirst.’ A bowl of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “it is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
- Step 5: Have your kids help you add the egg whites.
- What you do: Tell your little ones that the eggs represent life. Explain to them that Jesus gave his life for each and every one of us. Read John 10: 10-11“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
- Step 6: Add a pinch of salt to the mixture. Have your kids close their eyes and hold out their tongues. Drop a couple granules of salt onto their tongues.
- What you do: Ask them to describe the taste. Explain that the salt probably tastes a lot like the tears that Jesus’ followers cried when He died. Read Luke 23:27, “And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him.“
- Step 7: Add in one cup of sugar. Ask your kids to close their eyes again and stick out their tongues. Sprinkle some sugar in their mouths.
- What you do: Tell your kids that although the story has been sad, it is still sweet. Explain that Jesus died for our sins because he loves us! Read John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
- Step 8: Beat the mixture with your mixer on high for 12-15 minutes until small peaks form. The mixture should now be pure white.
- What you do: Explain to your children that this symbolizes Jesus’ purity. Explain to them that Jesus was the only man that never sinned. Read John 3:1-3, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
- Step 9: Fold in the beaten pecans. Drop the batter by the teaspoonful onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
- What you do: Tell your children that the mounds represent the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid after His crucifixion. Read Matthew 27:58-60, “He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.”
- Step 10: Place the cookies in the oven, and turn the oven off.
- What you do: Give each child a piece of tape to “seal” the oven. Read Matthew 27:65, “Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.’ So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.”
- Ask your kids how they think the disciples felt when they had to leave Jesus’ body in the tomb. Explain to your children that they must leave their cookies in the sealed oven overnight, even if it makes them feel sad. Read John 16:20 and 22, then go to bed.
- “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
- Step 11: Gather your kids in the kitchen on Easter morning and open the oven. Give each child a cookie break in half. The cookies should be hollow, just like Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning!
- What you do: Read Matthew 28:6, “He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”
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