Celebrating Easter: How to Make Resurrection Eggs
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This is my favorite week of the whole year. I know, that sounds kinda crazy with Christmas and all, but Easter is just such a beautiful renewal of my faith every year. It begins with Palm Sunday, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem, and ends with Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus. This week is so powerful a reminder of God’s promise and love, and I am so blessed to share it with my children.
A few years back I was introduced to Resurrection Eggs - a dozen eggs used to tell the story of the resurrection. It is a creative way to have the egg experience but keep everything centered around Jesus. The best part is, the resurrection eggs can be as customized to your family as you’d like! If you aren’t crafty or want to start with something a little more put together, you can totally buy a resurrection egg kit. My toddler loves nesting dolls, so I’ve got my eye on these wooden Easter story nesting eggs.
DIY Resurrection Eggs
First, you have to decide what type of egg you are using: plastic, wood or real. Then you have to decide if you are putting little story representations inside the eggs or decorating them on the outside. The first time I made these, I used plastic eggs and filled them with the story items. The second time, I bought hollow wood eggs with a flat bottom from Oriental Trading (they done sell them currently) and let my daughter paint them and then fill them. I have seen beautiful versions using solid wood eggs and painting the story. Here’s what is inside each egg and what it represents:
Egg 1: Oyster cracker, crouton, or bread - the last supper (Matthew 26:26)
Egg 2: Silver coins - Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for silver (Matthew 26:14-16)
Egg 3: Purple cloth - stripping of Jesus and putting him in a scarlet robe (Matthew 27:28)
Egg 4: Thorns - crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29)
Egg 5: Rope - Jesus was lashed (Mark 15:15)
Egg 6: Cross - Jesus carried his cross to be crucified (John 19:16-17)
Egg 7: Nails - Jesus was nailed to the cross (John 19:18)
Egg 8: Sign - “King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38)
Egg 9: Sponge - filled with sour wine for Jesus to drink (Matthew 27:48)
Egg 10: Cloves or spices - spices were prepared for Jesus’ body in the tomb (Luke 23:56)
Egg 11: Rock - the stone that covered the entrance of the tomb (Matthew 27:59-60)
Egg 12: nothing! It’s the empty tomb (Matthew 28:55-56)
*Hint: it may be very helpful to number each of the eggs - I explain why down below in using the eggs in a hunt
Just preparing your first resurrection eggs may be all the special memory making you need for this year, but using them in an egg hunt can be another fun way to incorporate them
Coordinating an Easter Teaching
You have an amazing opportunity to share the Easter story with these eggs. The years we’ve made the eggs, we read as we create. Other years, we’ve read the story after we’ve collected the eggs (read below for ideas on using the resurrection eggs in an egg hunt). I like to read the Easter story directly from the Bible with my children, sometimes from mine and sometimes from The Jesus Storybook Bible. Some families love reading a separate book like The Easter Story.
**2022 Update: Our favorite unit study creator, Gather ‘Round Homeschool, now has an Easter unit available! It is beautiful and our kids are loving it. It’s not too late to get your digital download!
Using the Eggs in a Hunt
I’ve incorporated the resurrection eggs into Easter eggs hunts several ways over the years. I’ve done it where I didn’t have the eggs labeled and asked the children what they thought each item represented when they found a special resurrection egg. The next year, I labeled each egg clearly with a number and told the story in order asking the child with each number to open their egg and show what was inside. Last year (2020 Easter, remember?!) I didn’t use the resurrection eggs in a hunt but just went through our Jesus Storybook Bible and let my kids open each of the eggs to look inside.
I think the most successful way to incorporate the eggs into an egg hunt is to have them visually standout and clearly labelled with a number. It can be hard for very young children to recognize the resurrection eggs from other eggs. The children we’ve done the egg hunts with were very excited to open their eggs in anticipation of what would be inside.
A word of caution: the child who opens egg #12, the empty tomb, may not understand the significance this egg holds. She may be more caught up in the disappointment of having an empty egg after watching all her friends open something interesting. That was my kid. She didn’t quite understand that she had the best egg of all - a great teaching moment we laugh about now.
Other DIY Resurrection Egg Resources:
This Simple Home (I based mine off of this one)
Faithward.org (a variation of what goes inside the eggs)
I hope Easter is as special for you as it is for me! I look forward to this week all year.
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