How To: Easter Resurrection Eggs

Resurrection Eggs are a fun way to make the story of Christ's Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection more tangible for kids. My girls love it; one of the reasons we do this all week is because they beg to do it over and over (and often argue over who gets to open the last egg). I like that it helps them remember the specifics so that when we watch the LDS Bible Videos about Jesus's final days, they are already familiar with what they are seeing. 

There are lots of ways to do Resurrection Eggs, and lots of (much more fun) resources out there, but we keep it simple: twelve plastic Easter eggs in an egg carton, numbered 1 through 12. Each one holds a different item that symbolizes part of the story.

• Egg 1 - a leaf (last year it was from a dandelion) that represents a palm leaf and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem
• Egg 2 - a piece of bread that represents the bread at the Last Supper
• Egg 3 - a sacrament cup that represents the wine at the Last Supper
• Egg 4 - a piece of tree bark that symbolizes the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane
• Egg 5 - a drawing of an angel (because I'm too lazy to get out the Christmas ornaments) representing the angel that strengthened Christ in the garden (see Luke 22:43)
• Egg 6 - string that represents the cords used to bind Jesus when they arrested him
• Egg 7 - prickly weeds to represent the crown of thorns
• Egg 8 - a nail representing the nails of the cross
• Egg 9 - a die to represent how the soldiers cast lots for Jesus's clothes
• Egg 10 - a strip of white cloth for the white linen cloth Jesus was buried in
• Egg 11 - a rock to represent the stone place in front of the tomb that was later rolled away
• Egg 12 - is empty to represent the empty tomb on Easter morning

One of the best parts of doing Resurrection Eggs is that you can decide what to include - there's no one right way. We decided to include an angel and leave out the 30 pieces of silver (we would have used three dimes) to focus more on Gethsemane and less on Judas. There are lots of ideas out there and I definitely encourage you to come up with what works for your family. Hopefully this is something to get you started!