Teaching Kids About Easter

Most kids, when asked, will say that Easter is a holiday with a bunny who hides eggs.

Stores are decked out with plastic eggs, baskets, and bunnies every year reinforcing the secular side of Easter.

Easter is something much more, though. It is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, how can a parent or grandparent teach the special kids in their lives about the true meaning of Easter?

Here are a few ideas for teaching kids what Easter's really all about.

Begin by telling your kids what Easter means to you personally. You can read book after book and scripture after scripture to them, but if they don't see Easter affecting you in a personal way - well it's just another bedtime story.

Talk to your kids honestly. Allow them to ask questions about the Easter story and allow yourself to not know everything. When my own children ask me questions I'm not sure how to answer, I tell them I'm not sure. Then we look it up together - whether the answer is found in the Bible, in the dictionary or on the Internet.

My children usually have lots of questions about Easter. I assure them that every question they have is important and I will do my best to answer them.

Remember that young children don't need to know all the gory details of the crucifixion of Christ. It is important for children to understand that Jesus suffered and died - but they don't need to be told that his flesh was ripped open by a whip embedded with nails.

Read the scriptural accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection (found in Matthew chapters 26 through 28, Mark 14 through 16, Luke 22 through 24, and John 18 through 20). Focus on the resurrection - explain to the kids that Jesus' death on the cross was not the end of the story. We all need to be reminded that the most important part of Easter is Christ being raised from the dead on the third day.

An annual Easter tradition with my three children are hiding and finding our "Resurrection Eggs." These are 12 plastic eggs containing small items that explain the Easter story. We bought our eggs at a local Christian bookstore. They can also be purchased online from www.familylife.com or you can make your own using instructions found at www.rainbowcastle.org/resurrectioneggs.html .

Our eggs contain a set of praying hands, a small cup, a small donkey, a spear, a crown of thorns, a small stone, a piece of linen, a leather strap (a whip), nails formed into a cross, dice, coins, and an empty egg to represent the empty tomb on Easter morning. We talk about each item in each egg as we open them, saving the empty egg for last.

I usually set aside a special time for hiding and hunting our resurrection eggs. This keeps attention focused on the meaning of Easter and each egg without competition from other eggs full of goodies.

There is also a recipe for Resurrection Cookies available at www.rainbowcastle.org. The recipe includes devotions and explanations relating the ingredients to the Easter story. The cookies are meant to be made on the evening before Easter. After mixing them up, the cookies are left the oven. The following morning, the cookies will be hollow - symbolizing the empty tomb.

Easter is also a wonderful time to get the kids involved in projects to help others.

Help them make small Easter baskets for elderly people in the neighborhood or at a local nursing home. Be sure to check with nursing home staff ahead of time to find out what is and isn't allowed.

Make homemade Easter cards to send to family, friends or even strangers. Contact local jails or prisons, or prison chaplains for permission to send cards to inmates (use only first names, or sign the cards "Your friend"). Chaplains can usually receive cards and distribute them.

Take the kids to the soup kitchen, homeless shelter or other outreach ministry to help out. The sacrifice that Christ made will mean more when kids see His love being lived out and shared in front of them.

Last, but not least, take the kids to church services on Easter Sunday - or go to sunrise services (if you can get them up that early!). What better place to learn about the death and resurrection of Christ than a place where He is celebrated every Sunday!