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Easter Treasure Hunt No Eggs Idea

For Easter we re-enact the last week of Christ's life, but the children's all-time favorite is the Easter Treasure Hunt.

They search for small objects that remind them of the Easter story and put them in treasure chests which they have made; Jesus is always the final treasure.

For ideas on what objects to use check out this Easter Egg Hunt lesson, list found at end of lesson of what objects they used.

Last edited by Luanne Payne

Two Easter Egg Hunt Games for All Ages
that are also teaching moments about the Easter Story

Run to the Empty Tomb!

This classic relay-game-with-a-twist can be played by any age, and should include adults if at all possible.

Before you play, make a list of "ways to run" numbered from 1 to 7 in large numerals on a flipchart that you can display at the race (suggestions below). At the race, line up competing teams and assign each player a number that corresponds to the numbered "ways to run" on the flipchart. If needed, demonstrate each running style.

Create an "Empty Tomb"* at the other end of the course. When a runner arrives at the "tomb" they must go in, shout "He is Risen!" and then run back to tag the next runner on their team and shout to them "He is Risen!"

1. Run hopping on one foot
2. Run backwards
3. Run in giant leaps
4. Run skipping
5. Run carrying a friend or small child
6. Run shouting "I love you!" at the top of your lungs at least 3 times up and 3 times back.
7. Run waddling, flapping, and peeping like a baby chick

Give three cheers to the winning team, but reward everyone with a small token of Easter candy—because when God chose to demonstrate his love for us while we were yet sinners we all won.

*The Empty Tomb can be a camping tent with a painter's drop cloth covering it or a canvas tarp string between two chairs which the runners must duck under to get "inside."

If you have small children, pair them with older kids to run together.  Adjust the number of teams and size of teams for your group size and age. Award extra pieces of candy to some of the cuter, slower, and goofier runners.

Before you play the game, explain what the Empty Tomb means to us, as well as how to use it in the game. Explain that we all "come to our belief in the Risen Christ" in different ways, some hopping, some backward, some slow, some fast, some being carried/encouraged by a friend. Some by going to church, others by music or scripture. Some when they are young, some when they are old. God works in mysterious and amazing ways (like empty tombs and Easter egg hunts) to get his message of love and salvation in front of us. (Add more if you like.)

Get Those Disciples to Emmaus! (and back to Jerusalem)

This classic "balloon batting" relay game is a fun indoor or outdoor game that kids of any age can play, including adults.

Form two or more teams and have the teams line up. On "go" one player from each team must bat or otherwise herd their balloon to a distant box marked "Emmaus." They may not carry it. If the balloon touches the ground or pops they have to start over (though you might adjust this rule for younger players). The next player on a team can only go when the player ahead of them has gotten the balloon into Emmaus. Once all the teams have gotten their balloons into their "Emmaus" box, pause and tell them the story of Jesus appearing on the Road to Emmaus.

When you get to the part where the disciples "returned to Jerusalem," announce that all the balloons must return to Jerusalem—but this time, everyone goes at the same time (which will be fun and quick chaos).  For extra fun, have a volunteer move around with the "Jerusalem Box" making it harder (or easier) to get balloons into it. (Yes there are "obstacles" and "things that make it difficult to follow" even on your way to Jerusalem!)

"Back" to Jerusalem is a nice teaching metaphor. The disciples were wandering off after Easter wondering what it all meant. But they were called back to join the other disciples and carry out Christ's mission. This resurrection of faith and purpose is also part of the Easter message. (Add and fill this out as you like.)

Tip: If a balloon pops, quickly give them a new one and keep playing.

Tip: Use the same box for Emmaus and Jerusalem, just write Jerusalem on the other side.

I hope you like these games and have fun teaching with them.

<>< Neil

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Last edited by Amy Crane

easter-gf463098c0_640Are you looking for meaningful activities to add some "meat" to the sugary fun  of an Easter egg hunt?

Consider making your Easter egg hunt a morning-long family and friend event and incorporate activities such as those outlined in our Holy Week "Reboot." We have suggested three easy to lead, family-friendly activities plus a church family Seder (or consider expanding the Seder activity and use a Seder script  to add a bit of traditional storytelling to your potluck lunch?)

At our Planning for Lent and Easter Coffee Chat, member @Debbie Reiniche shared how her church made an Easter egg hunt into a full-fledged program: they did a rotation on a Saturday; families invited people from the community to attend. Everyone gathered in the sanctuary and kids were given color-coded wristbands to divide them into four groups; parents had to stay with their children as the groups visited the four activities. In the sanctuary the story was shared using resurrection eggs. In the kitchen, the groups made resurrection rolls; another group did crafts. There was an Easter egg hunt outside (with four different sections for the four groups to visit in turn). This arrangement allowed the parents to hear the story as well, and grownups had the opportunity to interact with other adults as they helped their kids.

What does your church do to share the Gospel along with the candy-filled eggs?

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Last edited by Amy Crane

The following Egg Hunt resource was originally posted in our 2021 At-Home Holy Week & Easter Celebration ideas forum (teaching and celebration ideas and resources for use during the COVID pandemic). But we have found that many churches are looking for resources to share with families to help parents disciple their children. This resource is perfect for that!


The Kids Edition of Upperroom magazine, known as "Pockets" has ended its publishing run. But before they closed they posted this FREE printable "Easter Eggs With a Difference" At Home Lesson and Celebration that uses plastic eggs and objects/materials easily found in most homes.

  • Use it any time during Holy Week as it walks through the whole story.
  • Or, create a special Easter Egg Hunt using these story-object-filled eggs.

Pockets-Upperroom

The graphic in the PDF is from pockets.upperroom.org's now defunct site. We've turned it into a PDF for ease of sharing.

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Last edited by Amy Crane

BibleVerseEasterEggHunt.excerpt

Attached is a template we made for giving families an Easter Egg hunt experience at home.  There are options for color and black and white printing. (excerpt shown here; open PDF for full document)

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Last edited by Amy Crane

Rotation.org's Ideas for Conducting Better Easter Egg Hunts

Add your own!

It goes without saying that Easter Egg Hunts are about OUTREACH, and can be a lot of work. That's why you want to maximize their potential by doing more than just  having kids run around looking for candy.

  1. Create a "promotional item" such as a plastic cup with the church's name and worship services on it. Give those out at the free drinks table.

  2. Consider doing all or part of the hunt INDOORS so that visitors can see the inside of your building. 

  3. Have the Youth Group create an Easter Story Walk-Through (like an Advent manger scene but at stations).

  4. Offer free hot dogs, chips and drinks to give people a reason to stick around after the hunt.

  5. Divide hunts and hunting areas by age group so the older kids don't trample the younger ones. 

  6. Create an age limit of 10 and invite older kids to be helpers.

    More continued below...





  7. Do not let parents pick up eggs or point them out to children over the age of 2 as they will become the hunters and may cause other parents to complain. Instead, have a viewing area marked off.

  8. Have "helpers" with full pockets on the look-out for kids who might need something dropped near them.

  9. Do not fill the plastic eggs. Instead, keep them empty and allow kids to "exchange" their eggs for candy at a candy and prize table. You can even color-code the candy with the egg colors. Include healthy snacks.

  10. Have a craft table where kids can create an Easter craft before and after the hunt.

  11. Have an exciting Easter story-telling time prior to the hunt when you have a captive audience.

  12. Have traffic attendants in the parking lot to keep cars and kids from colliding.

  13. Have a portable PA system, and make sure the pastor welcomes everyone.

  14. Scout out when other egg hunts may be taking place in your community so that you are not competing with them.

  15. If you have a children's choir, invite them to sing a song before the Hunt. 

  16. Suggest a voluntary "admission fee" of one canned good per child or $1 that will be given to a local food bank.

  17. Ask your local dentist for sample tooth-brushes and toothpaste to distribute.
Last edited by Neil MacQueen
Resurrection Egg Hunt
quote:
Originally posted by NancyFidler:
I am planning a Resurrection Easter Egg Hunt. Has anyone ever done this and if so, how did it go? What problems did you run into?

Nancy F
Sunday Kids Club Director
Grace Lutheran Church
Streamwood, IL

It is finished.

Our Easter Egg hunt took place this past weekend. We had never done this before and were pretty nervous about taking this event on.

I started by bringing this idea to our congregation. Let me start by saying that I am the Director of the Sunday Kids Club for Grace Lutheran Church, 780 S. Bartlett Road, Streamwood, IL. I have been in this position since January of last year and it has been awesome.

When I approached the congregation with this idea they were so excited. I gave the job of filling the eggs to the members of the church and in one week we had 1,600 eggs returned filled and ready to be hidden.

On the day of the hunt, Saturday, April 3, 2004 – about 30 adults came to help us. Then the children started to arrive (106 in total) and were brought into the church. We started with songs, which were projected on the screen in the front of the church; followed by the rules being read. The children then proceeded to the church grounds to find their eggs. The hunt itself only took around 15 minutes – but when the children returned inside the church – the fun began.

We did the presentation the following way….

  • The children were asked to go through there eggs and find the ones with the numbers on them. (They were told NOT to open their eggs!)
  • We then opened the first egg…
  • Read the bible reading by using the Childs Adventure Bible
  • Talking about it with the children. Then proceeded to the next egg….


I will say that the one thing we did change was the leather (whipping) of Jesus due to the fact that we have so many very young children. I included a picture of a Rooster and talked about the 3 times Peter denied Jesus. I think one of the things that personally affected me was the movie – The Passion. I just couldn’t look at the beating the same way I used to. These children were to young in my eyes to see this part of the story.

But the event was awesome. We even had children attend our Sunday Kids Club the next day because of how much they enjoyed the Egg Hunt.

Praise God!

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Benjamin's Box

Greetings,

There is a wonderful book called Benjamin's Box that is designed to go with the Resurrection Eggs. I like it because it begins with the manger and connects to the cross. It is perfect for sharing at an egg hunt event as it gives a good overview of the life of Christ, why he died, and what it means.

Blessings,
Julie Burton

benjamins.Box.book.by.Melody. CarlsonBenjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs, 2008
by Melody Carlson, available on Amazon and other booksellers.

Here is an art activity you can use with the book.

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Last edited by Amy Crane

We have done two different hunts.
1. I painted large plastic eggs with gold paint. Each egg had a letter on it from the sentence "HE IS NOT HERE". The kids hunted around downstairs after church. When they found them they were to bring them to coffee hour and assemble the eggs in a carton to "unscramble" (pardon the pun) the message.

2. Last year we hid objects eg. a packet of seeds and gave the kids the clue, "Soon you will plant these in the church gardens". Once they returned with the item they got another clue. We used Easter symbols as much as possible but I have to admit that we could have done a better job of that when I read what others have written here. We just needed some activity for burning off some energy. Those chocolate egg hunts had not been going well in the past!
Blessings,
Hilary

Last edited by Luanne Payne

Easter Egg Treasure Hunt with a Holy Week Walk-Through

by member Terry K

Providentially, we knew we were going to have storms the day of our Egg Hunt, so we made plans to move it indoors and simplify. Truly, the rain crisis was the mother of invention, and we may just do it again indoors next year!

Our original plan was to have an involved treasure hunt of sorts, with clues were tucked into the bible, and with each new egg you had the verse to turn to and read - and that's the page the clue was in. It was going to take a ton of adults though, and time to hide the eggs on Easter morning, etc... so honestly I was a bit relieved when they predicted rain. LOL.

Luckily, in the weeks leading up to the Hunt, our Middle School Sunday School class had designed a Holy Week Walk Through for Easter morning. They had studied the story and planned the "stations" --so we simply sped up finalizing their stations and made them part of the "hunt" on Saturday instead of just keeping it to Easter morning.  

Here are the Walk Through Stations:

  1. Path from outdoor worship area to the back door covered in palm leaves, and a child in costume saying how she saw Jesus pass by a week earlier. (this was changed last minute, to be a path from the main door of the fellowship hall to the back door, and we had guides w/ umbrellas!)
  2. The first room you walked in was decorated for the last supper. One plate still had the bread & drink left. crumbs everywhere (they enjoyed this! LOL!). And a girl telling folks how Jesus and his disciples had shared a meal there, and one stomped off angry.
  3. The hallway was decorated as a garden, with a child telling people how Jesus had come and prayed while his friends slept... and about the arrest & Judas' betrayal.
  4. At the bend of the hall, a child cried by a rooster ... crying that he'd betrayed Jesus, just as he'd been warned
  5. Around the bend, you found three huge crosses propped up, with red cloth hanging from the ceiling and someone witnessing about the crucifixion.
  6. From here you turned into another room, where at the door a child dressed as a guard said he'd been stationed there to guard against thieves, and he could attest that no one had been inside for 3 days.
  7. Pass into the "tomb" (really, our nursery with lots of black sheets hanging everywhere) and find a jubilant angel proclaiming the good news by an empty "shroud"
  8. The second door of this room led into our fellowship hall, where hundreds of handmade butterflies were hanging from the ceiling, on the tables (set for sunrise breakfast), and on the windows. Two children told about how Jesus had risen, and the relation to butterflies.


Each station's "storyteller" had an egg and an item to present to each child to remember the story. The students carried their egg cartons from station to station to get the "whole" story.

Our eggs were a bit different, too:

  • (Lt. Blue) Matthew 26:14 Judas asked the priests, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They paid him 30 pieces of silver. --- 3 plastic silver coins
  • (Purple) Matthew 26:17-29 Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. He said this would me his last meal with them on earth. --- a communion cup
  • (Green) Matthew 26: 36-45 Jesus became upset and prayed in the garden at Gethsemane --- a silk flower
  • (Orange) Matthew 26:75 When the cock crowed, Peter realized he had denied Jesus three times, just as he’d been warned. He cried bitterly. --- a chicken feather
  • (Lt. Pink) Matthew 27: 26 Pontius Pilate flogged Jesus and released him to the crowd. -- a couple inches of leather thong
  • (Lt. Green) Matthew 27:28 The governor’s soldiers teased Jesus and placed a crown of thorns on his head. --- a thorn (from a tree in our yard)
  • (Blue) John 19:18 Jesus was crucified, with a criminal also crucified on each side of him. --- a cross - we used metal pocket crosses you buy in a christian store
  • (Med. Blue) Matthew 27:59 Joseph wrapped Jesus’ body in clean linens and placed him in a tomb. He rolled a large stone over the opening. --- a piece of gauze and a stone
  • (Lt. Purple) Matthew 27: 64 Pilate commanded the tomb sealed and guarded for three days, to make sure Jesus’ body was not stolen --- three calendar days, cut from an old calendar
  • (Yellow) Matthew 28:5 Mary and Mary Magdalene worried because the tomb was empty. An angel said “He has been raised!” --- empty egg
  • (Pink) John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that we can have eternal life! CELEBRATE! --- a butterfly
  • (Lt. Yellow) What symbol can you find to represent Easter? Use this last egg to find something special to you. --- empty, can be filled in class or as "homework" for the family

  • At the END of the Walk Through, we had a traditional but scaled down "egg hunt" in the Sanctuary and adjoining hallway. It was a great opportunity to get visitors into the worship space.

  • Next time we're going to have our worship band playing during the hunt to let families know we're not the same old church.


Posted by member Terri K, Columbus, GA


Editor Adds: Check out these Easter Walk Through Stations for more decorating ideas, like this one for Palm Sunday.

Last edited by Luanne Payne

Lunch and Egg Hunt

We have done this for several years. We have a little lunch for the children as members of the CE committee hide the eggs - we do this after worship on Palm Sunday. We use lots of plastic eggs and have a set of "Resurrection Eggs" from Family Life (www.familylife.com) with the 12 special eggs. We mark them with numbers and tap them shut (no peeking) and then after the hunt we gather the children and one by one call the numbers and the children Capture12come up and open their special egg as the story is told.

This year I found a book from Abingdon Press called 'The Symbols Speak' by Barbara Younger and Lisa Flinn, 2004 (search online for a used copy). There are no eggs or symbols provided but I used my graphics CD-ROM and made some to fit inside the special eggs. So the story will be slightly different as you adjust it to fit your graphics.

Dana

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Scavenger Egg Hunt

 

Our egg hunt was more of a scavenger hunt.

The "clue" given at each station was a Bible verse which gave a suggestion of where to go next. (For example we sent the kids to our Furnace Room with a verse from Daniel about the fiery furnace).

To enter each room they asked "Is Jesus here?" to which the person in the room said "He is not here, but has risen" and the children had to say "he is risen, indeed."

In each room they either heard a part of the Easter story and answered questions in order to "earn" their eggs. In some rooms they answered questions in order to be allowed to look for eggs, in others they were just handed out.

It worked out well. Those who think Easter should be taught were happy. Those who wanted an egg hunt were happy. The kids had fun. Those who had been coming reinforced what they had learned. Those who just showed up for the day felt included.

Peace,
Lisa

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Resurrection Egg Hunt

We have done a resurrection egg hunt at our church. What we did was to color-code the contents of the eggs with a specific colored plastic egg. For example, all the blue eggs would contain the gauze pieces, and no other color but blue would have the gauze. Each child could keep hunting for eggs until they got one of each color, and then they could help their classmates find one of each color, too. After everyone had found their eggs, everyone sat down and opened the eggs as the teacher went through the meanings. Everyone would open the same color of egg at the same time, and we would discuss how the item inside relates to the Easter story.

As I am recalling this lesson, it seems like we put 2 different items into each egg color, since plastic eggs usually only come in 6 colors, and resurrection egg story has 12 parts. Of course, the last egg must be empty, to symbolize the that tomb was empty!

Let me know if you need to make some adapations to the actual resurrection egg contents. It seems like we did some fiddling with the contents without changing too much of the meaning of each egg.

Karen

RESURRECTION_EGGS

Moderator edited this post to add sample photo of things that can be in eggs. See this blog for details or use your favorite search engine to look for suggestions for making (or buying) resurrection eggs.

Here is a link to printable objects to put in Resurrection Eggs from Christian Preschool Printables:  Make Your Own Resurrection Eggs.

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