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In addition to these public lessons and ideas for teaching the stories of Jesus' Empty Tomb and Resurrection, several of our Writing Team's lesson sets cover Holy Week stories. Here's the Team's link to the John 20 story of Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John ~ Meeting Jesus at the Empty Tomb.

Post-Resurrection Stories of Jesus:
Road to Emmaus, Jesus eats breakfast,
Feed My Sheep, Great Commission, Ascension

(Illustration from Vallotton  Collection at Rotation.org)

Bible Skills and Games Lessons, Ideas, Activities, and Resources for the Empty Tomb and Resurrection.

Post your Sunday School bible skills and games lessons, ideas, activities, and resources for the Empty Tomb and Resurrection.

  • Please include a scripture reference, supply lists, sources, suggested age range. age modification, etc.
  • Photos are much appreciated!  Click "attachments" and upload to your post.
  • Please be careful not to post copyrighted materials. Excerpting and paraphrasing is okay. Include attribution.


Including: Jesus, Stone rolled away, angels, He is risen, Mary Magdalene, Women at tomb, and related stories. Matthew 28:1-18, Mark 16, John 20:1-18, Luke 24, resurrection, etc. Bible lessons for the Empty Tomb and Resurrection -with Games, Bible memory, Games that teach the Bible, Bible Activities, Bible Books, etc

Visit our Bible Games Resource Forum at Rotation.org.
It has many ideas, "how-to," links, and a manual for teaching with Bible games.

Last edited by Neil MacQueen
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The Resurrection

Bible Skills and Games Workshop

Summary:

The children will play a quiz game to reinforce and remember the events of the Resurrection story. The lesson uses a spinning wheel to determine point values of questions.  It also uses the spinner in the opening demonstration and the closing prayer!

The quiz assumes knowledge of the story, thus you may want to use this lesson after others have been taught about the Resurrection. Otherwise, allow students to look up answers in their Bibles.  See game options for several suggestions along those lines.

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 28 (entire chapter which includes Jesus' final instructions, aka, "The Great Commission."  If you don't want to include that part, stop at Matthew 28:18 and remove questions related to it from the quiz game.

Concepts:

  1. God raised Jesus from the dead.
  2. The risen Jesus rules over heaven and earth.
  3. Even disciples sometimes doubt.
  4. Jesus Christ is always present with us and with his church.

Teacher preparation:

  1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
  2. Prepare opening and closing prayers.
  3. Write the scripture verse on the white board or display it in the room some other way.
  4. Gather the Materials.


Materials List:

  • spinning-wheel-Rotation.orgBibles
  • Pencils
  • Post-it Notes
  • Dry-erase marker and whiteboard (or similiar way to keep score)
  • Questions for game (provided at the end of this lesson)
  • Game Spinning Wheel with random numbers (Question point values) on it.

    Game wheels can be inexpensively purchased and find many uses in the Games Workshop. Check Amazon. In lieu of a wheel, you can use a spinner from Twister and add numbers to it, or have kids roll a large dice.  By using a spinner to select a question's point value, it adds an element of random grace to the game and de-emphasizes competition by giving a chance to teams that are behind to spin a large point value.



Lesson Plan

Opening:

Welcome your students and explain what they'll be doing today and what you hope they will learn.

Begin with this "Very Good News" Spinner Demonstration

Pull out the game spinner and mark/label each section on it with the word "sinner" as you say the following.  (Depending on the style of spinner you have, you might be able to write "sin" on post-it notes that won't get knocked off as you spin the spinner, or write "sin" directly on the spinner with a dry-erase marker.)

Say: I want you to imagine you have come before God is trying to decide whether you deserve to JOIN HIM in his Kingdom and live with him eternally in paradise, that is, heaven. And the only way you can be "saved" and enter into God's paradise is to be WITHOUT SIN, GOOD ENOUGH, perfect enough, faithful enough, kind enough, unselfish enough, and worshipful enough to enter into his Kingdom and have eternal life with him.  Now God has been watching you and frankly, all God sees is a WHOLE LOTTA SIN.  God sees that you haven't been always kind or unselfish, worshipful or good (as you say this, write "sin" covering the entire spinner.)

Let each student spin the wheel and see it come up "sin"

sin-wheel

If our eternal life is something WE have to WIN, we are in trouble! Fortunately for us, Jesus brought us some VERY GOOD News. He told us about it, and then SHOWED IT TO US on the Cross, and that news is that Jesus has forgiven all our sins, and does not judge or condemn us based on OUR sins, but based on HIS perfect love for us.

Remove the words "sin" from every part of the spinner and replace it with "LOVE" or "JESUS." Then have each student come spin the spinner to see how God is going to judge them.

Jesus-Forgives-Spinner-Rotation.org

"No one is worthy, not one" the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10, EXCEPT for Jesus -- because he IS perfectly loving, perfectly unselfish, and and perfectly forgiving. Jesus has paid the price for our sins by sacrificing his life on the cross so that we might have eternal life with him in heaven. ((Spin the spinner a few more times.) How do we know it's true?  Because Jesus rose from the dead to say so. He said, "go tell everyone this VERY GOOD NEWS!   

Say: Today's Bible story is so important, it is such Very Good News, that we're going to read it together, and then play a quiz game about it.

Read the Story from Matthew 28

It's not very long. Consider having different students read parts of it.

Pause and ask the following life application questions, keeping in mind, that the quiz game will ask more questions!

  1. What would you have been thinking and feeling BEFORE dawn as you prepared to visit Jesus' tomb?

  2. What would have been YOUR reaction to the earthquake and appearance of the angel? (fear? run!?)

  3. What is your reaction NOW when you are reminded that Jesus' has come back to life?  How does that news make you feel?
  4. If Jesus came back to life THEN, that means you can meet him NOW!  How can you do that? What would he have to say to you? (What did he say in his "great commission" ??)


Play the Quiz Game with the Scoring Spinner

Rules:

Divide into teams and have each team appoint an "answer captain." That captain is the only one who can officially answer. Instruct the answer captain that THEY cannot answer without consulting their teammates. Majority rules on the team, so one person cannot dominate the answering process.

Give each team 10 seconds to come up with an answer.

  • If they get it right, they get to SPIN FOR POINTs, then their turn is over.
  • If they get is only partially right, they get to spin and are awarded only half the points.
  • If they get it totally wrong, they still get to spin for points (getting only half the points)

Teams step forward to first answer a question, and

If they get it wrong, they ALSO get to spin for points -- but only get HALF of the points the spinner lands on. (So there's grace in the game, and you can even win when you lose, and at the end of the game, you're going to give EVERYONE enough points to make your "Grace Point."

If the team gets an answer mostly wrong, and after they spin for half-points, ASK THE SAME QUESTION to the other team!

Feel free to adjust the easy/hard factors in a question, such as, offering multiple choice answers, or reducing the number of possible answers.  Feel free to encourage a "better answer" by offering a hint when a team is on the cusp of getting it right.

Reflection:

Give each student a post-it note and a pencil. Have them write a "thank you for" prayer on it and place it on the Spinner. Spin the spinner as your group prayer and read the notes it points to. And all the people said AMEN!

[The spinner is a great metaphor about the fact that we don't win our salvation, we are given it by Jesus. This is what the cross symbolizes (his payment, not ours) and which his resurrection proves as true! By the end of this lesson, the spinner will have taken on symbolic significance.]

Prayer-Spinner




Questions for game

Please note that some of the vocabulary here comes from the CEV version of the Bible. If you're using a different translation, such as the NIV, some of the words/answers might be different that what's typed here. In that case, accept answers that are close. For example, in the CEV Jesus says "go quickly" but in the NIV he says, "Hurry."

  1. True or false: According to Matthew, Jesus’ body was placed in an unguarded tomb.
    False – soldiers guarded the tomb.
  2. True or false: According to Matthew, Jesus' tomb dug in the dirt.
    False, it was carved into the rock.
  3. According to Matthew, how was Jesus’ tomb sealed up/secured?
    A stone was rolled in front of it.
  4. According to Matthew, who came to the tomb on Sunday morning?
    Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
  5. What time of day was it when the women came to the tomb of Jesus?
    Dawn
  6. Why did the women come?
    To look at Jesus’ tomb.
  7. True or false: According to Matthew, there was a thunderstorm and a bolt of lightning hit the tomb.
    False – a violent earthquake.
  8. According to Matthew, when the earthquake struck, what did the angel do?
    Went to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
  9. What did the angel look like?
    He was as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. (Note: the scripture doesn’t say he had wings. An angel is a messenger from God.)
  10. What did the guards do when they saw the angel?
    Shook and fell down like dead men.
  11. True or false: The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid.”
    True
  12. True or false: The angel said to the women: I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is right here!”
    False
  13. Who raised Jesus to life?
    God
  14. Where did the angel say Jesus had gone?
    To Galilee
  15. What did the angel tell the women to do?
    Hurry and tell the disciples.
  16. What were the disciples supposed to do when they heard the news of Jesus' resurrection?
    Go to Galilee and see Jesus
  17. How did the women feel?
    Frightened but happy
  18. As the women hurried to tell the disciples, who did they meet?
    Jesus
  19. What did the women do when they saw Jesus?
    They held onto his feet and worshiped him.
  20. True or false: According to Matthew, the guards decided not to tell the chief priests what had happened.
    False
  21. What did the chief priests do when they heard what had happened?
    Gave the soldiers money to say that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body.
  22. True or false: The soldiers refused to accept the bribe.
    False
  23. According to Matthew, once the disciples met Jesus in Galilee, they all believed he was risen.
    False -- some doubted.
  24. True or false: Jesus told the disciples: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
    True – the risen Jesus rules over the world.
  25. True or false: Jesus said: “I will be with you always.”
    True.
  26. Complete this sentence: Jesus said, “I will be with you always, even until ______”
    The end of the world."
  27. According to the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:9, who is worthy of God's salvation?  (no one, only Christ)
  28. Which of the following did Jesus actually say on the cross:
    Father forgive them*
    I'll be back
    I will rejoice in the Lord even at the hour of my death

A lesson written originally posted by Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church and updated/revised by the Rotation.org Content Team

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  • spinning-wheel-Rotation.org
  • Jesus-Forgives-Spinner-Rotation.org
  • sin-wheel
  • Prayer-Spinner
Last edited by Neil MacQueen

The next two posts in this forum feature a storytelling-memory activity known as "Resurrection Eggs" in which plastic Easter Eggs are filled with objects that symbolize/represent a part of the Holy Week Story.

In this first version below posted by Carol, the story is limited to the events of Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection.  In the second version posted by Amy, the eggs are used to tell the story from Palm Sunday, Last Supper, Trial, Crucifixion and Resurrection, and used the book "Benjamin's Box" which retells the entire story with kid-friendly language and illustrations.



The Empty Tomb and Resurrection of Jesus

A Bible Skills and Games Workshop Lesson


Summary of Lesson Activities:

Easter eggsUse a variety of games using plastic Easter eggs, to learn story details about the empty tomb and resurrection of Jesus.

Scripture References:

Luke 24:1-12, Matthew 28:1-7, John 20:1-21, Luke 24:36-44 (Note: A story summary is provided with this lesson below. It is paraphrased from all of these Bible passages.)

Key Verse:
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Luke 24:5 NRSV

Workshop Objectives — children will learn:

  • That the women found Jesus’ tomb empty. That the stone was moved away not to let Jesus out, but so people could see Jesus had risen from the dead.
  • The resurrected Jesus appeared to his followers; first the women, then to disciples in a locked room.
  • Jesus was alive! Jesus was raised from the dead to give us new life.
  • The empty tomb and resurrection appearances help us believe in Jesus.
  • Older kids: where to find the story in the Bible.

Leader Preparation:

  • Read the scripture for this lesson.
  • Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
  • Prepare an opening and/or closing prayer in case you need one.
  • Gather the materials.

Materials List:

  • Lots of empty plastic eggs to use for relay and other games.
  • A set of “Resurrection Eggs” to tell the story. In our case, we are using ten different colors of eggs, each containing a different item related to the story. Note: we duplicated some of the eggs so there would be enough eggs for each student to have one to use.)
  • A basket to hold the Resurrection Eggs (because you want to keep them separate from the eggs used in the other games).
  • Paraphrased story to use with “Resurrection Eggs” (see below).
  • Bibles (3rd grade and up)
  • Pencils (optional) for Egg Roll game.
  • Music for “Hot Eggs” game (optional, use a CD or play on your cellphone).


Lesson Plan

Opening:

Welcome your students and explain what they'll be doing today and what you hope they will learn.

Say: Today we are going to play some games, but first let’s begin with prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Dear God, Thank you for wanting to have a special relationship with each one of us. At this Easter time we are reminded of the gift of your son, Jesus, who died and yet came back to life again. What a surprise it must have been for the followers to discover the empty tomb. We thank you Lord, for the empty tomb, because we know it means that Jesus is alive. Amen.”

Let's Play!

[Note: depending on the needs of a particular group, use your judgment in deciding how to mix the following active games with telling the story. One restriction: the “Hot Eggs” game needs to come after the telling of the story. “Reflection time” should follow after that.]

Egg Carry Relay Game:
[Note: This game doesn’t really teach anything Biblical – it’s added to provide an active game that our younger students really need.]

Form two teams. (Try to avoid boys vs. girls. Use birthdays or counting off instead.) Decide on your race “course” (simple straight point-to-point, or more complicated). The object is for all members of a team to carry all the eggs in their arms (without dropping any) from point A to point B and back. This is a relay so they will be handing off their armload of eggs to the next team member, etc. until all on a team have had a chance to race. If they drop any eggs while on the course, they need to stop and pick them up!
Have teams line up. Give the first member of each team an arm full of eggs. [Note: use fewer eggs for younger students.] Give the “go” and have fun. [Note: Don’t accentuate a “winning” team; emphasize instead that everyone did his or her best. They were all eggs-perts!]

Egg Roll Game:
Say: The object of this game is to roll your egg from one end of the room to the other. Here’s the catch: you can only touch the egg with your nose. [Note: Be sensitive to kids who might feel uncomfortable on their hands and knees – be flexible and change the rules: say can only move the egg with a pencil. Then hand out pencils to use.]

Divide class into groups of however many can comfortably roll eggs at the same time in the space you have to use. Allow everyone a chance at rolling an egg.
Ask: Did you expect that game was going to be easy?
What happened? (eggs didn’t roll straight)
Say: Sometimes things don’t turn out as we expect they will. That happened to Jesus’ followers in our Bible story. Jesus had told his disciples that he would be killed and would raise from the dead, but they still found it hard to believe. On the very first Easter, Jesus’ disciples were pretty surprised to find his tomb empty!

Tell the story with the “Resurrection Eggs”

Ask: Who knows what the word “resurrection” means? (literally "rise again")
Say: When we say that Jesus was “resurrected” it means he rose from the dead on the very first Easter. God’s power overcame even death and raised Jesus. Jesus was alive! Knowing about God’s power helps us believe in God.
Pass out the Resurrection Eggs so that everyone has at least one egg. (Don’t pass out the duplicate color eggs until all of the other eggs are distributed first. If you have less than ten students, some will have more than one egg.

Read the story, using the eggs in one of two ways:

  1. Best for younger kids: Tell the children not to open their eggs until they are told to. As you read the story, at the appropriate time, ask, “Who has the pink egg?” and let them open it and show what is inside.
    OR
  2. Let the children open their eggs before you tell the story. As you read the story tell them to raise their hand when they recognize the place in the story that applies to their egg.

Play the "Hot Eggs" Game to Have Students Tell the Story:

Collect the Resurrection eggs in a basket. Have the children stand in a circle for a game of Hot Eggs (instead of Hot Potato). Pull an egg out of the basket at random. Have the kids pass the egg around the circle as you play music. Stop passing the egg when you stop the music. Whoever is holding the egg gets to open it and tell "what part of the story" the item inside represents. Give them hints if needed. Then remove that egg and put another into the circle and start the music again.

As the eggs are opened and explained, this is a good time to add additional insights and ask a question or two about the meaning of that part of the story.

Reflection:

Ask: When the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples, first he convinced them that he was not a ghost. How did he do that? (Showed them his hands and feet, told them to touch him, and ate a piece of fish, verses 39-43)

Ask: How do YOU know Jesus is real and alive?   (We do it by reaching out to Jesus with our prayers, listening with our spirit and the inner voice of God. We do it by serving as Jesus served and feeling the confirmation that it brings. We do it through worship -- where the presence of Christ becomes real, even though we can't touch it. etc.)

Invite students to make their own "Resurrection Egg" to take home.




Resurrection Egg to Prepare Before Class

Make a set of Resurrection Eggs by inserting the following items/symbols in the eggs per the instructions below. The following list of items and eggs focus on the stories of the Empty Tomb and the Resurrection of Jesus.

You can also purchase set of pre-made Resurrection Eggs if you'd like. Just be aware that the symbols/items they include will likely include some differences from what is listed below.

Resurrection Eggs

--the color of an egg-----contents-----application to the story

  1. Green---Cross--- (a piece of wood) Jesus died on a cross.
  2. Orange --- Spices (cinnamon sticks)---women brought spices to the tomb to put on Jesus' body.
  3. Pink---Stone---( some gravel) had been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb.
  4. Dark Blue--- Empty Egg---  Jesus’ body was missing from the tomb.
  5. Light Blue---Angel--- (a feather) Angels told the women that Jesus had risen.
  6. Light Purple---Burial cloth--- (piece of cloth) When Peter ran to the tomb, the only thing he saw was the burial cloth Jesus’ body had been wrapped in.
  7. Dark Purple---Hands--- (paper in shape of) Jesus showed the disciples his hands where the nails had been so they would believe he was really Jesus.
  8. Yellow---Nails--- (small nail/tack) Jesus’ hands and feet were nailed to the cross. He showed the disciples so they would know who he was.
  9. Maize/Blue---Fish---When Jesus asked for something to eat, the disciples gave him a piece of fish and he ate it while they watched.
  10. White---Scroll (scriptures)---Jesus talked about the scriptures that described why the Messiah must die and how his death would mean forgiveness and salvation to  all.


Story Summary to read as you share the Resurrection Eggs

Jesus had been killed on a CROSS (green eggs). When Jesus was buried, some of the women who had been his followers, watched as his body was put in the tomb. Then it was time for the Sabbath, so they rested for a day.

Very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, carrying the SPICES (orange eggs) they had prepared to put on Jesus' body. When they got there, they found the STONE (pink egg) had been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. So they went in, but they did not find Jesus’ body. The tomb was EMPTY! (dark blue eggs)

Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them. They were ANGELS! (light blue egg) The women were afraid, but the angels said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is not here! He has risen.”
The women went to the 11 disciples and told them what had happened. The disciples thought it was nonsense and didn’t believe the women. But Peter ran to the tomb and looked in and saw only the BURIAL CLOTH (light purple eggs) that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. So he wondered what had happened.

Later that evening, the disciples were in a locked room, for they were afraid of being arrested by the religious leaders and soldiers. The disciples were talking about what the women had told them. Suddenly, Jesus appeared and greeted them! They were terrified because they thought they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said, “Why are you so scared? Look at my hands and feet and see who I am.” The disciples could see that his HANDS (dark purple egg) had marks where the NAILS (yellow eggs) had been. Jesus said, “Touch me and find out for yourselves. Ghosts don’t have flesh and bones.”
The disciples were so happy and amazed they couldn’t believe it. Then Jesus asked, “Do you have something to eat?” They gave him a piece of FISH (maize &blue eggs), and he ate it while they watched.

Then Jesus talked about the SCRIPTURES (white eggs) and helped the disciples understand. He told them: “The scriptures say that the Messiah must suffer, then three days later he will rise from the dead.

This is the story we tell every Easter, to remember the first Easter when God’s power raised Jesus from the dead, proving that Jesus was the chosen Messiah, come to give us forgiveness, eternal life, and a new way of living in the world.

###end of story###


Sources of inspiration

  • Based in part on a lesson originally posted here by Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church.
  • Egg Carry game from “Postholiday Egg Race”. Family Fun, April 2002: page 18.
  • Egg Roll game adapted from Cokesbury’s “Exploring Faith: Middle Elementary”, Spring 2001.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from First UMC, Ann Arbor, MI and updated by the Rotation.org Content Team

Easter Eggs photo by Jeff Petersen, licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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Last edited by Neil MacQueen

Holy Week and Jesus' Resurrection

A "Benjamin's Box" "Resurrection Eggs" Bible Games Workshop Lesson

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Students will read "Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs" and play a "story ordering and remembering" game using plastic Easter eggs they have filled with the symbols/objects suggested in the story.

Scripture References:

The Benjamin's Box story faithfully recounts ALL the major events of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection in a kid-friendly illustrated book. For our purposes, it IS the scripture reading for this lesson.

Below is a YouTube video created by a congregation featuring the story and illustrations of Benjamin's Box read by many voices. There are others like it, but this one had a nice presentation and audio. It should be noted that to legally use this video for group/church use, you should already OWN a copy of the book, Benjamin's Box. You may otherwise project or show the pages from your own copy. Please note that the story is not short, and the Resurrection Egg games and activity in this lesson are connected to it.

See the list at the end of this lesson to see what goes into each "Resurrection Egg" at the end of this lesson for the specific parts of the story that they refer to. 

Note: It is possible to use this lesson without reading/viewing the book. To do so, simple use the list of Resurrection Eggs at the end of this lesson and have students look up and read the passages that go with each egg. However, the book presents the story from a child's point of view and emphasizes sharing the story!


Memory Verse:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)

Lesson Objectives:
During this workshop:

  • The children and the teacher will read the book Benjamin’s Box by Melody Carlson
  • The children will race to put items/symbols into the correct order
  • The children will make their own set of Resurrection Eggs to take home
  • The children will practice telling the story of Holy Week using their Resurrection Eggs

Teacher preparation:

  • Read the scripture passages and familiarize yourself with the book and egg activity steps.
  • Prepare and Print the List of Resurrection Eggs found at the end of this lesson plan.
  • Know the Holy Week story well enough so that you can tell it using the eggs/symbols in order.
  • Make sure you have all the supplies you need for each egg.

Materials List:

  • A copy of the book Benjamin’s Box (integral to this lesson), and optionally, a way to show the video reading of the book found at https://youtu.be/EBJM7ybE8l8?s...mQ-ej98wR0Q&t=60 on YouTube.
  • 2 sets of Resurrection Eggs
  • Plastic Easter eggs
  • Egg cartons -- 1 egg carton for each child. If needed, you can buy them in bulk from Amazon.
  • and symbols for each child to make their own set of Resurrection eggs
  • Copies of the "List of Resurrection Eggs" found at the end of this lesson to go home with each student (copy it and make it your own)
  • Permanent markers to number the plastic eggs (after the ordering game)
  • Markers to decorate the egg carton at the end of the lesson

  • Symbols/Objects Needed for the Eggs in Benjamin’s box:
    • donkey fur --a piece of fun/fake fur
    • coin/nickel
    • Cup/plastic communion cups or grape
    • Praying hands/smooth twig
    • Leather strip/leather shoelace cut into pieces
    • Thorn/short pieces off someone’s rose bush
    • Nail/small tack
    • Die/dice (can be purchased in bulk on Amazon)
    • Toothpick spear
    • Cloth/gauze bandage pieces, or bandaid if you want it to be useful
    • Stone/garden rocks or pea gravel
    • He is risen! (Benjamin shows everything to his friends) -- an empty egg


Preview of Benjamin's Box as read and posted by First Parish Cong. Saco ME:



Lesson Plan

Opening:

Greet the children and share an overview of what the children are going to learn and do.

Study:

Scripture/Bible Story:
The story of Benjamin’s Box tells the story of the Resurrection. Students will further learn it through the egg games that emphasize retelling the story of the Resurrection in the correct order. If you want to include readings from student Bibles, invite them to look up the verses associated with each egg. They are included on the List of Resurrection Eggs found at the end of this lesson which the students will be using. Otherwise, include the brief passage of Mark 11:1-11 as a summary of the events.

Today's Bible Skill three-fold: (1) Knowing where to find the Resurrection stories. (2) Knowing that they are "Good News" (and what IS that Good News?). And (3) Being able to remember the stories! (which the book and activities will help do). Tell the children the events of Holy Week are told in the Gospels, which are the first four books of the New Testament. Ask them fi they know the name of these books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

Quickly invite students to find the CHAPTERS where the story of Jesus' cross and resurrection is told in ANY of the four Gospels. When everyone has found at least one, have them show the rest of the class.  (For non-readers, show them.)

Ask: Why is the Death and Resurrection of Jesus "Good News" for us?

Read or Show Benjamin's Box:  (20 Minutes)

Read or show Benjamin’s Box to the class. Point out the items that Benjamin puts in his special box, and encourage the children to try to remember the order Benjamin finds them.  They'll soon play a game about what Benjamin put in each egg!

Tip: If your church has an overhead camera projector, place the book under that to make it appear LARGE on a screen!

Ressurection Egg Activities:

Depending on available classtime, and due to the length of the book, you may not have time for some of the following activities. The crucial one is having students assemble the egg carton with the symbols from the story in the eggs. It is possible to focus on the Resurrection Eggs without telling the full story of Benjamin's Box. Rather, you could summarize the "story of Benjamin" as a precursor to having students assemble their own "box" -- egg carton of symbols just like Benjamin did in the story.

1. If you have enough time, begin with a fun game of "race to the eggs." To play, place all the plastic eggs in one large basket at the end of the room and line up the students at the other end of the room in two or three teams. Give each team an empty carton that they keep at the back of their line. On "go" runners from each team run to the basket and bring back one egg and place it in their team's carton. Do this until teams have brought back 12 eggs. No throwing, no dropping.

2. When the egg race game is over, give each student an empty egg carton and invite each student to collect 12 different eggs into their carton for the next activity.

3. One at a time, the teacher is to pick up each symbol/object that students will be putting into their eggs and briefly tell the story associated with the symbol (found on the list at the end of this lesson).  Invite students to first share what they remember it means before filling in more detail. Place the symbols on the table in the correct order as you talk about each one. Remind them to pay attention to the order of the symbols, because in a moment you're going to scramble the symbols and have them put them back in the right story order!

4. Invite one student to come forward and help you SCRAMBLE THE SYMBOLS on the table. Ask the student "Which symbol/story is first in our story" ...and so on until you and the class have put the symbols back in the correct story order. (Use each symbol as a very brief opportunity to add a little additional insight or ask a question about Jesus and his story.)

5. Now invite each student to come get their own set of the symbols, starting with Symbol 1 (the donkey fur) and place it in the plastic egg that they have marked #1 and put it in their carton. Repeat this procedure until each student has received all 12 symbols/objects and placed them in their eggs.

6. Distribute markers and invite student to quickly DECORATE their egg carton with their name and some of the symbols they have placed in their egg. They can include the memory verse phrase:  "For God so loved the world."

6. Have the students divide into pairs to practice telling the story to each other using their eggs and the list of Resurrection Eggs you've given them (the list/handout that tells what part of the story each egg/symbol represents). For non-readers, have the teacher lead them through this process.

Be prepared to help younger children collect, sort, write, and share the story of the Resurrection Eggs. If splitting into pairs isn't going to work, split into small adult-led groups to help each students share their eggs.

Reflection/Closing Egg Hunt Prayer:

If you have time, use this Easter Egg Hunt Closing Prayer, otherwise, offer a prayer of thanksgiving and encouragement that we would tell others the story of what Jesus has done for us.

Easter Egg Closing Prayer:
Hide a set of Resurrection eggs with the symbols in them around the room. When students have found them all, make sure each student is holding at least one egg and invite them to open it and tell the story associated with that symbol.'Then invite each students to "Thank God" for the symbol they are holding and its meaning.

Write these two sentences on the board and invite students to choose one to end their prayers with: "Jesus, make me a good egg -- one that holds your story and shares it with others" OR  "Jesus, help me to search and find you in my life, and when I'm feeling lost, let me know you are always with me."



OPTION: Write/Illustrate John 3:16 somewhere on the Egg Carton
They may have already written the first part of it on their egg carton. John 3:16 is probably a familiar verse to many of the children. To help them remember it, have them write the entire verse or just "For God so loved the world that he gave his son...."   They could write it on the bottom of their carton or on the inside lid.


Resources:

  • Carlson, Melody. Benjamin’s Box. Sisters, Oregon: Gold ‘n’ Honey Books, 1997.
    Some ideas borrowed from other lessons here at rotation.org.
  • Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.


Turn the following list into your own handout. Give it to the students when they tell each other the story of the eggs they have assembled. Send it home with the students in the lid of their egg carton.

List of Resurrection Eggs

Egg # 1 The Donkey
Matthew 21:1-9
The fur reminds us of the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to announce that he was indeed the Messiah come to save.

Egg # 2 Thirty Coins
Matthew 26:14-16
The coin reminds us of the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betraying Jesus to the Jewish leaders. They remind us that we too are sinners who do not always do the right thing.

Egg # 3 The Cup
Matthew 26:17-19,26-28 The cup reminds us of the Passover meal: Jesus’ last supper with His disciples before His crucifixion when he told them that his blood would be shed (poured out) to bring about the forgiveness of sins.

Egg # 4 Prayer
Mark 14:32-42
The twig reminds us of Jesus visiting the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and reminds us that, like Jesus, we need to bring our troubles and worries to God.

Egg # 5 The Trial
John 19:1-15
The leather reminds us of the whip used to give Jesus 39 lashes after His trial by Pilate.  Pilate was hoping that it would be enough to satisfy the crowd and he could let Jesus go free. But in the end, Pilate gave in to the crowd.

Egg # 6 Crown of Thorns
Mark 15: 16-20
The thorn reminds us of the crown of thorns that the soldiers placed on Jesus’ head while mocking Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"   Little did they know that he really was their king!

Egg # 7 Nails
John 19:16-22
The nail reminds us of the nails that were used to nail Jesus to the cross. Jesus suffered horribly so that we would never forget how much God loves us and forgives us even when we do bad things.

Egg # 8 Dice
John 19:23-25
This one die reminds us of the Roman soldiers gambling for Jesus' robe. They were mean and didn't understand who Jesus was, but like us, Jesus died for their sins and forgave them.

Egg # 9 Spear
John 19:31-37
This sword reminds us of the spear that the Roman soldiers used to cut Jesus’ side when He was on the cross. Jesus suffered and died so that we might never forget his message of unconditional love.

Egg # 10 Burial Cloth
Matthew 27:57-61
The gauze reminds us of the linen cloth used by Joseph of Arimathea to wrap Jesus’ body after He died.He risked his reputation and position on the Sanhedrin, the council that arrested Jesus, to honor Jesus.

Egg # 11 Stone
Matthew 28:1-2
The stone reminds us of the tomb with the stone that closed it; the stone that was later rolled away by the angels. Nothing for God is too big or too hard or can't be overcome, not even death!

Egg # 12 Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:5-8
The empty egg reminds us of the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. We don't see his body, but by faith we feel his Spirit living inside us and through his people calling us to believe and follow in his ways.



A lesson written by Jaime Senyard from River Community Church Prairieville, LA
using ideas from other lessons previously posted at Rotation.org
and updated by members of the Rotation.org Content Team

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Last edited by Neil MacQueen

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