I’m doing the Easter day intergenerational service at our church this year and am focusing on the Emmaus Road story (Luke 24:13-35). I really like it this resurrection story for a few reasons:
1 It includes a mini recap of Jesus’ life and death (v19-24), giving context to the story which is helpful when reading it as stand alone story.
2 It includes two of Jesus’ followers who weren’t part of the inner circle of the 12 disciples, and one of whom could have been a woman, as we’re not told their name. (In The Book of God, Walter Wangerin writes this follower in as Cleopas’ daughter which is an interesting perspective.)
3 In it Jesus reveals Himself as a friend who comes alongside and listens, a teacher who explains and reveals the Bible and the Living One who’s body, like the bread, was broken, but now reveals He is alive. I wonder which revelation you need most today.
You can download this page of pictures here (although you will need to make an account and sign in) and I’ve had more ideas on how we could use them than I can possibly use so I thought I’d share them here for you to borrow. As you read the following options, think about your children and what would work best for them. Look for something which will hook into something they already enjoy doing as this will help them hook into the story and explore it in a way which allows them to go beyond the physical activity and hopefully into a revelation experience with Jesus.
Idea #1 Colour in the pictures together as you tell the story. Or cut the sheet so each person can colour pictures separately.
Idea #2 Cut the sheet into 8 (one picture in each rectangle) and shuffle them on the floor. As you tell the story, invite people to find pictures which go with each part of the story.
Ideas #3 Photocopy and enlarge the pictures each to A4 size and use them to make stations at which each part of the story is told. At the end, invite everyone to return to the station they liked most and spend some time talking with God about it.
Idea #4 Use the pictures in a treasure hunt, perhaps hiding them inside plastic eggs (such as these). When all the eggs are found, challenge everyone to work together to put the pictures in order of the story, then share the story together.
Idea #5 Divide the pictures out between everyone and invite each person to tell their part of the story.
Idea #6 Cut the sheet into 8 (one picture in each rectangle) and give a set plus a sheet of A4 paper to each person for them to make a book of the story. Here’s an easy non-glue to fold and cut the A4 sheet to make a mini book. I love these – they’re really very simple, but effective. The 8 pictures should fit easily onto the 8 pages. Younger children can be encouraged to make a book by just gluing in the pictures, while others may enjoy writing a line of text on top or under each picture.