Have fun seeing if you can re-tell parts of the Easter story in similar locations to where the Biblical events took place.
Now, I’m not suggesting going to Israel, although that would be a pretty cool field trip! No, I’m meaning the types of places in which different parts of the Easter story occur, such as a garden, an upper room, a hill, another garden, a place where the dead are buried, a locked room, a lake, or a road.
Prepare Ahead
You could make copies of the different parts of the story and put them in envelopes with the ‘address’ of where you have to be to share this part of the story together. Introduce the concept to your family and invite them to think of when you might be able to share each part of the story. Don’t worry about reading it in order. As long as you’re all vaguely familiar with the overall story, ask someone to do a quick recap of what’s happened so far and plunge into the story.
You could choose 2 or 3 of these and give the envelopes to families to do together during the weeks and weekends running up to Easter.
I’d recommend using the Contemporary English Version of the Bible (CEV) for children 4+ as it reads out loud really nicely, which is what you’ll be doing with it.
Some examples with CEV links
Here are my ideas, maybe you could come up with some of your own!
- Re-tell the story of Jesus eating Passover with his friends (Matthew 26:17-30) over a meal.
- Re-tell the story of Jesus’ arrest (John 18:1-11) in a garden or park or outside area.
- Re-tell the story of Peter denying Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75) in a yard, courtyard or patio area, or near some chickens or other birds.
- Re-tell the story of Jesus’ burial and resurrection (Matthew 27:57-66; 28:1-10) in or near a graveyard or near some caves or rocks.
- Re-tell the story of Jesus appearing to his friends on their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) on a walk or a journey on a train or in the car.
- Re-tell the story of Jesus appearing to his friends by lake Tiberias (John 21:1-14) by a lake or stream or pond, or when eating fish (and chips)!
For more creative ideas for re-telling Bible stories, get a set of Bible GodVenture52 cards.
Looking for a fun, easy Easter activity? These Easter puppets are simple to make and you'll have fun telling the story together using the storyboard. Available as a book or a download
