2 Totally Fun Easter Games to Include in Your Children’s Ministry
Ready to celebrate Jesus with children at your church this Easter? These two, totally fun and totally free Easter games from Group’s The Giant Book of Games for Children’s Ministry will help!
Preschool Easter Game
You Can’t Keep Jesus Down
Kids discover that even though people tried to keep Jesus in the grave, they couldn’t!
Supplies:
- 1 large, rectangular laundry basket
- 6 non-latex, helium balloons with long strings that all fit inside the laundry basket
- 1 thick towel or blanket heavy enough to keep the balloons in the basket
Prep
Before kids arrive, place the helium balloons inside the laundry basket and cover them with a towel.
Tip
These supplies are for a group of up to six children. If you have a larger group, form groups of up to six, and give each group the above supplies.
Say: On Easter morning, Jesus came back to life. Jesus told his disciples that he would come back to life. Nothing could keep Jesus in the grave!
Show kids the basket of balloons.
Say: This basket represents the grave. The towel [or blanket] is the stone. When the women visited Jesus’ grave, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. Jesus wasn’t there anymore! As you remove the towel, let the kids see the balloons rise.
Say: The object of this game is to try to get the balloons back into the basket. Each of you may use only one hand. You must keep your other hand behind your back. Work together to capture all the balloons. Ready? Go!
After playing, gather everyone and discuss the following:
- Explain whether this game was easy or hard for you.
- What kind of power does Jesus have to be able to come back to life?
- Why do you think we celebrate Easter?
Say: Jesus has more power than anything or anyone. He’s so powerful he came back to life so we could be his friend right now, and in heaven someday, too. Easter is a time to celebrate Jesus’ power.
Elementary Easter Game
Sight Seeing
Kids learn that God always keeps his word, no matter how hard it seems to believe.
Supplies:
- Bible
- grocery bag for each team of 4 kids
- 1 scavenger-hunt list per team (the list should include the following: pebble, white napkin or piece of cloth, tissue, handful of dirt, ruler, newspaper)
Prep
You’ll likely need to strategically plant some of the scavenger-hunt items—one per team—prior to the game. You could have kids search outdoors, in different areas of your church, or around your room.
Tip
If you leave your room or kids are out of your sight, plan to have one adult per team to help supervise kids.
Read John 20:1-18.
Say: Seeing can be believing. It’s important to pay attention to what God puts in our paths each day, because we never know what he has in store for us. Just like Mary, we may be very surprised by what we see!
Form teams of four. Give each team a grocery bag to take with them on their scavenger hunt. Give them approximately 10 to 15 minutes to find the items on the list and return to your room.
Shorten or lengthen the time depending on your location, availability of supplies, time constraints, and so on. You want teams to feel pressure to finish, but not be overwhelmed.
Say: You have 10 minutes to gather the items on your team’s list. That means you’ll need to be back here at [the time kids should be back]. If you find more than one of an item on your list, leave the extra item where you found it.
Relating Items
When kids return, talk about the items they found and how theses could remind of them of the time Jesus appeared to Mary. Affirm everyone’s ideas. If kids need help getting started, offer some of these ideas:
- The pebble could remind us of the stone that was in front of Jesus’ grave.
- The napkin could remind us that Mary cried when she couldn’t find Jesus.
- The tissue could remind us of the grave clothes that Jesus left behind.
- The dirt could remind us that Mary mistook Jesus for the gardener.
- The ruler could remind us that Mary called Jesus, teacher.
- The newspaper could remind us that Mary shared the exciting news with the disciples.
Sit together and read aloud John 20:1-18. Then discuss the following:
- Why do you think Mary mistook Jesus for the gardener?
- Describe a time you saw something that was hard to believe. What made you believe it was true?
- What’s the hardest for you to believe about Jesus’ death?
Say: Jesus’ appearance to Mary reminds us that God’s truth is sometimes surprising and even hard to believe—but we can always have faith in him.
Want more game ideas that help Scripture go from kids’ heads to their hearts? Check out The Ultimate List of Bible Games to Make Any Lesson a Blast!
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