Easter season is such a beautiful, meaningful time for Christian families to gather. But sometimes it’s hard to all be in one place. If you can’t be together, you can always share your time together online. To facilitate a meaningful discussion about the reason for Easter and the promises Our Savior gives us, we share this fun, interactive lesson.

Interactive Easter Egg Hunt Lesson

These eggs can be used in a variety of lesson ideas. Here’s one example:

1. Print and cut out these six adorable eggs. Laminate them if you wish.
2. Hide them around the house in typical Easter egg hunt fashion. After your children find them, gather to discuss what each letter means as outlined in the lesson below.

Here’s a VIRTUAL option:

1. Have each family who will attend the virtual meeting print out the eggs and hide them in their homes.
2. At an appointed time, attend a virtual meeting together. (See option ideas below.) A main teacher has the kids hold up each letter, one at a time, as she teaches the lesson on Easter.

Christian Easter Lesson Outline

The letters in the word Easter can actually help us remember key concepts about this special holiday. Children who can’t read can still participate with the pictures and activities included in the lesson kit, making this an effective, simple activity lesson for a variety of ages.

Use as much or as little of the following ideas as attention spans allow. Feel free to add your own ideas and personalize for your family’s needs.

Items needed: Easter eggs prepared from the printable, visuals from the kit, scriptures (encourage hard copies, but electronic devices are fine too).

E: Eternal hope and everlasting life. Jesus Christ was born, lived, and died—for us. He knows what we are experiencing, our joys and our challenges. He lived a perfect life. Though He did nothing wrong, He suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was crucified on the cross and died, fulfilling God’s plan. He was resurrected so that we, too, might all live again with Him and Heavenly Father one day, never to die again. Because of Him we have hope and the ultimate, promised blessing to live with God eternally one day.

Read or have someone read: John 3:16.

• What does it mean to you to have eternal hope and everlasting life? Think of some of the gifts you have received in your life. Many of them are memorable and bring us joy. But can you think of any other gift you have ever been given that is more precious or meaningful than the gifts of hope or everlasting life?

A: Apostles and Atonement. With great power, the Apostles of Jesus Christ continued to testify of Him after His death. Even though Christ was gone from the earth, they taught His gospel. Wicked people had killed Him, but there were still many good people who wanted to learn. Some of them listened to the Apostles.

Read or have someone read Acts 4:33 about the Apostles.

Discuss what they might have been like and what they were doing.

• What did the Apostles teach? The Atonement. We’ll discuss that word in a moment after we read a scripture.

Read or have someone read Alma 34:8-10.

These verses talk about the Atonement and why we ALL need it.

• What does Atonement mean? See if anyone can explain the Atonement. Answers might reflect that the Atonement helps us to “be one” with Christ. It saves us from spiritual and physical death. In other words, we don’t have to be sinners forever when we do something wrong. We can repent and do better. Also, after we die, we can live again. Death is not the end.

S: Spring, sacrifice, and spirit. Spring is a time for new beginnings, just like Jesus Christ offers us opportunities to continually “try again” and follow His teachings.

• What does spring look like where you live?
• Are there new flower buds coming out of the ground?
• Are baby animals being born? Things are new in the spring.

When Christ died on the cross, He made a tremendous sacrifice for each of us. Without his willing sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, spiritual death (or sin) and physical death would be the end for us. But it’s not. After His physical death, Christ’s Spirit immediately went to heaven to be with Heavenly Father. His Spirit and our very own spirits are eternal. They live on after our body dies.

• What happened to Christ’s body? You can pause for answers or go directly to the next letter and discussion.

T: Tomb. After Christ died on the cross, His body was laid in a tomb, which is a grave, perhaps like a cave. After three days, His body left the tomb. Where did it go? We’ll discuss that in just a minute.

Read or have someone read Luke 24:2-3. 

• Does anyone have a question or observation they’d like to share?

E: Ears to Hear Him. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, wants us to hear and heed, which means to follow, His teachings.

Read or have someone read Matthew 17:5 and this portion of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision (JSH 1:16-17).  How are these verses similar? What is their message, and why is it important?

In Matthew, note with whom the Lord was speaking. He speaks in consistent patterns to His children and did so when He spoke to Joseph Smith in 1820. That makes it real and something we should pay attention to as something very important.

• How can we make time to “hear Him?”
• What are some things we can do to better listen and “heed Him”?
• What might it feel like when He’s trying to teach us?

R: Redeemer and Resurrection. Christ is our Redeemer, Our Savior of the world. Because of Him we will ALL be Resurrected again someday. This is the most glorious news ever!

Read or have someone read John 11:25-26. These verses teach us the best news ever!

• What does Resurrection mean? If this answer wasn’t brought up earlier, encourage the understanding that because of the resurrection our spirits and bodies will be reunited again after death.
• What does Redeemer mean? And who is our Redeemer? A redeemer is someone who saves. Our Redeemer is Jesus Christ. That’s why we often call him Our Savior.

Share your testimony. In your own words, share about the realities and blessings of Easter that come only through our Savior, Jesus Christ. God must love Him and us so much to give us all these promised blessings. Every day we can “hear Him” and try to “heed Him.”

Additional Ideas for Lesson Use

• Use printables as Easter decor around the home.
• Display images in a prominent place to prompt review discussions about the concepts learned.
• Encourage a basic discussion the first time, especially if young children are present. Add more gospel teachings in subsequent lessons as you review using this outline.
• Talk about the order of events surrounding Easter. Young children can learn that Jesus was born, lived, suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, and was resurrected. Focus on those key events to help increase their understanding. Kit images are included to facilitate additional discussion.
• Make this lesson a yearly tradition. Repetition is so helpful, especially for young children.

Kerry Smith is a former editor and writer for the Ensign magazine. She enjoys sharing home-centered learning ideas at mrsladywordsmith.com and Utah events and resources at utahfamilyfunstuff.com. Mom to two awesome boys and wife to one amazing husband, Kerry is so excited to be part of the Sugardoodle team.

 

 

April Sorbonne is a talented designer and artist whose work can be seen and enjoyed at goodinspiration.net.   She is passionate about studying the gospel and teaching and has a particular interest in the Principles of Righteousness and their impact on relationships. A recent highlight for her was teaching the Friday Devotional at the University of Utah Institute. She has four creative children and is wife to one awesome guy, April is honored to share her talents with Sugardoodle followers.