He is not here: for he is risen. Matthew 28:6

Easter Event Outline He is not here: for he is risen. Matthew 28:6 1.

The Very Best Morning He is not here: for he is risen. Matthew 28:6 This event outline provides ideas for a one-hour Resurrection Day or Easter event based on the theme The Very Best Morning. It s perfect as a spring outreach event for children ages 3 to 8. It can also be adapted for your Sunday school Easter celebration or as a special event for your church s Bible club. The event includes a Bible story presentation, snack idea, and activities. Choose the activities you wish to use, taking into account the size of your group, the children s ages and interests, their background knowledge and skill levels, and the time available to you. May God bless you as you share the joy of Jesus resurrection with the children in your care! 2

As Children Arrive Position group leaders throughout your welcome area and urge them to greet families warmly as they arrive. Gather children into groups, four to six children per group. Mix older children with younger ones in each group. That way, experienced children can help the little ones. Assign one or two adult leaders to stay with each group throughout the event. Group leaders can prepare a goodie bag for each child by writing the child s name on the bag with a permanent marker (order #VBM18TS12 for goodie bags alone or #VBM18SCTS for the softcover book with free goodie bag). Encourage the children to use the bags to gather items from each of the event activities. As you wait for everyone to arrive, leaders should pique children s interest with conversations and activities like these: Ask the children what they are the best at doing and what makes them so good at it. Some children may answer right away, but others may need help brainstorming. Suggest things like the following: being the best at swinging because they can pump their legs the hardest; being the best at riding their bike because they can go the fastest; being the best at building because they make the blocks extremely steady; or being the best at piano because they practice the most. Say: Today, we re going to learn why Jesus is the very best Friend and Savior. He did something nobody else could do he died on the cross to take away our sins! Play a hands tied partner game. Before the event, cut an 18-inch piece of rope for each child. Pair up the children and ask an older or more outgoing pair to demonstrate before the other kids try the game. Some children may not want to participate. Allow them to watch or help the other children. Tie the ends of one rope onto one child s wrists. Then, intertwine the second child s rope into the first child s rope. Tie the second child s rope onto that child s wrists. When the partners are linked and ready, tell the children there is one objective: to get unlinked from their partner. Say Go! and give the children a few minutes to try to wiggle their way out. When time is up, unlink the children. Here s the trick: loop one child s rope up and through the wrist tie of the second child. Pull the rope over the second child s wrist and they will both be free. (There is a helpful illustration on page 10. Say: Wow you couldn t get loose no matter how hard you tried! It s a good thing I was here to give you the solution. You might have been stuck together forever! Sometimes we feel stuck and frustrated when we do bad things. And who is the only one who can help us get loose from those sins? Our very best Friend and Savior, Jesus! Before the event, assemble a few empty gift bags filled with tissue paper. In your group, excitedly ask the children to guess what is in the bag. Then, allow each of them to pull out a piece or two of the tissue paper. When they get to the bottom, ask: Where did the present go? This bag is empty how does that make you feel? This is the opposite of what you were expecting! In the Bible, we learn that a very unexpected thing happened on the first Easter morning. A few women were looking for Jesus. He had died three days earlier and was supposed to be in a tomb but the tomb was empty! Unwrapping an empty present is no fun, but for these women, the empty tomb meant that it was the very best morning! After everyone arrives, it s time to begin the small-group activities. Get everyone s attention and explain that the groups will be moving from one activity to the next. Let them know that you will give a signal (ringing a bell, sounding a whistle, or playing traveling music ) every fifteen minutes to indicate that it s time to rotate. 3

Small-Group Activities That Teach Familiarize yourself with the book The Very Best Morning (Item #VBM18SCTS). You can also download the free PowerPoint version of the book at www.ctainc.com/free. Before you begin, have the children sit in a circle and hand each child an instrument. This could be a trumpet (Item #VBM18TY6P), whistle, drum, jingle bell, kazoo, maracas, or any other small noisemaker. Tell the children to listen for the words the very best morning. When they hear those words, they should play their instruments, shout hooray, and clap their hands anything to show excitement! If there is time, read the book multiple times and allow the children to switch instruments each time. After the presentation, use the following questions to talk about the Easter story: Why did Jesus die on the cross? (He died to take away our sins.) Where did they put Jesus after he died? (in a tomb with a big stone rolled in front) Did Jesus stay in the tomb? (No! He came alive and rose on the very best morning!) God sent Jesus to be our very best Friend and Savior. Jesus loves us so much that he died on the cross to give us forgiveness. Then he came alive on Easter morning! Nobody else could do that for us, but because of Jesus, our sins are gone and we are God s children forever! After story time, helpers can hand out copies of The Very Best Morning books for the children to take home. Encourage the children to share the book and the story of their very best Savior with a grown-up, sibling, or friend. Snack Time What You ll Need The Very Best Morning Ministry Message from www.ctainc.com/free ice cream sundae toppings (marshmallows, sprinkles, fudge sauce, chocolate chips, maraschino cherries, crushed cookies) spoons bowls What You ll Do 1. Download The Very Best Morning Ministry Message from www.ctainc.com/free. 2. Read the devotion to the group, demonstrating the creation of the very best ice cream sundae mentioned in the introduction. 3. When you ve finished the Ministry Message, invite the children to create their own sundaes. 4. While they re eating, give each child a plastic tumbler from The Very Best Morning (Item #VBM18P) filled with water to drink. 5. As they enjoy the snack, encourage the children to talk about all of the wonderful things God has done most important of all, sending Jesus to die on the cross and rise from the tomb on the very best morning! 4

Crafts Here are two options. Choose the craft that best fits your situation and the children at your event. Watercolor Cross What You ll Need Painter s tape White cardstock Watercolors Small paintbrushes What You ll Do 1. Have leaders help the children create a painter s tape cross on the cardstock. If you have especially young participants or need to save time, you may want to consider completing this step before the event begins. 2. Tell the children to use the watercolors to paint the cardstock. They can make special designs, create a pattern, or paint however they d like just as long as all the white paper is painted. 3. When each child has finished painting, remove the painter s tape. The paper that was underneath the tape will be white in contrast to the painted design they made on the rest of the paper. What You ll Say As the children paint, talk about what Jesus death and resurrection mean for our lives: A long, long time ago, sin and the devil came into the world. And, sin is still getting in our way today! When we don t obey our mom and dad, when we refuse to share with our friends, when we shout and stomp our feet because we don t get our way we are sinning against God. It s a terrible thing! But we have a Friend, our very best Savior, who died on the cross to take away all of our sins! He rose on the very best morning and proved that sin and the devil have no power over us! After all the children have pulled off the painter s tape, say: Jesus died on the cross and rose for you on the very best morning! On that first Resurrection Day, he showed how much he loves you. He takes away all of your sins and washes you clean. Nothing can stop the love and forgiveness of our very best Friend and Savior! We are God s children and he promises always to forgive us in Jesus name. Jesus Tomb What You ll Need For each child: 1 sour cream or cottage cheese container (empty and clean) 1 sponge paintbrush 2 flat toothpicks 1 paper fastener 1 He is risen scroll (on page 11 of this event outline) 1 tomb door (on page 12 of this event outline) 5

Bulk supplies: Copies of scroll mentioned above Copies of tomb door mentioned above Retractable razor blade or X-ACTO knife (for adult use ONLY!) Gray craft paint Small disposable cups Crayons or markers Scissors Transparent tape Paper fasteners What You ll Do 1. Before the event, adults on your team should use a razor blade or knife to cut a door in each plastic container. The door should be approximately three inches wide and three inches tall. Make the door rounded, to resemble a tomb carved out of rock. (You can throw away the piece you cut out.) Also cut one vertical slit, approximately three inches tall, on each side of the tomb. If you don t have enough time in your event schedule to let the paint dry, you may want to complete step #3 ahead of time. 2. Before the event, make copies. Each child will need one scroll (printed on white paper) and one tomb door (printed on gray paper). 3. At the event, assign helpers to the younger children. Pour the gray craft paint into disposable cups and provide a sponge paintbrush for each child. Tell the children that they will be making Jesus tomb and let them paint the plastic containers. 4. While the containers are drying, have the children color the scroll. Encourage them to use dark, sad colors for the body of Jesus and happy, bright colors for the On the very best morning... and He is not here sections. When they ve finished coloring, they can use tape to attach one flat toothpick to the Jesus died end of the scroll. 5. Each child should cut a tomb door stone out of gray cardstock. 6. With a dry container, insert the scroll through the slits and attach a flat toothpick to the He is not here end of the scroll. The scroll should now slide though the container with the three different scenes visible through the tomb door. 7. Use a paper fastener (as mentioned above) to attach the gray tomb door stone to the front of the container. It should move up and down to reveal the scroll inside. Jesus died. On the very best morning... He is not here: for he is risen. Matthew 28:6 6

When the craft is finished: When Jesus died on the cross, it was a very sad day. Jesus friends cried they thought Jesus was gone forever. But, three days later, what happened? It was the very best morning! The tomb was empty! Jesus is risen! Your very best Savior loves you so much that he died on the cross and rose from the grave to earn forgiveness and eternal life for you! Children who finish early may help younger participants. You might also keep them busy with an activity book (Item #VBM18AB for ages 7 11; Item #VBM18GF for ages 3 6). Games and Fun Choose the game(s) below that will work best in your setting and are age appropriate for your children. Before each game, explain the rules. Also, remind the children how each game reminds us of our very best Savior and the very best morning. Caterpillar Race If possible, begin by showing a brief video of caterpillar metamorphosis. You can find videos of varying lengths on a site like www.youtube.com. Say: Caterpillars look like fat worms. They wiggle up and down branches or plant stems, munching on the leaves. Eventually, a caterpillar goes off to a safe spot and hides away in a protective covering called a chrysalis. You can t see any life inside the chrysalis it s as if the caterpillar has died. But after a few weeks, the protective shell breaks open and a brand new butterfly comes out! All of this reminds us of Jesus. He took our sins to the cross. He died and his friends placed his body in the tomb. There was even a great big stone rolled in front of the door! People thought Jesus would stay dead forever inside the tomb. But, on the very best morning, he came alive again! Nobody else could have done that died for our sins and rose again three days later. But Jesus is our very best Friend and Savior! Help the children form a human caterpillar. They should sit down on the floor in a single-file line. Then, each child should put his or her legs around the waist of the child in front. The child at the head of the line can use his or her legs to move, but the other children should not let their feet hit the ground. They should use their hands and their bottoms to scoot to the finish line. (Some children may be uncomfortable being so close to other children. Encourage these children to stand with the leaders and cheer for the caterpillar teams.) If all of the children are playing the game at the same time, have each group form their own caterpillar and compete against each other. If not, have the children form one caterpillar and race as fast as they can. 7

Resurrection Day Scavenger Hunt Prepare by hiding items that will remind children of the Easter story. Consider things like these: Nails (for the cross) A black cloth (for the sky that turned dark while Jesus hung on the cross) A rock (for the tomb) A white cloth (for the garment left in the tomb) A piece of gold garland (for the angel by the tomb) An empty plastic egg (for the empty tomb) Make sure to hide at least one item for each child. You may consider hiding multiple versions of each item two rocks, three sets of nails, and so on. If your items are small enough, you may wish to put them inside plastic eggs and tell the children to look for hidden Easter eggs. Otherwise, simply instruct the children to look for Resurrection Day items hidden in the room. Before the children begin, let them know how many items they are allowed to find. Once they reach their limit, they should come back to the starting area. When the hunt is over, have the children sit in a circle and take turns telling what their item(s) represents in the Resurrection Day story. Little ones may need some help. After everyone has shared, say: You were able to hunt and find these things by yourselves, but there s one thing you definitely can t find on your own forgiveness. There s no way you can do it by yourself, so God sent the very best Friend and Savior to save you from your sins. Only Jesus could win forgiveness and he could only do it one way by dying on the cross and rising three days later on the very best morning. Now we can have forgiveness anytime we ask for it! Easter Relay Race You ll need four The Very Best Morning plastic tumblers (Item #VBM18PT) and one Sarah and the First Easter Jumbo Gospel Easter Egg with building blocks (Item #ESG18EGTY) for each team. Before children arrive at the game, set up two (or more, depending on the number of children you expect to attend your event) identical tables with obstacles: Four plastic tumblers (children must turn each upside down to move on) A big bowl of jelly beans (children must pick out 10 pink jelly beans to move on) A box of straws and a plastic Easter egg (children must blow the egg off the table to move on; each child should use his or her own straw) Jumbo egg with blocks (children must use all of the blocks to make a tower to move on) A plastic Easter egg and a spoon (children must put the egg on the spoon and run back to tag their teammate without dropping the egg) When the children arrive, divide them into teams and explain each obstacle. When the first child finishes, he or she should tag a teammate, and then the teammate will complete the obstacles. The first team to 8

finish is the winner! After the race, ask: Which person on your team was the best at blowing the egg? (Allow children to answer.) Which person was the best at finding the jelly beans? (Allow children to answer.) Which person was the best at building the block tower? (Allow children to answer.) Jesus was the very best at a lot of things. He healed people when nobody else could help them. He loved people when everybody else was mean to them. He taught people things that nobody else understood. Our heavenly Father sent Jesus to do all of these things and, most of all, he sent Jesus to die on the cross when nobody else could. We would be lost in our sins if we didn t have a Friend like Jesus. Our Friend died on the cross, but then he rose! He is the very best, the only one, who could defeat sin and rise from the dead! He is our very best Friend and Savior the One who always forgives us, the One who always listens to us, and the One who will live with us forever in heaven! Large-Group Egg Hunt Before children arrive for the egg hunt, hide plastic eggs filled with candy or small prizes. Also, hide one Jumbo Gospel Easter Egg for each child (Item #ESG18EGBU or #ESG18EGTY). As children complete their last small-group activity, have them go outside for the egg hunt or to the you ve hidden the eggs. indoor area where As each group arrives, sing this song (to the tune of B-I-N-G-O ): My Savior rose on Easter morn And Jesus is his name-o! J-E-S-U-S, J-E-S-U-S, J-E-S-U-S And Jesus is his name-o! Keep repeating the song, but as the children learn it, add pats, claps, stomps, jumps, and cheers, as you like. If you haven t already given goodie bags to the children, hand them out now. Explain the guidelines you have set for your egg hunt. Be sure the children understand that they may take only one of the special Jumbo Gospel Easter Eggs. If they find a second one, they should leave it for a friend to find. You may want to pair up young children with older children or adult helpers to make sure each participant finds and keeps just one Jumbo Gospel Easter Egg. When the children finish the egg hunt, invite them to come back to the main meeting area one last time. Repeat the song once again. Thank the kids for coming and make sure they have their goodie bags and take-home items. In addition, give visiting children a letter, brochure, or postcard that invites them and other family members to join your church family for worship this Easter and in the weeks beyond. After the event and cleanup, gather volunteers. Pray together for the children who attended and for their families, asking the Holy Spirit to bless the Word he has planted in their hearts. Ask that Jesus love and the gift of forgiveness 2018 CTA, Inc. www.ctainc.com Permission to make photocopies or reproduce by any other mechanical or electronic means is granted and is intended for use within a church or other Christian organization, but not for resale. #VBM18DCE The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible. 9

will be with them wherever they go. Hands Tied Tie one rope to each child s wrists, making sure the ropes are intertwined as shown in this illustration. To free the ropes: Loop one child s rope through the second child s wrist tie. Put the loop up and over the second child s hand. 10

Jesus died. On the very best morning... He is not here: for he is risen. Matthew 28:6