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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

New Idea for Resurrection Eggs

 Before I discovered Godly Play, I was still very aware that children need to explore their spirituality with all five senses. Resurrection Eggs were one of the first tools that I used with my own children to help them experience the mystery of Easter. In case you are not familiar with them, they are plastic eggs with small objects inside that tell the story of Jesus from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. It is a bit like the Stations of the Cross plus the Resurrection.
The eggs are numbered so that the children know their order
in the Easter story.
This is a peak at the objects inside.
Though there are many great resources for using these eggs in English, I have had to be creative in my German-speaking context. In the Easter Club for elementary school students, one year used the eggs as part of an Easter Egg hunt and the following year I told the Easter story using the objects found in the Easter Egg hunt.

 This year I wanted to do something new with the eggs,  and also wanted to give the children an opportunity to explore the events of Holy Week more. When we use them in the Easter Egg hunt, the kids only see the objects briefly on that particular day. 

 So this year, I decided to make a station during our Godly Play Response Time featuring the eggs. On a table I placed a felt underlay with a path leading to the cross and then to the empty tomb. The children are then able to take out the individual pieces and place them on the path where they can wonder more about them or ask questions. 
This is what I place on the station table during the Response Time
and how a child might lay the pieces out and play with them.

At our first week of Easter Club on Monday, this was a popular station.
Here a child explores them with a co-worker.

If you don't already have Resurrection Eggs, you can easily make them. Just check out this post from Lacy at Catholic Icing.

If any of you have other ideas of how to use Resurrection Eggs, please leave a message in the comments!


 Linked to Eco Kids' Tuesday at Like Mama-Like Daughter and Organic Aspirations

and Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy

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9 comments:

  1. ayersfamilyFebruary 19, 2013 at 7:53 PM

    I told the Easter story with the book Benjamin's Box - the book is told with the eggs in mind. I purchased treasure boxes (paper ones you have to put together from Oriental Trading) for each child. As I told the story, I showed the pictures from the book on a big screen, and as Benjamin collects items for his treasure box, and we would pass out each item. Then the kids would use their boxes to tell the story to a friend. They loved it!

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    1. SheilaFebruary 19, 2013 at 9:33 PM

      Love the idea of using the big screen and passing out the items to each child! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. CarolineFebruary 19, 2013 at 11:14 PM

    Thank you for the post. I love the idea and would like to tell the story with the resurrection eggs this Easter. Would you be able to share the version of the story that you tell?

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    1. SheilaFebruary 20, 2013 at 10:16 AM

      Hi Caroline,

      Thank you for reading along! Unfortunately, I don't have a written text for this story. I just used the Gospel accounts in Matthew and Luke as a framework to tell the story of Jesus' "path" from the Triumphal Entry to the empty tomb. The children listening to the story had found the eggs in an Easter egg hunt, and I asked each child to put their object on the path as I told that part of the story.

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    2. What Darlin'?February 22, 2013 at 1:50 AM

      I love the idea of putting the treasure on the path as the story is read. I wonder how well this would work with 2 kids? Have you ever done it with just 2?

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    3. SheilaFebruary 22, 2013 at 6:44 AM

      When both of my children were small, we would read "Benjamin's Box", a short book written to go along with the Resurrection Eggs, and open one egg each day. Sort of like an Advent Calendar at Easter. So, yes, I think you could tell the story with just two children and have them alternate placing an object on the path, particularly if there was a suspense build-up like in an Advent Calendar.

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    4. What Darlin'?February 25, 2013 at 1:28 PM

      Thanks! I'll check into the book (:

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  3. HannahWFebruary 26, 2013 at 6:11 PM

    I would like to do this with Bunny ... she will be three April 5th.. I wonder if I should wait a year or two? Thanks for sharing this with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday! Hope to see you again today! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/02/bunnys-bento-box-eco-kids-tuesday.html

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  4. AnnetteMarch 6, 2013 at 6:53 AM

    Thank you for sharing this beautiful way to present the Resurrection Eggs! We received some last year, but I've struggled with a beautiful way to share them.

    Thank you for visiting Waldorf Wednesday. Hope to see you back this week!
    http://ourseasonsofjoy.com/waldorf-wednesday-link-up/waldorf-wednesday-25/

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