For those of us who want to give the kids a little something fun to do on Easter, but want to make egg hunts a lot more meaningful, I recommend resurrection eggs. Yes, you can buy them, but they are also easy - and cheap - to make.

All you need are some plastic eggs (I recently bought a large pack for $1 at the Dollar Tree), some strips of paper with Bible verses printed on them, and a few items to put inside the eggs:



* A small piece of bread, along with a print out of Matthew 26:26: "Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

* A coin, along with Matthew 26: 14-15: "Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, 'What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?' So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over."


* A piece of purple fabric, with Mark 15:17: "They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him."

* A thorn from a rose bush, with Matthew 27:19: They "twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said."

* A piece of string, representing a whip, along with Mark 15:15: "...He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified."

* A small cross (available at a Christian bookstore, or make one from cardboard), with John 19:17-18: "Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle."

* A nail, with John 20:25b: "But he said to them, 'Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.'"

* A small printed sign, along with Luke 23:38: "There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."

* A small piece of sponge, with Matthew 27:48: "Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.:

* A small spear-like object (a pointed stick or a toothpick), with John 19:34: "Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water."

* A small rock, with Matthew 27:59-60: "Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away."

* And an empty egg, with Matthew 28:6: "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

Hide these along with real eggs (or candy filled ones), and you've just created a Christ-centered Easter egg hunt. Young children may have trouble focusing on Resurrection eggs when candy eggs are to be had, so take some time after the hunt to sit down with them while they much on a chocolate cross, and read through and discuss the Resurrection eggs. End by reading the Easter story from the Bible, or from a great children's book like An Easter Gift for Me (toddlers and preschoolers), Read and Share: The Story of Easter (up to kindergarten), or The Very First Easter (kindergarten and up).