Fun Easter Family Night

Around Easter time, we had a fun family night.  Please borrow the idea if you like it, because it actually worked out really well.  

All you need ~ Scissors, paper, and crayons/markers.  

How to do it ~ You cut out enough simple eggs and bunny heads, so that everyone in your family can have one or the other.  While passing out the cut out papers, you tell the kids that they cannot say what they think it is a cutout of; it needs to be kept a secret (and, boy, do kids love thinking they've got the secret all figured out)!  Tell them that this is an Easter lesson and that you want them to color it, so that it can be what it is supposed to be for Easter.  Again, when they are coloring it, set up a no peaking policy.  While the kids are happily decorating their 'Easter eggs' and 'Easter bunnies,' the adults are let in on the real secret; the adult with the egg will color it to be the empty tomb, and the adult with the bunny head will color it to be Jesus, in his resurrected form.  

Below is how our pictures turned out:

 Jed's Abstract Art Egg

 Addie's Designer Egg

 Jared's Empty Tomb

 Lexi's Easter Bunny

Barb's Resurrected Savior

Afterwards, have everyone show each other what they have drawn.  If you have a child like Addie, they may seem disappointed, feeling like they didn't do it right.  So, focus the lesson about how they did a great job and did exactly what you wanted them to do.  Easter traditions with the eggs and the Easter bunny are wonderful parts about Easter; they are fun and create beautiful, happy moments.  Then, explain that sometimes we just have to turn our minds, though, to be able to see the true meaning of Easter in those things.  When we see the Easter eggs, if we turn our mind, we can see the empty tomb.  When we see the Easter bunny, we can turn our minds to remember our risen Lord!

At the end it was cute because Addie took two of the pictures and stapled them together to be like a book and wrote about what we talked about on the back of the pictures, writing about turning our mind to see the true meaning of Easter.

Yay for lessons like this that are easy, kid friendly, and focus on Christ!  We have our fair share of 'flops' where no one is listening or all the kids are fighting, etc.  Since this one was well received by all, I thought it might be worth passing along!