The Easter Hunt

When my children were small, I was looking for ways to share the Easter story with them and the 15 other young children in our neighborhood. Each year we hosted a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt using regular eggs, Resurrection Eggs and letting the children make Resurrection rolls. For some of the younger ones, the Resurrection Eggs were harder to explain because some of the related Bible verses were too difficult for them to understand and the Children's Bible that I had didn't cover all the items in the eggs. This was also about the time that I started teaching preschool. On one of my trips to the Christian bookstore to look for one more way to share the Good News with all the children in my life, I ran across this book: An Easter Hunt by Sarah Reid Chisholm.  http://www.amazon.com/Easter-Hunt-Sarah-Reid-Chisholm/dp/0806627409

The book tells the story of a Mom who plans an Easter Hunt for her children. She gathers items to tell the Easter story from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday and hides them throughout the house for her children to find. She has appropriate Bible verses for each item while telling the story in simple language. After each clue, your child can help find the hidden item on the page. I loved the whole idea of actually having the children hunt for items themselves. I collected the same 11 items in the story from my children's own toys and hid them around the house. Then  I printed pictures from the computer and put each picture in an egg. The children pick an egg and have to find the item in that picture. As we read the story, the children put each item in a basket.

I quickly realized that this would be a great teaching tool for my preschoolers and the toddler Sunday School class I taught. However, some years I have had more than 11 students, so I had to create a few additional eggs and items to hide.

I inserted these items in the appropriate place in the story. Oh the joy of teaching in a Christian preschool! I hide the items around the sanctuary (if it is available) and have the children bring the items to the basket at the foot of the altar. We also point out any of the items that can also be found around the church. When we hunt for Easter, even the smallest children realize that Easter is about more than chocolate and an Easter bunny. They realize that Jesus is ALIVE! Hallelujah!