I love the innocent perspective and imagination of the preschoolers I have the honor of leading every Sunday. What their little minds do with the information we give them is a beautiful thing to watch as they process the stories of the Bible and grow their faith. On Sunday, we took them through something called “Resurrection Eggs” to teach them about the events of Holy Week, including the Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection. There are 12 eggs, each a different color, with an item inside that correlates with an event of that week. As we took them through the story, I reminded them that the story was going to start out happy, and then get sad. Then it would get very sad, and then it would be the happiest ending that they could possibly imagine.
It has thrilled my heart to see preschool parents from our church posting videos or quoting their kids telling them the story about what happened, what they learned, and what it means to them in their tender, early faith journey. Childlike faith is so great!
With that in mind, I thought I would just share the 12 eggs with you, what the symbolism is, and the different quotes I saw, read, or heard from our c|Life preschoolers, as well as some others I saw on Facebook. So please enjoy this lighter-hearted version of the Resurrection, according to kids. I hope their version and vision of the story will teach us all something about our own faith.
Blue Egg
Matthew 21:2–3, 6–8 — inside, we found a small donkey.
Bible Version: Jesus rode into town on a donkey on Palm Sunday, while the people shouted, “Hosanna!”
Kid Version: “Jesus rode in on a donkey, and people fanned him with palm branches, probably because he was hot!”
Light Pink Egg
Matthew 26:14–16 — inside, we found silver coins.
Bible Version: Judas betrayed Jesus to the soldiers for 30 pieces of silver.
Kid Version:“The soldiers said, ‘Judas, do you want some money?’, and then Judas went to the Dark Side like Darth Vader.”
Light Purple Egg
Matthew 26:27–28 — inside, there was a silver cup.
Bible Version: The night before he died, Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples, even Judas. He broke bread and shared the cup, and afterward washed their feet.
Kid Version: “Jesus told them, ‘I will die to save you, and I don’t joke around about things like this. And then he wiped their feet with baby wipes.”
Orange Egg
Mark 14:32–34 — inside, there were hands folded in prayer.
Bible Version: After they ate, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus knew what was to happen and wanted to spend his time in prayer with his Father.
Kid Version: “Those are Jesus’ hands clapping for God!”
Dark Green Egg
John 19:1 — inside, we found a whip.
Bible Version: Judas brought the soldiers to the garden to arrest Jesus. He was arrested and taken to Pontius Pilate. They mocked him and whipped him, and he was sentenced to die.
Kid Version: “The soldiers were mean to Jesus and wanted to hurt him, and they hit him. They said, ‘Why can’t you save yourself?’“
Yellow Egg
Mark 14:71–72 — inside, there was a rooster.
Bible Version: Jesus told one of his closest friends and disciples, Peter, that before the rooster crowed, he would deny knowing Jesus three times. Peter professed his love and said that would never happen, but as Jesus predicted, he denied him three times, and the rooster crowed.
Kid Version: “They asked Peter if he was friends with Jesus. He said, ‘No way,’ and then the rooster said, ‘cockadoodledoo!’“
Light Orange Egg
Matthew 27:27–29 — inside, we found a crown of thorns.
Bible Version: The soldiers mocked Jesus, calling him the “King of the Jews,” and placed a crown of thorns on his head.
Kid Version: “Bad guys put thorns on his head. It’s OK though, because I know the stone is going to open, and he will be alive.”
Light Green Egg
John 19:16–18 — inside, we found three nails forming a cross.
Bible Version: Jesus carried his own cross through the crowd in the street that was calling for his death. The soldiers used three nails to put Jesus on the cross, and God loved us so much that he gave his only son to die and save us from our sins.
Kid Version: “Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ and died. It was a glory of God thing.”
Dark Purple Egg
John 19:32–35 — inside, we found a spear.
Bible Version: When Jesus was on the cross and appeared to have died, the soldiers had to be sure. They took a long spear and stuck it in Jesus’ side.
Kid Version: “Jesus’ friends were sad and said, ‘How is this happening?’ when he died.”
Light Blue Egg
Matthew 27:57–60 — inside, we found a white linen cloth.
Bible Version: Jesus’ friends took his body off the cross, gently wrapped him with white linen cloth, and placed his body in the tomb.
Kid Version: “They wrapped him in white paper so he wouldn’t be naked, and put him in the tomb.”
Dark Pink Egg
Matthew 27:60–66 — inside was a round stone.
Bible Version: The soldiers rolled a large stone in front of the tomb because they were afraid someone would try to steal the body. Pilate ordered the soldiers to stand guard so no one could get in, and Jesus couldn’t get out.
Kid Version: “I don’t know what he was doing in there for three days. Do you think he was bored?”
(A side note: At this point, the kids are quiet and listening intently to the story. What follows is the biggest celebration of our faith, and their version is my favorite part of the whole story!)
White Egg
Matthew 28:2–6 — inside, we found NOTHING. It was empty, just like the tomb. (This packed a lot of the story into one egg, but it is truly the best part of the story!)
Bible Version: Three days after Jesus’ death, there was a big earthquake. An angel appeared, and the soldiers ran away in fear. The stone was rolled away, and the grave was empty. Two women who were friends of Jesus came to visit the tomb and anoint his body. They looked inside the empty tomb and saw the angel who told them not to look for the living among the dead. Jesus had risen! They ran to tell the disciples that Jesus was alive! They were so excited that they passed Jesus on the road and at first, didn’t recognize him. The disciples didn’t believe them at first, but then they saw Jesus with their own eyes.
Kid Versions: “A lot of Marys came with spices like you put on your food, I guess to make Jesus spicy.”
“There was an earthquake and an angel and the soldiers ran away like scaredy-cats!”
“Mary looked and looked and looked, but Jesus’ body wasn’t there.”
“The angel said, ‘Mary, don’t be afraid!’ and told her Jesus was alive.”
“Mary told the disciples that Jesus was alive, but they told her she was crazy!”
“Then Jesus appeared to the disciples and said, ‘SURPRISE’, and they said, ‘Holy Guacamole! Yay, Jesus! It’s YOU!’”
And then, to the most important part of the kid version of this story, as told by two c|Life Preschoolers:
“He made a MIRACLE!”
“He is our Savior. I am so glad!”
The beauty of Resurrection Sunday is wrapped up in these few little words, which someday will be the most important words they will ever speak — the miracle of Jesus, raising from the dead, to give us new life in him every single day. All we have to do is choose to let him be our Savior, and let him make a miracle in our lives!