I can easily become overwhelmed with gathering items for Easter baskets, attending Easter egg hunts and making sure everyone’s outfit is coordinated for Easter Sunday that I often forget to focus on what matters…celebrating our RISEN Savior! To remind the boys (and myself) that because Jesus rose we now have a living HOPE, we did the following activity together… If you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary, scroll past Hope and onto our Love activity which can easily be incorporated into any Easter Egg Hunt!
Hope
Resurrection Rolls have become very trendy the past few years, but my boys REALLY are in awe of them! Before making these rolls, set the stage by reading and retelling the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
If you have older children, include details that are typically left out to expand their knowledge of this story. My second grader loved learning a few new facts such as:
- Mark 15:43 says that Joseph of Arimathea went and ‘boldly’ asked for Jesus’ body so it could be properly buried. What courage this took especially when Peter, one of his disciples, just denied him three times!
- They used 75 pounds of spices and balm on Jesus’ body. As we dipped the marshmallow in the sugar and cinnamon, I let the boys guess how many pounds were used on Jesus and told them lower or higher until they guessed the correct number.
- Mary thought that Jesus was the gardener when she went to his tomb after he had risen! This was Chip’s favorite new fact. (John 20:15)
Banks’ my five year old who shares my love of music said his favorite part was listening to “Living Hope” as we made these rolls. Justice, the newly four year, old loved the moment of truth when he realized the tomb was EMPTY and the marshmallow was gone!
Recipe: 8 Rhodes Rolls-Representing the tomb Large Marshmallows- Jesus' body 1/4 Cup Sugar + 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon- Representing the spices Melted Butter- Representing mixture of oils, John 19:39 After you flatten out the dough, dip each marshmallow in the butter then the cinnamon sugar mixture. Next, wrap the dough around the coated marshmallow and pinch to close. (If you have extra butter and sugar, dip the roll in the butter + cinnamon sugar mixture, just like you did the marshmallows to make these even tastier.) Then, bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
Is Jesus still there? 
NO! The tomb is EMPTY!
Love
This activity is so easy to add to your egg hunt. Don’t be intimidated by the cardboard sheep seen in the pictures below, a white pom pom or toy sheep figure works great! Tell the kids in addition to finding Easter Eggs they should also search for a lost sheep. After the egg hunt is finished and the sheep has been found, remind them that Jesus described himself as the Good Shepherd. If he is the shepherd, then that makes us his…sheep! There are times we may be lost and wander from the sheep fold, just like in the parable from Luke 15, but Jesus loves us so much that he will go anywhere to find us and bring us back to Him for eternity. Make the connection that this extraordinary love can be seen in the death and resurrection of Jesus!
“For God so LOVED the world that he gave us his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
Mr. Marc was our next door neighbor and often played songs on his guitar as the boys ran around in the backyard. As part of the Speer Family, he grew up singing gospel music and continues using his gifts to record hymns for CB&J today! These hymns are a timeless way to remind children about the character of Jesus, and we are grateful to be able to share these with you.