There’s no better time of the year to pull out all the stops for the kids in your church. These Easter games, crafts, and activities will help you celebrate Jesus’s resurrection as the high point of the year! After all, it is THE central event of history and each Christian’s life.
Use these ideas when you’re planning activities and even special snacks for your Sunday school class. We’ve included thoughtful ideas to help you share the good news of Jesus (plus some ideas that are just plain fun).
Not sure what bunnies and eggs have to do with Resurrection Sunday? Read this article for some interesting backstory behind popular Easter symbols.
Let’s dive in!
BONUS outreach idea to do before Easter: Encourage your families to play the “You’ve Been Egged!” Neighbor Game. Give them a printed invitation to your church’s Easter egg hunt and/or Easter Sunday service to include in one of the eggs.
Easter Games
Whether you’re planning an outdoor Easter egg hunt for your whole town or need to entertain a few kids inside, read on.
Outside Games
Some of your own childhood favorites, plus a few updates.
- Easter egg hunts are classic. If you’re planning one for your church, this article has some great ideas on how to make it an outreach for your community too.
- Try Roll the Stone Relay to help kids remember the stone rolled away from Jesus’s empty tomb. (No massive rocks required to play!)
- An Easter egg relay race is another way to get kids laughing and working off that sugar high.
- Don’t forget the traditional egg and spoon race, another way to reuse those Easter eggs once the hunt is over. You can raise the stakes by making an obstacle course for kids to navigate as they race.
- This Easter sack race will get kids hoppin’! Get the details (and lots of inspiring pictures) here.
- Bunny Tag and “Bunny, Bunny, Rabbit!” (an Easter version of Duck, Duck, Goose!) are 2 fun variations on old-school kids’ games. Get the instructions for both games here.
Inside Games
Grab a few common Easter items and have a blast indoors.
- Give kids a pile of plastic egg halves and see which team can build the tallest Easter egg tower.
- Group kids in pairs to play “Don’t Spring Break,” a game where they toss a treat-filled egg back and forth and try not to let it crack.
- Try this hilarious egg rolling race where kids try to reach the finish while rolling an egg with their noses. (Easter Games Trivia: the tradition of rolling Easter eggs may have started as a symbol of the stone rolled away from Jesus’s tomb.)
- Give all your cute Easter baskets another use with the Easter basket egg toss.
- To play What’s in the Bag? you’ll conceal Easter-related objects in paper bags and then have kids guess what’s inside by touch alone. In addition to standard Easter items like eggs and bunnies, include a few that tie to the Biblical story—like a cross and a stone for the tomb.
Easter Crafts
Burned off some energy with those Easter games? Get kids working on one of these crafts that help them remember why we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.
Simple and Sweet Paper Plate Crafts
You don’t always have a ton of time for crafts, especially on a busy Sunday like Easter. Paper plate crafts to the rescue!
- This Calvary paper plate craft features the anthem of Easter: He Is Risen!
- Recreate the scene at the empty tomb with this easy craft. Get the details.
- This impressive craft looks like an Easter egg, but the halves of the paper plate swing open to reveal a cross inside. It’s a great way to remember why we celebrate this season.
- Birds’ nests are a wonderful sign of spring. Give your kids some paper plates and Spanish moss and let them create their own. Get the instructions.
- Let your class become a flock of Easter lambs with these paper plate sheep masks.
- Make paper plate Easter baskets. Get the details.
Step Things Up a Notch with These Crafts
Some people like to dress up in hats and new clothes on Easter Sunday. If you’d like to “dress up” your craft time for the holiday, try these ideas. All these crafts would make special mementos for kids to take home.
- Let your kids color this Easter Finger Puzzle and then use it to tell the story of Jesus’s resurrection.
- A stop at your local craft store is all you need for this Washi Tape Cross. Provide an assortment of tape and let kids create their own reminders of Jesus’s death and resurrection.
- Make sweet Easter lambs with doilies! Get the instructions.
- These Easter Cross Sun Catchers are pretty enough to display year-round and use only a few simple supplies.
- You can make a cross out of almost anything. Proof: this surprisingly simple egg carton cross. Ask parents to save their egg cartons for a few weeks before Easter, and you’ll be all set.
- Make simple paper Easter lilies using your kids’ handprints.
- This beautiful Easter garden featuring the empty tomb makes a wonderful class project and doubles as a room decoration you can keep up during the Easter season.
- Try leaf threading with your kids. The finished products make lovely springtime garlands for your classroom or for kids to take home.
8 Downloadable Easter Sunday Activities
8 Downloadable Easter Sunday Activities
8 Downloadable Easter Sunday Activities
Even More Easter Games and Activities
Try these other memorable ways to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.
- While it means an early morning, attending a sunrise service outdoors can make a HUGE impact on kids. If your church hosts a sunrise service, encourage families to attend. (It’s OK for kids to be in pajamas!) Can’t host a church-wide service? Consider one just for the kids’ ministry. You may be surprised by how many parents are nostalgic about this tradition and would be on board to help!
- Tell the Easter story with Resurrection Eggs. Think of them like an Advent calendar but for Easter.
- Easter doesn’t have to be all about bunnies. Butterflies are wonderful symbols of resurrection and new life. Make butterfly wings and use this object lesson to help kids understand what happened in Jesus’s tomb.
- Use Easter eggs to review a key Bible verse from the story of Jesus’s resurrection. (Try Mark 16:6 or Luke 24:6.) Write one word of the verse on each egg and use one of these memory ideas to review with your kids.
- Play Word Up! and see how many words your kids can create using the letters from EASTER (you could add CROSS, TOMB, or RESURRECTION)
Easter Snacks for Your Sunday School Class
Create a holiday feast for your kids with an assortment of these ideas.
- Create an Easter Snack Mix, where each item represents part of the Easter story (for example, pretzel sticks for the cross and a round cracker for the stone rolled away from the tomb). Talk about what each item means.
- For a show stopping (and delicious) Easter treat, use pudding cups to recreate the scene of the empty tomb. It’s not as strange as it sounds.
- Jolly Ranchers and sugar cookies come together to make these beautiful stained glass cross cookies. They’re almost too pretty to eat, and they make a wonderful gift for kids to give along with an invite to your church.
- If you can use the kitchen for a few minutes (or bring a toaster oven to your room), these Easter Resurrection Rolls (a.k.a. Disappearing Marshmallow Rolls) are a delicious way to remember the miracle of Resurrection Sunday.
- You can enlist your class’s help to make these “Easter carrot” snack bags filled with sweet or savory treats.
- Put Easter Jelly Beans to good use in the Jelly Bean Taste Test, which doubles as a fun science project.
Easter Books and Coloring Pages
Easter is a great time to add to your classroom library. Read a few of these in class or give to your kids to take home. (Coloring pages are great if you don’t have the budget for lots of books.)
- Jesus Is Alive: This bright book for toddlers tells the story of the Resurrection through a familiar tune.
- Holy Week: An Emotions Primer: This book introduces little ones to a wide range of emotions as they follow Jesus through the final week of His life.
- The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross: Children take a journey from the garden of Eden to God’s prefect new creation as this book retells the Easter story through a Bible overview.
- The Action Bible Easter Story: Great for preteens, this resource from Marvel and DC Comics artist Sergio Cariello brings the story of Jesus to life.
- Alive: A Cold-Case Approach to the Resurrection: Older kids will enjoy following a cold-case detective as he examines the evidence for Jesus’s resurrection.
- Jesus Is Alive Coloring Book: Kids ages 4-7 review the Easter story while coloring key scenes.
- These Easter Bible Journaling Bookmarks are a beautiful gift for kids to color.
Easter Ideas from Around the World
Holidays are a great time to celebrate with the families of Christians all over the world. Take your Sunday school class on a trip “overseas” with these Easter ideas from different countries.
- Visit Bermuda around Easter, and you’ll see many people flying kites. The story goes that a teacher used a kite to illustrate Jesus’s ascension. (Read more about this interesting tradition.) However you tell the Easter story, these easy paper plate kites are a wonderful way to spread the joy of the season.
- Germans don’t just have Christmas trees, they also have Easter egg trees. Why not bring this colorful tradition to a tree on your church property? (You can also do this indoors by decorating a houseplant or branches arranged in a vase.)
- A tradition from England, Hot Cross Buns make a memorable warm treat and a welcome change from the more sugar-laden snacks. Make them yourself or buy ahead of time.
- In France, children get candy not from the Easter bunny, but from Easter bells! Grab some basic supplies and make your own church bells for kids to ring. You can easily adapt this Christmas craft by using Easter-themed ribbon and stickers.
- Another tradition in France is eating a cake shaped like a lamb. It’s great symbolism of Jesus’s sacrifice. Pull this off easily for your Sunday school class with these lamb cupcakes.
Feeling overwhelmed by all the ideas for Easter games and activities? Choose just one or two of your favorites and keep it simple. No matter how you celebrate, you can share the real joy of Easter by proclaiming this deep truth:
The Lord Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!
Check out this children’s ministry resource. ↓
Check out this children’s ministry resource. ↓
Need activities you can use all year? Try these 52 Bible coloring pages taken from some of the most well-known stories in the Bible.
