The 720 Easter Egg Hunt Part 2: Making it Meaningful
Welcome to Part 2 of the 720 Easter Egg Hunt, Making It Meaningful!Yesterday I introduced this three part Easter Egg Hunt in Part 1: How It Works. Thank you to everyone who commented or shared with me that you liked the post/idea. It was very encouraging. Tomorrow, I'll be sharing how we strategically decorated our space making it possible to hide 720 eggs in three open rooms.
Today is about what we put in the eggs and how we tried to make our Easter Egg Hunt meaningful. I was inspired by an article on Ministry-To-Children, Church Easter Egg Hunt Idea and Printable Gospel Booklet. Our hunt and booklet are little different. The first changes were because I could not find the same coloured eggs. We also decided to have a different number of eggs. I have details about how I made our booklet and where I found the items at the end of this article.
What's In the Book?
Once the children had found all their eggs, and one of the volunteer Easter Bunnies checked to make sure they had all different eggs (we numbered them 1-12). When they did, they were given a copy of "The Story Of Jesus: Told With Easter Eggs."Inside Cover:
With the 12 eggs you have found
follow the story of Easter.
Each egg has a special
item inside to help you remember
the life of Jesus and why he died.
I would have liked every page to rhyme. I had to give up on that dream; I am not the next Dr. Susses. Writing the instructions rhyme (that I shared yesterday) took hours, maybe days to finish. If any word warriors out there are interested in collaborating with me to create a poetic version of the book please let me know.
Egg 1Item(s): two gummy bears
Bible Verse: Genesis 1:1
Explanation: The story of Jesus starts at the very beginning of time. Look in the first egg, what do you find? The gummy bears remind us of everything God made. From the oceans and the sky, to the sun and stars, from the plants and fishes to the bears and butterflies, even me and you. God made it all.
Activity: Draw your favourite animals to finish the picture of God’s creation.
Egg 2
Item(s): life saver (individually wrapped)Bible Verse: Romans 3:23
Explanation: Everything was good until people chose not to trust God. Sin entered and broke our friendship with God. The 2nd egg holds a Lifesaver candy. It lets us know that we couldn’t fix the problem of sin but God had a rescue plan.
Activity: shared activity with Egg 3
Egg 3
Item(s): Band-Aid and Heart Sticker*
Bible Verse: John 3:16
Explanation:God’s rescue plan was to send Jesus to the world. The third egg holds two things that tell us why. The heart sticker is a reminder that God loved us and the Band-Aid reminds us that Jesus came to heal our broken friendship.
Activity: Complete a maze to bring Jesus to the world
*The heart sticker was missing
Item(s): two gummy fish
Bible Verse: Matthew 14:17-21
Explanation: It was God’s love that sent Jesus to earth. At Christmas we celebrate the night of his birth. That was just the start. Jesus grew into a man who told people about God. He taught them about God’s love and how to live for God. He healed the sick and performed miracles.
Inside the 4th egg are two Swedish fish candy to remind us of one of those miracles.
Activity: Draw 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. How many people did Jesus feed? _____
Item(s): spearmint leaf
Bible Verse: John 12:12-13
Explanation: The 5th egg reminds us of palm branches used to celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
Activity: Draw the 4 missing palm branches to finish the picture.
Egg 6
Item(s): big foot gummy*
Bible Verse: John 13:4-5, 15
Explanation: A few nights after Jesus’ exciting entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus gathered with his friends to celebrate the Passover. This was the last meal he had with his disciples before he died on the cross.
Jesus used that time to teach his friends how to help others and how to stay close to God.
Inside the 6th egg you find a “Big Foot” candy. It reminds us of the example Jesus gave of how to serve. In the middle of the meal Jesus got up and washed his disciples feet. Jesus was showing us that we can help others even when the task is simple or dirty.
Activity: Can you find these words from the story: BOWL, DISCIPLES, EXAMPLE, FEET, JESUS, LORD, PASSOVER, PETER, SERVANT, TEACHER, WASH, WATER
*Someone ate the candy
Egg 7
Item(s): "gold" wrapped chocolate coinBible Verse: 1 John 2:2
Explanation: Look inside the 7th egg, the coins remind you of the reason Jesus died. Sin has a big cost. It is a price we could not pay. When Jesus died on the cross it was to pay the cost of our sins.
Activity: Shared the activity with Egg 8
Egg 8
Item(s): cross eraser*
Bible Verse: 1 John 1:9
Explanation: Jesus died on the cross because he loves you. That love is why He came to the earth. He wanted us to be free from our sin. The 8th egg has an eraser. It reminds us how Jesus forgives us of all the bad things we have done when we ask. Jesus removes those bad things from our life just like an eraser removes mistakes on a page.
Activity: Write actions and thoughts that are sins on the cross in pencil. Use your new eraser to remove the words.
*The eraser looks like another candy. We had to warn parents that it was not edible.
Egg 9Item(s): gum ball*
Bible Verse: Mark 16:1-6
Explanation: The 9th egg holds a large gum ball, it is the large stone used to close Jesus’ tomb. The stone was too large to roll away. On that first Easter Sunday morning the women who went to the grave were in for a surprise. The stone had been moved and the grave was now empty. For Jesus was dead but now He is alive.
Activity: Draw Jesus outside the tomb.
*The first year we left this egg empty to symbolize the empty tomb. It confused my team of Easter Bunnies who were hiding the eggs, even after I explained the empty egg was intentional two went around adding jelly beans.
After I found all of the "empty" eggs and made sure they were empty it still backfired. During the hunt a few preschoolers bust into tears because they thought someone had eaten the eggs. I even saw one child taking some of her candy and putting it in empty eggs. I decided that not to have an empty egg in this type of hunt again.
Item(s): bubbles*
Bible Verse: Acts 1:9
Explanation: Open the 10th egg, the bubbles reminding us of how Jesus left the earth. Jesus told his friends good bye and rose up through the clouds.
Activity: Draw Jesus going behind the clouds.
*We have to change the item this year. I ordered the tiny bubble bottles from Oriental Trading company. They worked perfectly. Sadly they can no longer ship liquids by air.
Our current solution is to have a balloon in the egg. We also planning to have a helium tank and fill the balloons, after they are found. If you have a different suggestion, please let me know.
Item(s): gummy butterfly
Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17
Explanation: Jesus came to the world because God made us, loves us and wants to be our friend forever. When Jesus forgives our sins he removes them making room in our lives for God’s loves. The 11th egg hold butterfly candy, it reminds friends of Jesus are new people. Just like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. We become new creations when we believe and follow Jesus.
Activity: Colour the butterfly’s wings
Egg 12Item(s): candy "Lego" blocks
Bible Verse: John 14:2-3
Explanation: Inside the last egg you find candy blocks. They remind us of a special promise Jesus made to his friends. Jesus said he was going to Heaven to prepare a special home for all of who believe in Him to live with Him forever.
Activity: Draw what you think Heaven will look like.
Where Did You Find the Items?
I bought last year's eggs from Wal-Mart. This year they only had pastel eggs, so I bought all 720 eggs from Michael's. I was fortunate and had a 20% off Entire Purchase coupon. If you are shopping at Michael's always check their site, flyer, or app for any coupons.
All of the candy was bought at the Bulk Barn. The band-aids we picked up from Michael's last year, I am not sure where I'll buy them this year. I liked the neon band-aids. I don't want to use character ones. The stickers, cross erasers and tiny bubbles were ordered from the Oriental Trading company. I just realized that I forgot to order the stickers this year....I wonder if I can find heart candies?
How Was the Booklet Made?
Our booklet was created in Publisher. I also saved it as a pdf. The word search was made with a free word search creator I found online. I made maze in Excel. My method was more complicated than it needed to be...I have no suggestions on how to make one faster. I drew and scanned the drawings and edited them in GIMP. If you would like a copy of our booklet please let me know in the comments or on Facebook.
Come back tomorrow, I'll be sharing Part 3: Decorating the Space.
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