Easter 

This page takes you through some of the activities we had at Messy Church on Good Friday, 14^th April 2017.  Have a look and try a few.

Weather cock

Can you see the weather vane on the church spire?

Look at the piece of cloth on the cane which way is that blowing

Make yourself a weather cock out of card and decorate it.

A rooster crowed when Peter denied that he knew Jesus.  He changed as the people around him changed from supporting Jesus to hating him.

The weather cock swinging around reminds us not to change like Peter did.

Which sorts of people might need to know what the weather is doing today?

How can wind direction affect the weather?

Crown of thorns biscuit

Make a ‘crown of thorns’ by sticking chocolate sticks on a biscuit

Jesus was made to wear a crown of thorns.  They did this to make fun of him, because he said he was a king

It’s horrible when people make fun of you isn’t it?  What things do you think they might have said to Jesus to make fun of him?  How would Jesus have felt?

Easter garden

Put some soil in a tray and put three crosses in it.  Put a flower in your tray to represent a garden.  Make a tomb out of clay.

Put some gravel on for stones and some moss for grass.

Jesus was buried in a garden.  The cave belonged to someone wealthy who asked if he could  do this.  People had to be brave to admit to knowing Jesus.

Can you think of some things you have to be brave to do?

Stone painting

On the stone, paint three crosses on a hill

Jesus was on a cross with two other people on either side of him.  They had broken the law.  One of them asked Jesus ‘Remember me when you come as King.’  Jesus said ‘I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me’

Think of one thing you have done wrong.  Say sorry to Jesus and thank him that he loves you so much.

Three crosses

Make three crosses out of lolly sticks.

Put some playdoh in the bottom of an egg cup and stick the crosses in it

Jesus was on a cross with two other people on either side of him.  They had broken the law.  One of them asked Jesus ‘Remember me when you come as King.’  Jesus said ‘I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me’

What do you think it will be like to be in Paradise with Jesus?

Bead cross

Choose 6 beads

Three of them need to be stuck together to make the cross bar

Slide the first bead on to the middle of the thread

Thread both sides of string through the second bead

Now add the three stuck together with the thread going through each end

Finally put both pieces of string through the last bead

Christians use the symbol of the cross to remind us how important Jesus death is

As you look at your bead cross can you think of a different bit of the story for each bead?

Easter card

Make a card for Easter

Jesus rose from the dead.  He is alive.

What do you think is the most exciting thing about Easter?

Sponge painted cross

Stick a cross on the sheet

Then paint around it with the sponge.

When you take the paper cross off you will see the cross shape left behind

Jesus loves us so much that he died  so that we can live for ever with God

As you sponge paint on the cross say thankyou to Jesus for dying because he loves you

Paid in full

Stick pennies to a cross and add the little tag to say ‘Paid in full’

When Jesus died, anything we owe God for all the things we’ve done wrong, was paid back

We can say sorry to God whenever we do something wrong and he will forgive us

Nailed cross

This cross has the nails already in it.  Add some wool to the cross, wrapping it around the nails to hold it. 

The red wool represents Jesus blood

To die on a cross was painful.  It was a hard thing for Jesus to do.

Can you remember something that hurt?  Maybe you fell over or were hurt some other way.

Rolling stone

Stick two sides of plate together

Cut out a hole from one of them to look like the tomb

Cut another to look like the stone rolling away from the hole

Joseph of Arimathea gave his burial place to Jesus. 

Joseph  had to brave to do this.  He risked getting in trouble for it. 

Can you think of things you have to be brave to do?

Plant bulbs

Plant a bulb in a pot

Jesus dying  gives us a new life that lasts for ever

Take your bulb home.  As you watch it grow remember that Jesus gives us this new life.

Spice bags

Take a bit of each spice and put it in the bag.  Tie it up to keep them safe.

The women took spices to make Jesus body smell better

Smell the spices.  Do you like them or not?  Which is your favourite?

Sad and happy faces

Draw a sad face on one plate, and a happy face on the other side

Jesus friends were sad when he died, but they were happy when they realised he was alive again

How are you feeling today?  Sad or happy?

Easter story display

Colour in one of the people and wrap it round a tube to make a character from the Easter story

Or stick tissue paper to the sunrise sheet to go behind the empty tomb

We know what happened to Jesus because it was written down by people who remembered it.

Why not try reading the story for yourself.  You can find it in a Children’s

Bible

Prayer cross

Take a piece of paper and write on it or draw a picture of anything you would like us to pray for you.

The prayers in here will be passed on to a team of people who pray every month for Messy Church

Roll your paper up and put it in one of the tubes in the cross

Egg rolling

Decorate a hard boiled egg and then see how far you can roll it

The stone that was put in front of Jesus tomb was rolled away.  It would have been very heavy so the people who found it were surprised

We don’t know how it was rolled away, except that God must have done it when noone was looking