Easter Game Idea

#1 · March 27, 2002, 5:44 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on March 27, 2002, 5:44 pm
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

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HOPE CHEST HOME SCHOOL NEWS

EASTER GAME IDEA

March 27, 2002

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Dear Hope Chest readers,

My neighbor Marie often brings over huge bags of day old baked goods that she picks up for free at a local grocery store. We usually keep several loaves of crunchy french bread, and pass the rest on to neighbors or church friends. This past Saturday, she brought over a huge sheet cake! We knew we couldn't eat it all ourselves, so we decided to have an Easter party for the neighbor children. At 3 pm today, they started knocking on our door, and I think we had about 10 neighbor children, ages 4 to 11. I decided not to plan anything fancy, just cake, soda pop and a simple activity. Unfortunately, I had a few unexpected errands to run today, and hadn't thought up an activity until about 5 minutes before the children were to arrive. But I prayed, and God answered!

I gathered up several objects from around the house and hid them in a pillowcase. I blindfolded each child in turn, and had them try to figure out what I put in their hands. Each item represented some facet of the story of Christ. When they said what the "thing" was, I asked everyone, "Why did I choose this item?" I was pleasantly surprised that even the children who don't usually attend a church knew many of the answers. They also thought up some extra ones that I hadn't.

apple -- the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which has been passed down to all of us

3 lb hand weight -- the burden of sin feels heavy on us -- we need someone to lift it away

toy lamb -- Passover lamb, sacrifice for sin

baby doll -- Jesus came as a baby

Band-Aid in wrapper -- Jesus healed people

flash light -- Jesus is the light of the world

hand towel -- King Jesus washed his disciples feet and set the example as a servant -- this can also represent his burial shroud

cross -- Jesus died for us

nail -- the nails went through his hands and feet

dice -- the soldiers gambled for his clothing

rock -- the angel rolled the stone away from the tomb

soap -- Jesus washes our sins away

heart -- Jesus loves us

small house -- he is preparing a home for us in Heaven

G, O, and D letter shapes (from a wooden puzzle) -- we can't see God, but he is there!

This reminds me of the Resurrection Egg sets that you can buy, which have tiny little symbols inside of plastic eggs. We do these each year at our church's Good Friday picnic. The benefit of using large objects, though, is that the chileren can see and handle them easier, and it lets them guess what each thing is.

We did have a few distractions, like my seven year old daughter walking into the room with a live toad in her hands!   But, they all enjoyed it, and one 2nd grader commented that it helped him think about Jesus and God, so I know it was worth the small effort on my part! After that, they all went outside to play hide-and-seek, and now I need to go shoo them home. (It's 5:30 already!)

I do have a few prayer requests for you. First of all, my husband Thad will be out of town for a few days, leaving tomorrow and returning Sunday evening just in time for Easter dinner. Please pray for travelling mercies for him, and general sanity for me. Second, I got an e-mail this morning that one of our Hope Chest readers in Houston, Tracey, died Saturday of a blood clot in her lung, a day after giving birth to her fourth child. Please say a prayer for her husband and children, who are ages 8 and under, that the power of the Resurrection would remain a deep comfort to them in the days ahead.

May God bless you richly for the rest of Holy Week.

Virginia Knowles

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOPE CHEST HOME SCHOOL NEWS

EASTER GAME IDEA

March 27, 2002

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Hope Chest readers,

My neighbor Marie often brings over huge bags of day old baked goods that she picks up for free at a local grocery store. We usually keep several loaves of crunchy french bread, and pass the rest on to neighbors or church friends. This past Saturday, she brought over a huge sheet cake! We knew we couldn't eat it all ourselves, so we decided to have an Easter party for the neighbor children. At 3 pm today, they started knocking on our door, and I think we had about 10 neighbor children, ages 4 to 11. I decided not to plan anything fancy, just cake, soda pop and a simple activity. Unfortunately, I had a few unexpected errands to run today, and hadn't thought up an activity until about 5 minutes before the children were to arrive. But I prayed, and God answered!

I gathered up several objects from around the house and hid them in a pillowcase. I blindfolded each child in turn, and had them try to figure out what I put in their hands. Each item represented some facet of the story of Christ. When they said what the "thing" was, I asked everyone, "Why did I choose this item?" I was pleasantly surprised that even the children who don't usually attend a church knew many of the answers. They also thought up some extra ones that I hadn't.

apple -- the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which has been passed down to all of us
3 lb hand weight -- the burden of sin feels heavy on us -- we need someone to lift it away
toy lamb -- Passover lamb, sacrifice for sin
baby doll -- Jesus came as a baby
Band-Aid in wrapper -- Jesus healed people
flash light -- Jesus is the light of the world
hand towel -- King Jesus washed his disciples feet and set the example as a servant -- this can also represent his burial shroud
cross -- Jesus died for us
nail -- the nails went through his hands and feet
dice -- the soldiers gambled for his clothing
rock -- the angel rolled the stone away from the tomb
soap -- Jesus washes our sins away
heart -- Jesus loves us
small house -- he is preparing a home for us in Heaven
G, O, and D letter shapes (from a wooden puzzle) -- we can't see God, but he is there!

This reminds me of the Resurrection Egg sets that you can buy, which have tiny little symbols inside of plastic eggs. We do these each year at our church's Good Friday picnic. The benefit of using large objects, though, is that the chileren can see and handle them easier, and it lets them guess what each thing is.

We did have a few distractions, like my seven year old daughter walking into the room with a live toad in her hands! But, they all enjoyed it, and one 2nd grader commented that it helped him think about Jesus and God, so I know it was worth the small effort on my part! After that, they all went outside to play hide-and-seek, and now I need to go shoo them home. (It's 5:30 already!)

I do have a few prayer requests for you. First of all, my husband Thad will be out of town for a few days, leaving tomorrow and returning Sunday evening just in time for Easter dinner. Please pray for travelling mercies for him, and general sanity for me. Second, I got an e-mail this morning that one of our Hope Chest readers in Houston, Tracey, died Saturday of a blood clot in her lung, a day after giving birth to her fourth child. Please say a prayer for her husband and children, who are ages 8 and under, that the power of the Resurrection would remain a deep comfort to them in the days ahead.

May God bless you richly for the rest of Holy Week.

Virginia Knowles