1-Day Easter Unit Study
From The Teaching Home Archives
Select a few of the following activities to enrich your
contemplation of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. (It
would also be appropriate to continue your study next week if you
choose to do so.)
Is Easter a Pagan Holiday?
The English word "Easter" has pagan roots and references,
like much of our vocabulary including the names that we use for
the days of the week and months of the year.
Although pagans celebrate fertility and "mother earth" each
spring, Easter is a celebration of the death, burial, and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the timing of which was
determined by the Jewish Passover.
Some people prefer to call Easter, "Resurrection Sunday."
(Read Dr. Ralph F. Wilson's article "Isn't Easter a Pagan
Holiday?" and other articles on Easter at
http://www.joyfulheart.com/easter)
Bible
* Read the New Testament accounts:
Matthew 27:55-28:10 (Matthew 21-28)
Mark 15:40-16:14 (Mark 11-16)
Luke 23:47-24:35 (Luke 19-24
John 19:38-20:21 (John 12-21)
Acts 1:1-11
* Read the story of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection in
"A Harmony of the Story of Jesus" with the Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John accounts rearranged by subject and approximate
chronological order.
http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/JBPHarmony.htm
* Read notes in your Bible or from a Bible handbook and discuss
the passage.
* Study the Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament and their
fulfillment in the New Testament.
http://www.messiahrevealed.org
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/messiah.htm
* Memorize a verse about Christ's resurrection such as
I Cor. 15:3-4; John 11:25-26; Rom. 6:4.
* Islam: Find out what Muslims believe about the crucifixion.
http://christiananswers.net/islam.html
* Explore the question: Was Jesus crucified on Friday or
Wednesday?
http://logosresourcepages.org/good_friday.htm
Apologetics
Stimulate your older children to think by examining and
discussing one or more of these articles.
* "10 Reasons To Believe Christ Rose from the Dead"
http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/rtb/8rsn/rsn8.html
* "Evidence for the Resurrection" by Josh McDowell
http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
* "Beyond Blind Faith" by Paul E. Little
http://www.everystudent.com/features/faith.html
* "Questions Answered concerning Christ's Resurrection"
(Many translations available.)
http://christiananswers.net/jesus/home.html
http://www.christiananswers.net/easter.html
Evangelism
* Include a gospel tract in greeting cards to family and
neighbors.
* Send an e-card with a Bible verse typed into the message area
or a link to an online tract.
Online tract. http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps.html.
E-cards. http://CrosswalkCards.notlong.com
http://AIGEasterCard.notlong.com
Reading / Language Arts
* Have your children (even beginning readers with help) read some
of the above Scriptures directly from the Bible.
* Online reading activity pages.
The Garden of Gethsemane. http://Garden.notlong.com
The Crucifixion. http://Crucifixion.notlong.com
The Resurrection. http://Resurrection.notlong.com
"The Story of the Other Wise Man" by Henry van Dyke
This is the fictional story of how and why one Wise Man of
the East was delayed (for 33 years) in his search for the One for
whom the star shone. His adventures and eventual finding of the
One whom he sought is a powerful and touching story with meaning
for us today.
* Read online or print out.
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/6/7/10679/10679.txt
* This story has been made into a movie, "The Fourth Wise Man."
Writing
* View "Easter Ads" and design one of your own.
http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/ads/ads.html
* Write a short story recounting the major events of Christ's
death, burial, and resurrection.
Science
"The Science of the Crucifixion"
* Have your older students read article online.
http://www.apu.edu/infocus/2002/03/crucifixion/
The Butterfly: Illustration of Christ's burial and resurrection.
* See online videos and photos of life cycle.
http://www.pennmanor.net/showcase/butterfly/video.html
http://Swallowtail.notlong.com
http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/monarch.html
* Diagrams and information.
http://enchantedlearning.notlong.com
* "Design Features of the Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle"
by the Institute for Creation Research
http://www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-237.htm
* Learn to recognize all cycles of butterflies in your state.
http://npwrcusgs.notlong.com
Geography
* On maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land locate the following
(possible) locations: East Gate, Herod's Temple, Golgotha,
Garden Tomb, Garden of Gethsemane, Mount of Olives, Upper
Room, Herod's Palace.
http://BibleMap.notlong.com
http://BibleMap-2.notlong.com
http://www.templemount.org/topo.html
* An outline of the story of Jesus using maps.
http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP051GOSPELMAPS.htm
Music
Handel's Oratorio "Messiah" speaks of Christ's life, death,
and resurrection.
http://www.tks.org/HANDEL/Messiah.htm
http://logosresourcepages.org/messiah.htm
* Words and Scriptures
http://www.aldersgate.org/Messiah.htm
* Listen to a choir sing it at:
http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/Handel/Messiah/
* Print music at:
http://www.ccel.org/h/handel/messiah/htm/TOC.htm
Drama
* Listen to "The Twelve Voices of Easter" online.
(French version available.)
http://www.backtothebible.org/easter/
* Videos
Check to see if your video store carries one of these
videos: Ben Hur, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, King of Kings,
The Robe, The Fourth Wise Man.
* View The Hope (or just chapters 10-11) online at
http://www.christiananswers.net/hope/home.html
* God's Story. A visual exploration of God's revelations in
chronological order. Hear and read text in 27 languages.
http://www.christiananswers.net/godstory/home.html
The Betrayal and Crucifixion
http://www.christiananswers.net/godstory/death1.html
Resurrection to Eternity
http://www.christiananswers.net/godstory/eternity1.html
Art, Crafts, and Activities
* Many good links, recipes, family traditions, stories,
activities, Easter cards. Also "Jesus, Messiah, the
Fulfillment of Prophecy," Feasts of the Bible, Messianic
Jewish and Passover links.
http://www.annieshomepage.com/easter.html
Object Lessons
Resurrection Rolls
This activity is well suited to your younger children.
Discuss Christ's death, burial, and resurrection as you make this
simple recipe together.
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
* Give each child a triangle of crescent roll representing Jesus'
grave clothes.
* Give each child a marshmallow, representing Jesus.
* Have your child dip the marshmallow in melted butter
representing the embalming oils.
* Dip the buttered marshmallow in cinnamon and sugar representing
the spices used to anoint Jesus' body.
* Wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll,
bringing the sides up to seal the marshmallow inside. This
represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
* Place rolls in oven for 10 to 12 minutes. The oven represents
the tomb (pretend it was three days).
* When the rolls have cooled slightly, your children can open
their rolls to discover that Jesus is no longer there --
He is risen! (Try it and see what happens.)
* Visualization of the Easter story for the very young.
http://YoungEaster.notlong.com | 
