Children and Families - Scripture Union NZ

The sky i s dark but the first hints of light are touching the horizon. A c oupl e of Jesus' friends get up really early. Mary from the town of Magdala and her friends wrap their shawls around their shou lders to keep them warm. The Sabbath is over and they are getting ready to head to the tomb where Jesus is buried. They are going to put spices on his body .  As they walk along the road in the early morning of Sunday they talk about all that has happened. About how much they love their friend Jesus and how they haven't stopped crying since that horrible day when he died.  Birds sing to the dawn as they walk along the road. Pink and gold clouds streak across the sky. If it wasn't for the heav iness of their hearts they would have though t the world was a little brighter this morning. But it can't be. Jesus is dead and the world is broken and dark.  As they enter the olive grove where the tomb is the fi rst thing they notice is the big stone that was put ove...

This is a craft I created for my Bible in Schools class. They are 6 year olds, so I needed something quick and simple. It is easy and it looks very effective. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out! To make this craft you will need: A simple template of an Easter egg card. Here are two designs to choose from: 'Happy Easter - Ngā mihi o Te Aranga' 'Jesus is alive - Happy Easter' Print double sided, on the short edge.   - You will need one sheet per child. If you have young children you will need to cut out the Easter egg shape on the front, otherwise let the children do it. - You need strips of different coloured paper and ribbon. I also include some strips with 'Jesus is alive!' printed on them. You could handwrite these, or invite the children to.  Work on about 8 strips per child. - Each child needs a glue stick. All the children need to do is cover the egg shape with glue and lay their strips across it so no white spaces ...

This is a cool activity and so easy.  1. Line ten ice block sticks up in a row. 2. Stick two together with masking tape, then turn over and stick the next two on the other side. Turn back and repeat. 3. Use felts to draw a picture of Jesus’ death on one side, and a picture of the resurrection on the other side. 4. Fold the sticks up. (See the third photo.) 5. Show the children how to use it to tell the Easter story to their friends and families. While the children are making their picture it's a good opportunity to help them think about Easter. Try asking using these questions. -Why did Jesus choose to die? -What happened when Jesus came back to life? -What is your favourite part of the Easter story? Why? -What do you think the most impo rtant part of the Easter story is? Why?

Ancient olive trees at Gethsemane As Easter draws near, everyone involved in children's ministry is on the hunt for great resources and ideas to help their children explore the story and connect with God. Here's a great resource to add to the list. Easter in Israel 'Easter in Israel' is a free downloadable book that takes children through the Easter Story, photo by photo. Each photo shows the children what the places of the Easter Story look like today.  Here are a couple of sample pages as well as the link to download the booklet. Print out enough for each child, or one book per small group. You can read it together during your teaching time and talk together about how it helps us to understand what happened at Easter.   To receive your free book all you need to do is click on this link to send an email request . You will receive a dropbox invitation to access the file.  And then, it's all yours!  Please note that it's a big...