Christian Easter Egg fillers :)

I haven't written a blog in a while...I could blame it on the fact that our computer was on the fritz...but that's not really true ;)  I've been busy!  However, I want to get together some ideas for Easter Egg fillers that are church and Jesus related.  So, I figured my blog was a good place to do it!!  The Happy Home Fairy (my favorite blog to follow :) has wonderful Easter ideas, and I even heard her speak once about great Religious items to put in the kids' Easter baskets.  BUT, I am in charge of my prek's Easter Egg hunt AND my church's hunt...so, I need egg filler ideas!!  I know Oriental Trading has tons of trinkets and items that may be good...but I want something more.  So, I searched for a bit and found a blog that had a neat idea she did for her son's Easter egg hunt on Easter morning...and I changed it a bit to fit my church and class hunts!  But first, a few things that I did like from oriental trading ;)

   So Oriental Trading does have some good stuff :)  I love the DIY necklace - my young girls will love that!  I'm trying to figure out how to stuff the sticker scene picture in an egg...gotta be a way!  All my kids (even elementary) have loved these in the past!  (and the sticky crosses...oh my - even my middle schoolers love these ;)

I love the idea from this blogger about telling the story with your eggs. I do this every year for Church school, but it never occurred to me that I could incorporate it into the hunt...cause, well, what child likes getting a nail in his egg...or a whip...or a palm leaf?  I mean, really.  We can only go so far...  BUT, this got me thinking...maybe we could make this fun!!  Let's say there are 5 parts to the story (I know they're tons more, but lets start off with 5...maybe you can think of an idea for another part!?) - when Judas was offered 30 coins, the last supper, Judas betrays Jesus, Jesus was nailed to the cross, Jesus rose from the dead.  Now let's see if I (with the help of the aforementioned blogger) can come up with something that symbolizes each of these parts of the story that is FUN and the kids would want to take home!  This would also give them a goal for the hunt - see if you can find all 5 parts of the story!  Maybe this would promote sharing as well...so that everyone goes home with all 5 parts :)

1.  Judas takes the bribe of 30 coins to betray Jesus.  The blogger above suggests 30 cents or 3 dimes.  Perfect!  I put quarters and other coins in some of our eggs last year and the kids flipped :)  money is always fun!  I think it'd be funny to stuff 30 pennies in an egg...lol

2.  The last supper.  The blogger suggests crackers.  Since everything in our hunt has to be wrapped, I'm going to put individual packets of cheez-its...or maybe oyster crackers - they look very similar to our communion wafers! :)  I saw this box on amazon.  but they come in quantities of 150 :) a little too much for my church!

3.  Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss...well, this is an obvious one :)

However, in the Florida heat, I have to pretty much rule out chocolate - sad, I know :(  But, here is another alternative...

oriental trading has these individually wrapped "kisses" - lip gummies :)

4.  Jesus was nailed to the cross and killed.  I think I would go with one of the nail cross necklaces pictured above from oriental trading.  But I also LOVE this little nail cross charm that kids could put on their loom bracelets, make earrings or a necklace.  And I love to support Etsy! :)

If I am reading this correctly, it says 10 charms for $1.88!!

5.  Lastly, and most important, you leave some eggs empty.  This is to signify the empty tomb.  These should be the BEST eggs to find...because this is why we celebrate Easter - Jesus is risen!  I think I will have my children trade in their empty eggs to get something special...maybe the sticker scene (pictured above from oriental trading), or maybe Easter books or music or something that says "He is Risen!" (like the bracelets from oriental trading above).  

This would at the least, put a religious twist on my Easter egg hunts!  I realize some people frown on Easter egg hunts because they are secular...but what better way to bring people into the church than to use something innocent like an Easter egg hunt - and then teach them about Jesus!  Before our church egg hunt, I always have the children gather to play a few games and do a few crafts - almost all related to Jesus.  Then, when I see that everyone has arrived, I gather them together and we read the story of Jesus.  I've done different stories in the past - last year I used the resurrection eggs and had children search for them inside.  The lucky ones that found them got to tell what they knew about the contents.  If they didn't want to I opened it up to the group.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.  This year, I'll make sure and talk about the 5 parts of the story (maybe I'll add a few more...any suggestions?!)...and explain about the 5 eggs.  If they can find all 5 different eggs that tell the story - then they get something extra (maybe a Bible?  I'd love to give every child a Bible! :)  

Happy Hunting everyone!!

In Christ,

Laurie j.