Catholic Resurrection Eggs

If you've never heard of Resurrection Eggs, they're just plastic Easter Eggs with different religious Easter symbols inside to help kids learn the Easter story. This idea originated from the children's book Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs.

 

I've seen Catholics call them multiple things including "Paschal Mystery Eggs" and "Easter Story Eggs" :-). I call ours "Holy Week Eggs". I wanted our eggs to include as many Catholic holy week traditions as possible. I also wanted to make sure to tell the whole Easter story rather than just try to come up with the cutest stuff to put in eggs. So here's what I came up with:

How I made my "Resurrection Eggs" or "Holy Week Eggs":

1. Palm Branch (Made out of a leaf from a fake flower arrangement. I just sliced "palm branches" into it with some scissors.)
2. Soap (For when Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. I wanted to include this since feet are washed during the Holy Thursday mass.)
3. Cracker (For the last supper. Obviously a "biggie" for us Catholics ;-)
4. Flower (For when Jesus asked his apostles to stay awake with him in the garden. I wanted to include this since it is symbolic of the Catholic tradition of staying up in adoration Thursday night.)
5. Dimes (For the 30 pieces of silver that Judas betrayed Jesus for.)
6. Ropes (For bounding and arresting Jesus. I think this is a pretty crucial point for the story.)
7. Crown of Thorns (I made mine from a twig I pulled from a tree in my front yard. Make sure you get a green one so it's flexible enough to weave it into a circle. Don't worry if it snaps in a few places when you're weaving it- mine did, too. You could also use one of those "rosary rings" that looks like a crown of thorns.)
8. Nails (self explanatory)
9. Crucifix (Mine is from a broken rosary. You could also just stuff a whole rosary in there, or make a cross from toothpicks, but really. Who has kids and doesn't have broken rosaries? Lol!)
10. Sponge with Vinegar (I just whacked off a piece from my kitchen sponge.)
11. Spices and Fabric (For preparing the body for burial. I just put some oregano in a ziplock bag and tied it off with a knot.)
12. Stone (just a piece of gravel will do.)

Some more ideas I came across for Resurrection Eggs were: A Die (for the soldiers casting lots for Jesus' garments), Fur (for the donkey Jesus rode in on), A Feather (for the rooster crowing), A Thick String (for the scourging), Small Piece of Wash Cloth (for washing of feet), Small Cup (for when Jesus says "let this cup pass from me"), A Black Cloth (for when the sky went black), Small Piece of Rose Bush Stem (in place of crown of thorns), An Empty Egg (for the empty tomb) or a Cloth (for finding empty burial cloths in the tomb), Cotton Ball with Perfume (for the perfume Mary put on Jesus' feet), Purple Cloth (for the robes they wrapped Jesus in), and a Sign that says "King of the Jews".

There's really no reason why you can't make 2 dozen resurrection eggs with all of these ideas! :-)

When you've collected your stuff, just put them all in some plastic eggs...

 And number them!

Then you can just put them into an egg carton and decorate it! For younger kids, you go over what each piece stands for and pass it around so they can hold it. For older kids, include a piece of paper in each one with an explanation, and a bible verse they can look up for that part of the story! (Here's a link with some bible verses for if you have older kids :-)

What Jesus did for us during this week of his life is so amazing! Share it with your children. Don't just allow the true meaning of this amazing holiday to get lost in the Easter Bunny shuffle!

Here's a picture of my then 3 year old daughter holding the 

"crown of thorns" and pointing to the one on Jesus' head :-)

Here are some sets that other Catholics made :-)

I love these resurrection eggs from JOYfilled Family!

(along with a ton of great ideas in this same post! :-)

Here's a set from  

Hang on Baby Jesus This is Gonna Get Bumpy.

Cherished Hearts at Home made 

Paschal Mystery Eggs! She has lots of bible
verses listed. Very useful!!! Don't miss this set!

Love Busy With Blessings Easter Eggs!

Just Call Me Jamin made this lapbook with 

printable resurrection eggs.

Or if you're low on time this Easter season,
you can always order a set of Resurrection Eggs (Parenting).
 

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