I am indebted to a sweet young lady for sharing this idea. I told her I wanted to put it on my blog for the world to see and her words were, “Make sure you show pictures step by step!” So that is what I am going to do. I plan on using this with my Sparks and T&T kids who are Kindergarten through 6th grade. PLEASE feel free to share this or use it yourself. It’s the GOSPEL and who wouldn’t want to share that?!? The “story words” are mine, but feel free to change them to make the activity fit your group. Adults would think this is pretty cool as well. I sure thought it was!
Materials: 1 sheet of paper. (I’ve used typing paper and construction paper. Either will work.)
1 sheet of paper
Environment: Be in a place where you can sit on the floor and have the kids gather and sit in front of you. Make sure you have enough floor space to move pieces around to tell the Easter story.
The Foundation (Fold paper while discussing this with children)
“In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Who is the Word? (Jesus) And what does that verse tell us about Jesus? (Jesus existed with God before the world was created and Jesus is God.) If Jesus is God, that means He has all of the same characteristics of God. What is God like? (perfect, holy, good, mighty, kind, patient, without sin) If God is like that, then what is Man like? (selfish, greedy, imperfect, sinful)
Fold the right corner down
Fold the left corner down to make a “house” shape
Flip house over and fold house in half
Fold in half again, like wings on an airplane, but both wings should be on one side
Tear down the middle. Begin with the not so thick end and tear to the end thicker with paper.
You should have 2 sections. One section has many pieces, the other is 1 piece of paper.
Place the one piece of paper to the side and unfold and spread out all of the pieces so the kids can see them.
Arrange the pieces to spell “Sin”
The Need
What is sin? (Anything that we think, say or do that does not please God.) Who sins? (Everyone) What have you done that is sin? (have kids give examples) The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It also tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” What is a wage? (something, such as money, that a person earns) So that verse tells us that we, all sinners, EARN death because of our sin.
Arrange the pieces to spell “Hell”
And death equals eternal separation from God. No relationship with Him. There is a verse in Isaiah (59:2) that says, “Your sins have separated you from your God.” Wow. Sin is a problem. And the Sin Problem needs to be fixed. The problem is, man can’t do it. We can try. What types of good things can people do? (share, do kind things, give money to charity, etc) But the Bible says that my righteousness, the good things I do, is as “filthy rags” to the Lord. We can’t fix the Sin Problem, but God can.
The Gospel
What is the rest of the “wages” verse? (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.) Yes! To fix the Sin Problem, God sent Jesus. And remember, He is like God. Jesus was born like you, only He was without sin. He grew up, lived His life, worked some miracles, preached some great sermons, and then He was accused of saying He was God. The Jews didn’t like hearing that. So they figured out how to get Jesus killed. Crucified. Jesus didn’t fight them. Jesus was nailed onto a cross on a hill called Calvary.
Unfold the one piece
Put these two pieces under the cross to show Calvary Hill
Two other thieves were crucified as well, with Jesus in the middle.
Place 2 pieces as the crosses of the robbers
Pilate, the Roman leader who allowed Jesus to die, had a sign placed over Jesus’ head that read, “King of the Jews.”
Place a small rectangle across the top of the cross for the sign
The Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross rolled dice and gambled to see who would win Jesus’ robe.
Pretend to toss the small squares like dice
After Jesus died, a soldier took a spear and thrust it into Jesus’ side to make sure He was dead. He was.
Add the other rectangle as the spear into Jesus’ side
Jesus was taken down off the cross and laid in a tomb. Three days later He arose and He appeared to women and the disciples and quite a few others. Jesus was alive.
Take the two pieces that make the Calvary Hill and make the tomb. If you put the pieces close together you can show it closed and then pull them slightly apart to show an empty tomb.
The Invitation
And He is still living today. “God loves [YOU] so much that He gave His one and only son and if [YOU] believe in Him, then [YOU] will have eternal life.”
Leave the cross and use the other pieces to spell “Life”
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you WILL be saved!” Saved from what? (Hell, eternal separation from God) God wants you to have life. Eternal life with Him. Forever. By telling Jesus that He is Lord, then you are saying to Him, “Jesus, my life is Yours. YOU are my Lord. You are my Master. I am going to learn about your commands and then I am going to obey them.” Believing in Jesus means making a change in your behavior and living a life in His favor.
Use all the pieces to spell “Jesus”
Sing the song of the month: “Happiness is the Lord”
Happiness is to know the Savior
Living a life within His favor,
Having a change in my behavior
Happiness is the Lord
Happiness is a new creation
Jesus in me in close relation
Having a part in His salvation
Happiness is the Lord
Real joy is mine
No matter if teardrops start,
I’ve found the secret –
It’s Jesus in my heart!
Happiness is to be forgiven
Living the life that worth the living
Taking a trip that leads to heaven
Happiness is the Lord, Happiness is the Lord
Happiness is the Lord!
The Opportunity
If the Lord leads, then give the children an opportunity to accept Him. May the Lord use this lesson and YOU to further His kingdom!!
**Be sure to not miss any future “Salvation” messages by clicking “FOLLOW ME” to the right of your screen.
