Welcome to my Creative Youth Ideas Library,

The church Pastor is giving the children his yearly Easter Children's Sermon. Three of the children are more vocal than the rest.

The Pastor asks the first child, "WHAT IS EASTER?"

The child replies, "Oh, that's easy, it's the holiday in November when everyone gets together, eats turkey, and are thankful."

"That's Thanksgiving, not Easter", replies the Pastor, and proceeds to ask the second child.

The second child replies, "No, Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of........ of Jesus."

The pastor looks at the second child, says, "It is about Jesus, but that is Christmas, not Easter." He looks at the third child and asks, "WHAT IS EASTER?"

The third child smiles and looks the pastor in the eye.

"I know what Easter is. Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper and Jesus was later deceived and turned over to the Romans by one of his disciples. The Romans took him to be crucified and he was stabbed in the side, made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder. Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out, and if he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter."

Looking for some Creative Easter Ideas for your Easter Party or event?

Easter icebreakers! Creative Teaching Ideas! Easter Children's sermons, Easter illustrations and Devotions and MORE! Get more than 80 creative youth ideas for Easter in the

Title: What is Easter?
Posted by Ken Sapp at 12:00 AM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Humor
Average: 3.60 (5 votes) | Rate It: 1 2 3 4 5 | (5="Great", 1="Bad")
Keywords: Easter Humor, humour, jokes, children's sermon

Found a great idea for youth at Creative Youth Ideas: What is Easter?

Introduction

• Can you pin the cotton tail on the Easter Bunny?

Description

• In this Easter variation of "Pin the tail on the Donkey", youth will need to pin a cotton ball tail on to an Easter bunny. Only there is a surprise twist!

Materials

• Drawing of an Easter Bunny
• Drawing of an Empty Cross
• Cotton balls
• Double sided tape

Preparation

• In this Easter variation of "Pin the tail on the Donkey", you'll need to find an image of an Easter bunny. Place the picture on a wall or flat surface.
• Prepare a cotton ball for each youth with a piece of double-sided adhesive tape attached
• Find or make an image of a cross as well, but keep it hidden until needed.

Instructions for Playing this Easter Game

1. Each youth is given a cotton ball with a double-sided piece of sticky tape attached to it.
2. Blindfold all of the youth and while everyone is blindfolded, replace the rabbit with a picture of a cross without them knowing it.
3. Explain to the youth that they are to be completely quiet for this game and to make no comments when their blindfolds have been removed or to give those still playing any clues.
4. Spin them around 3-5 times, (so they are a little dizzy) and point them in the direction of the cross (2-3 feet in front of it).
5. Tell the youth to walk forward and place the "tail on the rabbit".
6. Remove the blindfold from the youth and repeat the process with the next youth in line.

Discussion
I understand that some in the church prefer to avoid anything related to rabbits and eggs in the celebration of Easter and this kind of plays with that idea. I thought of other ways of doing this game, but to "pin Christ on the cross" seemed a little sacrilegious to me. Even though it is true that every time we sin we are in some ways putting Christ on the Cross, because our sins were what put him there in the first place.

But I chose to use this "Pin the tail on the Easter Bunny" game as part of an overall theme on expectations, replacement, and searching. We expected a rabbit, but it was replaced with a cross. Unfortunately, the world today has done the opposite. They have replaced the cross with a rabbit! The Romans expected the death of Christ to end his following. But his followers grew stronger and more numerous after the resurrection. The women went to the tomb expected to find Christ's body. Instead they found an empty tomb. We sometimes fear that death is the end. But as Christians we are only beginning an eternity with God! In the world today, a lot of people are searching for some place, to leave their mark, like you left your mark on the poster. But Jesus says Seek Me and you will find me. I have sealed you. And with my blood I have marked you as my own. You will leave your mark in the world when you follow me!

Closing Application
Imagine that the cotton ball is representative of your sin. When we repent and accept Christ, we are placing our sins on Christ, our sins on the cross with Him. But the story of Easter is that He is no longer there on the cross and God did a switch on us as well. Instead of us taking the punishment for our sin - death, Christ took that punishment in our place. And through his blood our sins have been forgiven! Through Christ, death has been replaced with life. Just as Christ has risen from the grave, we will also if we have repented and accepted his forgiveness!

In closing, say a prayer of confession for the sins you have committed and one of thanks for his forgiveness through the shedding of Christ's blood on the cross. But more importantly remember that he has risen from the grave and we will one day rise to be with Him!

Don't replace the cross with a rabbit!

Variations
You could just as easily do this game in reverse from what I have shared above. Start out explaining what Jesus did on the cross, taking the sins of the world on his shoulders and giving youth the cotton ball as a representation of their sins to pin on the cross. Then while all are blindfolded, replace the cross with an Easter bunny. Then for discussion have people share how they felt when they discovered the switch! Does God feel the same way when we replace the cross and the resurrection with a rabbit and eggs? Might create some interesting discussion.

Looking for some Creative Easter Ideas for your Easter Party or event?

Easter icebreakers! Creative Teaching Ideas! Easter Children's sermons, Easter illustrations and Devotions and MORE! Get more than 80 creative youth ideas for Easter in the

Title: Pin the Tail on the Easter Bunny
Posted by Ken Sapp at 06:41 PM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Creative Teaching Ideas
Average: 4.33 (6 votes) | Rate It: 1 2 3 4 5 | (5="Great", 1="Bad")
Keywords: Easter bunny, Peter Cottontail, cross, resurrection, forgiveness, risen from the grave

Found a great idea for youth at Creative Youth Ideas: Pin the Tail on the Easter Bunny

Introduction to this Easter Game

• Can you follow all the actions of the leader without dropping your Easter Egg?

Description of this Easter Game

• Youth must follow a leader while keeping an Easter egg balanced on a spoon the entire time.

Materials

• One boiled and dyed Easter egg for each youth. (Prepare a few Easter eggs as spares in case some are dropped and mutilated beyond use.)
• One tablespoon for each youth.

Preparation

• Boil and dye Easter eggs the night before the Easter event.

Easter Egg Game / Activity Instructions

1. Form all the youth into a single line.
2. Each youth holds his or her spoon from the handle and carefully balances an Easter egg in the spoon.
3. Youth may not use another hand or body part to balance the Easter egg.
4. The youth at the front of the line is the leader.
5. The leader moves into a location where everyone can see and then can move around, hop, or do any other crazy movements as long as he or she doesn't drop the Easter egg.
6. The rest of the youth must follow the leader's actions while continuing to balance the Easter egg on the spoon.
7. If one of the youth in line drops the Easter egg or is unable to perform the action she or she must go to the end of the line.
8. If the Leader drops the Easter egg they also move to the end of the line and the next youth in line becomes the leader.
9. Whichever youth is the leader at the end of a designated time, wins the game.

Discussion and Applications
Use this game along with these other Easter Egg activities for a meaningful Bible Lesson:

• Use plastic Eggs with Easter Symbols inside to Tell the Easter Story
• Have a traditional Easter Egg Hunt with a twist that tells the Biblical Easter Story
• Use Egg Tragedy and discuss how the Easter events may have seemed like a tragedy to the Followers of Christ at the time, but after they faced the heat they become much stronger and were used by God to change the world afterward.
• Replace the Colored Jelly Beans in Jelly Bean Salvation with colored Easter Eggs for an evangelistic lesson

Looking for some Creative Easter Ideas for your Easter Party or event?

Easter icebreakers! Creative Teaching Ideas! Easter Children's sermons, Easter illustrations and Devotions and MORE! Get more than 80 creative youth ideas for Easter in the

Title: Easter Egg - Follow the Leader
Posted by Ken Sapp at 03:27 PM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Game Ideas
Average: 4.33 (6 votes) | Rate It: 1 2 3 4 5 | (5="Great", 1="Bad")
Keywords: Easter egg, game

Found a great idea for youth at Creative Youth Ideas: Easter Egg - Follow the Leader

The song by Steve Nelson & Jack Rollins, focuses on the Easter Bunny, also known as Peter Cottontail. In essence they have turned the Easter Story into a Spring Santa Claus, who goes gives gifts to children. For somebody, he’s got jellybeans, while for others; he is carrying a basket full of Easter joy.

Here's the Lyrics:

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Hippity, hoppity,
Easter's on its way.

Bringing' every girl and boy Baskets full of Easter joy,
Things to make your Easter bright and gay.
He's got jellybeans for Tommy,
Colored eggs for sister Sue,
There's an orchid for your Mommy
And an Easter bonnet, too.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Happy Easter day.

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Look at him stop, and listen to him say:
"Try to do the things you should."
Maybe if you're extra good,
He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way.

You'll wake up on Easter morning
And you'll know that he was there
When you find those chocolate bunnies
That he's hiding everywhere.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hopping' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Happy Easter day.

But what if Peter Cottontail knew the real meaning of Easter?

Have youth write a new version of the popular song and relate it to the true meaning of Easter!

Looking for some Creative Easter Ideas for your Easter Party or event?

Easter icebreakers! Creative Teaching Ideas! Easter Children's sermons, Easter illustrations and Devotions and MORE! Get more than 80 creative youth ideas for Easter in the

Title: Peter Cotton Tail
Posted by Ken Sapp at 07:05 PM | Link | Comments (0)
Category: Creative Teaching Ideas
Average: 3.60 (5 votes) | Rate It: 1 2 3 4 5 | (5="Great", 1="Bad")
Keywords: Easter Rabbit, Bunny, Peter Cottontail

Found a great idea for youth at Creative Youth Ideas: Peter Cotton Tail