Teaching the Easter story to preschoolers is a delicate balance of truth and restraint. How do you tell the story without scaring them? I get asked this every year. Honestly? It’s hard. It’s a hard concept even for grown-ups. In this post, I will give you 5 simple ways how to teach preschoolers the story of Easter with ideas and prop suggestions.
How To Teach The Easter Story To Preschoolers With Props
There are many different props you can use, but having something for preschoolers to see and touch makes learning the Easter story much more real to them. The following are props I use to tell the story in an interactive way. Click here for an EASTER STORY PROP CHECKLIST that will help guide you with ideas on how to tell the Easter story to preschoolers.
Teaching The Easter Story To Preschoolers With Resurrection Eggs
I like to use Resurrection Eggs. It gives kids something concrete to look at and touch. Besides, who doesn’t love to open up an Easter egg? These are essential elements in how to teach the Easter story to preschoolers. My class loves opening the eggs and they get so excited to guess what is inside!
If you are not familiar with them, they tell the Easter story by showing 12 objects from the story. You open them one at a time and talk about that part of the story. It’s a great visual for kids.
Make Your Own Resurrection Eggs
If you want to make your own, use the suggestions below for a more “Preschool Friendly” version. It removes the gory and scary details and replaces them with simple wording and objects. Just find smaller objects that fit inside the eggs.
My friend Shannon from Joy and Sunshine Collective and I started a Free Facebook Group for Christian Preschool Teachers. It’s called THE CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL TEACHER COLLECTIVE. If you join, you can watch the LIVE where we talked about each egg and activities that you can do that correspond with them. You can watch the replay there. Also, check out her Blog Post with some amazing Easter Activities!
Prop Suggestions for How To Teach The Easter Story To Preschoolers
When teaching the Easter story to preschoolers, I love to have them help me act out the story. If you are not comfortable doing that, then the props suggested can just be visuals and will still help get the point across. Here are some suggestions to use for each day that corresponds with our own preschool version of the Resurrection Eggs.
Grab your free checklist for teaching the Easter story to preschoolers.
Globe
God made the world and loved us so much that He sent us Jesus.
A Manger With A Doll Wrapped in Gauze
God sent Jesus to the world as a baby where He would grow up and show us how to love others.
Boat
Talk about the many miracles Jesus did like calming the storm, healing the sick, and raising Lazarus from the dead.
Palm Branch
Reenact Jesus’ triumphal entry by waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!”
Goblet, Bread, Towel, and Water Basin
Jesus washed their feet to show how to love and serve others. Even though He was God’s son, He showed us that people are important and that we should not think that we are better than anyone else. Talk about the Last Supper and how Jesus said to remember Him because He was going away, but He would come back.
Pouch of 30 Silver Coins (dimes or nickels in the USA)
Talk about how Jesus’ friend Judas took money from the bad guys so he could lead them to where Jesus was.
Plastic or Stuffed Toy Rooster
Talk about how Jesus said Peter would deny (pretend he didn’t know him) Jesus 3 times and that all of the disciples would run away.
Flowers
Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and ask God to take away this terrible thing that was going to happen. Jesus obeyed and did what His father asked Him to do because He loved us more than himself.
Small Wooden Cross
Jesus died on a cross made out of wood. Some bad people put him there. We see crosses everywhere and that reminds us that that is where Jesus died.
A ROCK, CLOTH (toilet paper roll or strips of cloth), and a TOMB (empty Box with a hole cut in the side or a table with a brown or gray tablecloth draped over it)
They took Jesus down from the cross and wrapped him in cloths (toilet paper roll) and put him in a tomb (inside a large box or under a table draped with tablecloth) which was a dark cave. They rolled a huge stone in front of it. [NOTE: Use a doll or get permission from a parent to act out this part.]
Angel
On the third day after Jesus died, Mary and Mary went to the tomb to pour oil and spices on Jesus to keep him from stinking. Just like angels had announced that Jesus had been born, an angel rolled the stone away and told Mary and Mary that Jesus was alive and no longer dead! He rose from the dead just like He said!
Cloud (cotton balls)
Jesus visited many people after He came back to life. Then He told his disciples to go tell everyone about Him because He was no longer going to be on Earth. He was going up to Heaven. Then Jesus went up and up and up and up and up and up and up into the clouds where He is waiting to come back again.
How To Teach The Easter Story To Preschoolers Through Books
Having a good Children’s Bible or a Picture Book is essential to telling the story. It helps make it more real for them. There are many to choose from, but the following are my favorites. They leave out the scary pictures yet tell the story.
My favorite Preschool Bible is the Beginners Bible. It has great pictures without a lot of words. It has a wide selection of stories from both the Old and New Testaments. If you are still old school, they have DVDs to go along with it as well. (Not that I would know anything about being old school 🙂
Speaking of the Bible, if you want a way to teach character traits to preschoolers using Bible Verses, the BUILDING BLOCKS OF CHARACTER SERIES in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store is a great place to start.
There are also some excellent Easter picture books, too. Some of my favorites are:
- God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren
- The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story by Mike Berenstain
- ‘Twas the Morning of Easter by Glenys Nellist
- Good News! It’s Easter! by Glenys Nellist
- The Easter Story by Allia Zobel-Nolan
5 Simple Ways How To Teach The Easter Story To Preschoolers
It’s a good idea to tell the Resurrection story over several days or even a few weeks. Briefly review the parts you have covered each day and then add more. If you are doing the resurrection eggs and have the time, do one egg a day. If you have less time, then do 4 eggs a day. In 3 days (yes, 3 days) you will have told the story in little bits.
I like to show the pictures from the Bible or StoryBook and then have older kids come up and help act it out as I am reading. That’s how we learn all of our Bible Stories. Then I read the story and have a child come open an egg that corresponds to that part of the story.
When talking about it, remind them that it is not just a story. It’s true. It really happened. There is always that one tender-hearted child that will inevitably cry and feel betrayed that someone would hurt “baby Jesus”.
After I reassure them that it is not the end of the story and that something good is going to happen, I use these tips for getting the point across without getting into the gory details.
1. Start At The Beginning. The VERY Beginning.
- Teach them how God created the world and how He sent His son Jesus at Christmas.
- Talk about how Mary wrapped him in cloths.
- How Jesus grew from a baby to a toddler to a kid (just like them – make Him relatable) to a teenager and finally a grownup.
- How He had a family and emotions.
- How His job was to go around telling people about God and how much He loved them.
- How He went around doing miracles like calming a storm, walking on water, healing people, and especially the story of bringing Lazarus back from the dead.
2. Keep It Simple
- Simplify EVERYTHING. Did you learn Algebra before you learned how to count? It’s the same with preschoolers.
- Avoid big words and abstract ideas. This is a stepping stone to their understanding. They don’t have to know the concepts of justification, redemption, sanctification, etc. Resurrection is a big word and can be broken down depending on the maturity of your students. Simply, it is something that was dead and brought back to life. Like Lazarus. Knowing that story will give them some hope in this one.
- They need to know that Jesus is real. Jesus came, loved, served, taught, lived, died, rose again, and is Heaven waiting for us and His return.
- Good won over bad.
3. Avoid The Gruesome Details
- You don’t have to get into the lashes he took, or the piercing of his side with a sword, or making his head bleed with a crown of thorns, etc. Use words they understand, like:
- people hurt Jesus
- they hit and kicked him
- they made a crown out of pokey thorns and put it on His head
- they laughed that he was hurt and it made him very sad
- they were very mean to Him
- after they hurt Him and his body had boo-boos all over, they made Him carry a very heavy cross. It was made out of a tree. He carried it up a hill, and then the mean soldiers did something terrible. They hung him on the cross with nails to die
- Avoid the how, just talk about the what. For younger preschoolers, you can just say they hung him on the cross and he died. Leave it at that.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions, like “Is that how we should act? Should we hurt other people like that? No!”
4. Focus On The Positive And The End Result
- When you get to the part where Jesus asks God to forgive the people who were hurting him, and he dies, I usually pause. This is the point that upsets most children.
- Just keep reminding them that this is not the end of the story. Something good is going to happen.
- Remind them how big and strong and mighty Jesus is.
- Remind them of all of His miracles, especially raising Lazarus from the dead.
- Remind them of the promise He made about going away and coming back.
- Remind them who His Dad is and how powerful God is.
- Tell them not to worry and just wait until the end of the story. Tell them how much they are going to love it.
- Talk about how they took him off of the cross, wrapped him in cloths, and laid him in a tomb (a dark cave). After 3 days, something REALLY AWESOME HAPPENED! IT WAS A MIRACLE!
- When you finally do get to the end, get excited! They will too. I’ve had students who literally jumped up and started cheering like it was a ballgame. “Jesus is alive!!” It melted my heart, but that’s how we as adults should act.
5. Focus on Jesus, Not The Easter Bunny
- Jesus should be the center of the Easter holiday, no doubt about it. It’s ok to have celebrations, Easter egg hunts, Easter parties, etc., but they should be separate when learning about the Resurrection story. Make time for each, but Focus on Jesus first and foremost.
- Tell the Resurrection story and make it sound as thrilling as an Easter egg hunt. Don’t forget to use props (like Resurrection Eggs or toilet paper to wrap up Jesus’ body, a large rock, etc.) Children need to know that He is the reason for the season and they will pick up on your energy and enthusiasm. If one is a “boring old story” and the other is an exciting party, which would you choose?
- Keep in mind, it can be confusing to talk about an unreal Easter Bunny and a real Jesus in the same breath. That’s why I separate the two. I may talk about bunnies during spring, but I do not talk about the Easter Bunny. I leave that up to the parents.
- I talk about spring and how God is bringing new life to what we see outside with all of the things turning green and opening up. Butterflies are another great example. The caterpillar goes into a dark space, but it bursts open and becomes new after a while. Baby chicks are also a great way to bridge Jesus’ resurrection with spring.
New Life
Spring and Easter are one of my favorite times of the year. I love how seeing new life reminds us of our new life and how we should spend our time here on earth, spreading the love of Jesus to these precious children. (Spring is also allergy season. At the time of this writing, I have laryngitis. I was going to do a video about how I tell the story. Maybe next year.)
Until Next Time!
More Ideas How To Tell The Easter Story To Preschoolers:
👉🏼Here are some EASTER ACTIVITIES in my TPT STORE that you can do with your preschoolers!
These Easter activities from Joy and Sunshine Collective are also amazing!!
Check these out, too:
www.lifeway.com/en/articles/teaching-preschoolers-about-easter
mom.com/kids/6577-how-teach-kids-about-easter-without-terrifying-them
https://leeanngtaylor.com/teach-kids-about-easter/
Links:
If you are looking for printables for your classroom, check out my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!
PRESCHOOL SOS -Teachers Pay Teachers Store
Join my FREE Facebook Group for Christian Preschool Teachers to get inspiration, laughs, and free printables!
CHRISTIAN PRESCHOOL TEACHER COLLECTIVE
Here are my socials where I share encouragement and ideas for Preschool Teachers:
Here are a few Blog Posts that you might be interested in:
The Value in Values -Teaching Values To Preschoolers
From Chaos To Character – How To Gain Back Control In Your Class
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