Meaningful Ways to Celebrate a Christ-Centered Easter With Your Kids

If you’re looking for ideas, activities and resources to help you plan a meaningful, Christ-centered Easter celebration with your kids this year, then look no further – this post is full of ways to help you do just that!

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I’ll earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See my disclosure page to learn more.

Easter is the most important celebration in the Christian calendar—it’s the fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption, the hope of the resurrection, and a beautiful reminder that Jesus is alive! For families with children, Easter is the perfect opportunity to build lifelong traditions that focus on the true meaning of the season – Jesus’ death and resurrection.

My kids love doing egg hunts, looking through their Easter baskets on Sunday morning and of course, eating candy, but I also want to be sure that we are including activities that remind us of the real reason for celebrating Easter. Over the years I have tried to find ways to do just that, by creating our own Easter traditions that are fun and focused on Jesus.

I hope that the following ideas, activities and resources will be helpful to you as well as you plan and celebrate a Christ-centered Easter with your kids this year! Of course there is no need to do them all, just pick what would work best for your family, and then have fun learning about the true meaning of Easter!

Celebrate Holy Week

Use each day of Holy Week to focus on a part of Jesus’ journey from the cross to His resurrection. You could even start the week by making a countdown cross or resurrection calendar (similar to a Christmas advent calendar) where each day of Holy Week you would read a Scripture and/or do a small activity leading up to Resurrection Sunday.

Here are some ideas of what to do for each day:

• Palm Sunday: Read Matthew 21:1–11. Make palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” You can make your own out of heavy paper such as cardstock, and attach it to a popsicle stick or dowel, or you can buy a ready made template that you simply print and cut out.
• Maundy Thursday: Read Luke 22:7–38. Wash each other’s feet or share a simple communion, explaining what it means and why it’s important.
• Good Friday: Read John 19. Make a cross craft or put together an Easter story snack mix (you can use these tags to help explain what each snack item represents).
• Silent Saturday: Read Matthew 27:57-60. Make a tomb craft.
• Easter Sunday: Read Matthew 28. Make Resurrection Rolls and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

Here are some more ideas to go along with Holy Week:

• Create your own resurrection garden
• Make a fun cross sun-catcher
• Choose 3–5 verses about Jesus’ resurrection to memorize as a family.
• Make a mini-book about Easter
• Do a paper plate tomb
• Make a handprint craft

Use Resurrection Eggs to Help Tell the Easter Story

For years I have been using resurrection eggs with my kids and even though they’re older now, they still ask to do them every Easter! You can buy premade resurrection eggs or you can make your own by using 12 plastic eggs and filling them with objects related to the story. If you can’t find the actual objects you need, you can always use these printable resurrection eggs and use those to fill the eggs instead.

This is a great activity to use during your family devotion time, on Easter day, throughout Holy Week, or as an object lesson. You could also hide the eggs (like an Easter egg hunt) and then open each one and try to put them in order, talking about each object and how it’s a part of the Easter story.

Play Easter Story Games

Games are a great way to learn about topics and events in a fun and memorable way. I know that my kids love playing games, both for holidays and all year-round! Here are some ideas for having fun while learning about the true meaning of Easter!

• You can play games like Easter trivia, charades, Jeopardy, Easter bingo, Pictionary, etc.
• If you have older kids, then a printable Easter story escape room is the perfect way to share the true meaning of Easter in an exciting new way. I’ve created an escape room that helps teach the Easter story as well as an Easter story trivia escape room for kids who already know about the events of Holy Week, but there are other options as well that you could use!
• You can make or buy a printable scavenger hunt that will tell the Easter story while the kids are having fun playing the game! I have several versions in my Etsy shop – one for younger kids, one for older kids and one with riddles and a code to figure out! You can also read more about these kind of games and get a free scavenger hunt when you sign up below!
• Want more? Be sure to check out the Easter section of my Etsy shop for even more fun, Christ-centered Easter games and printables!

Sign up below to get this FREE printable Easter scavenger hunt! Plus, you’ll also get access to my entire free resource library!

Celebrate with Worship and Joy

Here are some more ways that you can make Easter day a joyful expression of faith and celebration!

• Have a backyard sunrise worship service
• Do an Easter praise dance party
• Bake angel food cake, an empty tomb cake or a lamb cake 
• Make a “He is Risen” banner
• Create a Christ-Centered Easter playlist to fill your home with resurrection songs
• Make resurrection rolls
• Do a scripture hunt around the house for verses related to the Easter story, hide resurrection eggs or do a scavenger hunt.

Do a Backyard Passion Walk

Set up stations around your yard or home that walk through the final days of Jesus. At each station you could read a verse, ask a reflection question or say a prayer. You can even play a game or do a craft or activity to help your kids remember the important events of Holy Week.

You can set up stations for:

• Jesus’ triumphal entry
• The Last Supper
• Jesus’ garden prayer
• Judas betraying Jesus
• Going to the cross
• Jesus’ burial
• The resurrection of Jesus

Make Easter Blessing Cards

You can write out cards or notes for your kids filled with truth, encouragement or special Bible verses. You could even have your kids help you make cards or notes (or draw pictures) to hand out to other people! Some examples of things to write may be:

• “You are loved by the Risen King.”
• “Jesus died and rose again—for YOU!”
• “Because of Jesus, you have eternal hope.”
• “Jesus loves you!”
• ” He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.”

Holy Week Sensory Bin

If you have younger kids who love sensory bins, then try adding an Easter twist to them by using objects related to Holy Week. Your child can explore the items in the bin while you share what the objects represent. Here are some examples of things you can add, but feel free to get creative with it!

• Palm leaves (felt or paper)
• Toy donkey
• Small cross
• Coins (for Judas)
• Tiny cup (Last Supper)
• Black cloth (Good Friday)
• Rock and cloth (tomb)

Tell the Easter Story in Different Ways

The Bible gives us the beautiful, true story of Jesus’ life and resurrection, and is always the best place (in my opinion!) to learn about this time of year and the events that happened. But in addition to this, there are other ways that the Easter story can be told. You could:

• Read from a different Gospel each time, or from a different Bible translation
• Use a picture Bible
• Act out the story as a family
• Use resurrection eggs to help guide you through the story (ones that are printable, homemade or store bought)
• Make and use story stones (painted rocks with symbols)
• Retell the story using LEGO, Play-Doh, or other toys/figurines

Serve Others as Jesus Did

This is something that’s important to show our children all year long, but it can be especially meaningful to do during this time of year. You can use this season to teach kids about humility and love through action. Here are just a few ways that you can do this:

• Make and deliver Easter cards, notes or pictures to neighbors or seniors
• Bake cookies or other treats and attach a Bible verse
• Volunteer at a food pantry or soup kitchen
• Assemble Easter baskets for someone in need
• Give to a missionary family or a ministry spreading the Gospel

Christ-Centered Easter Basket Ideas

I try to incorporate ways of learning about and celebrating the true meaning of this season, and I think that even traditional Easter ideas can do this. Filling Easter baskets for your kids is a good example. My kids love seeing what’s in their basket on Easter morning, and it’s a fun tradition that we have always done. And it’s a great place to give some meaningful, Christ-centered gifts such as:

• Children’s Bible or devotional
• Cross necklace or bracelet
• Resurrection-themed coloring books
• Scripture memory cards
• Plush lamb or lion 
• Christian storybooks or a bookmark
• Candy with a purpose (a chocolate cross or jelly beans with a tag telling what each color jelly bean represents)

As you celebrate this season, remember the goal – teaching our kids about the true Easter story and helping them fall in love with the Savior. It’s not about perfect crafts or Pinterest-worthy baskets—it’s about planting seeds of faith and pointing them to the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus is alive, and because of that, our lives are full of hope!

And I hope that the ideas I’ve shared here will help you this season as you celebrate a Christ-centered Easter with your family!