Easter is a time of celebration where we remember and rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world! This celebration should not only ring out from the pews of the adult sanctuary, but also from the classrooms of your Kids Ministry. Make sure your children get a healthy dose of laughter and excitement this holiday season with the top 20 Easter games and activities for Sunday School. This list is filled with fun ideas for all ages and is an amazing resource as you prepare to teach your kids about the greatest event in all of history!
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1. Gospel Treasure Hunt
Supplies: Print pictures of the following items: a cup, a loaf of bread, praying hands, silver coins, an ear, a rooster, a gavel, a leather whip, a crown of thorns, nails, a cross, a sword, and a stone.
Split the class into teams for this Easter game. Tell the students that there are pictures hidden around the room, and the team to find the most wins. As you count the number of pictures for each team, explain how each pictured item relates to the lesson.
From the Crucifixion of Jesus Sunday School Lesson
2. Popsicle Stick Cross
Supplies: Popsicle sticks, glue, yarn, markers, other decorative craft supplies.
Give children two popsicle sticks and have them create a cross by either gluing the sticks together or using yarn. They may decorate the crosses using whatever craft supplies are available.
From the Crucifixion of Jesus Sunday School Lesson
3. Easter Mix-Up
For this Easter game arrange the chairs into a circle, with each chair facing inward. Provide one less chair than there are children. One child begins by saying, “On Easter, I am thankful for ___.” Children can express thanks for anything – Easter eggs, Jesus’ resurrection, etc. When the child finishes saying what he or she is thankful for, all the children jump up and find a different chair. They cannot select the chair right next to their own. The child who is left standing gets to express thankfulness for something, and play continues.
From the Resurrection of Christ Sunday School Lesson
4. Easter Egg Relay
Supplies: Large spoons and plastic eggs, four baskets of containers.
Divide the class into two teams and arrange each team into a line. For each line of students, place a spoon and basket full of plastic eggs on one end, and an empty basket on the other. Have the first child in the line pick up an egg from the basket with an empty spoon, and hand the spoon to the next child in line. Each child must pass the spoon and egg until it reaches the end. The last child in line should place the egg into another basket. Play continues until all eggs are deposited into the final basket. If the egg is dropped, the child must hold the spoon in the air and count to ten; once they reach 10, the student can pick up the egg and continue passing it to the end of the line. The team to finish first wins.
From the Resurrection of Christ Sunday School Lesson
5. Flames of Fire
Supplies: Strips of paper cut lengthwise from legal-size paper; staples; red, yellow, and orange construction paper; glue; scissors; markers or crayons.
Give each child one of the long strips of paper, and have them measure their heads. Once they know how much paper they need to go around their heads, have them cut off the excess and staple the ends together, making a headband. Using construction paper, have them cut out flame shapes to glue to their headbands. Have them write a memory verse on their headband.
From the Ascension and Pentecost Sunday School Lesson
6. Guess the Language
Supplies: A list of 10 to 15 greetings in several foreign languages.
On Pentecost, the apostles were able to preach in languages that they had never learned. Whisper the greeting to a child, and have him or her repeat the greeting to the class. If children are old enough, they may be able to read the greeting in English letters. Have the children guess the language. You may have a list of potential languages for them to choose from. This game can be adapted for team play.
From the Ascension and Pentecost Sunday School Lesson
7. In the Tomb, Out of the Tomb
Supplies: masking or painters’ tape
Place a long piece of tape on the floor to divide the playing area. Designate the right side of the line as “in the tomb” and the other side of the tape as “out of the tomb.” Stand on the “out of the tomb” side, and have the children face you while standing in the “in the tomb” side of the line. When you call out either “in the tomb” or “out of the tomb,” the children should jump to the side you have called. If they fail to jump at all, or jump to the wrong side, they are out. Make it extra challenging by picking up the pace, and calling out the same side several times before switching. The teacher can make it tricky by pointing to one side while calling out the other. The last child standing wins this Easter game.
From the He is Risen Sunday School Lesson
8. Roll the Stone Relay
Supplies: several slightly heavy stones
To play this outdoor game, divide the class into teams and instruct the teams to stand in a line. On “go,” the first child in line will roll the stone to a specified point, then roll the stone back. The next child does the same, and so on. The first team to complete the exercise wins!
The stone that was rolled in front of Jesus’ tomb was very large, very heavy and would have taken several people to move. When Jesus rose from the tomb, an angel rolled back the stone.
From the He is Risen Sunday School Lesson
9. “He is Alive!” Letters
Supplies: Large cutout letters spelling out the phrase, “He is Alive!”
Divide the children into groups, and give each group a large letter. Provide each group with materials to decorate the letter—glue, glitter, ribbon, cutouts, stickers, crayons, markers, buttons, etc. When the letters are all completely decorated, hang them up somewhere on the church campus for all to enjoy!
From the He is Risen Sunday School Lesson
10. Cross Bookmark
Supplies: Card stock cutouts, glue, markers, glitter, colored yarn, hole punch
Provide each child with a card stock cutout of a cross (or alternately, cut vertical and horizontal rectangles and have the children glue them together to form a cross). The cross should be small enough to fit in a standard bible. The children can glue, tape, or carefully tie a piece of yarn to the top of the cross. To tie the yarn through the cross, use the punch to make a hole in the top of the cross and gently tie it. Have the children write one of the memory verses from today’s lesson on the cross and decorate the cross as they choose.
From the He is Risen Sunday School Lesson
11. Spreading the Good News
A variation on hide and seek. Tell the students to gather in a group, close their eyes, and count to 30 while one student hides. When the group finishes counting, the hunt is on! The students then spread out to find the hiding player; as the seekers find the player hiding, they join him or her in the hiding place and whisper, “He is Risen,” until all the seekers have found the hiding place. The last player to join the group becomes the next person to hide.
From the He is Risen Sunday School Lesson
12. Gospel Charades
Supplies: strips of paper
On strips of paper, write the names of characters and events relating to the resurrection story, and place them in a bucket or hat. Choose a player to start the game. Using the regular rules of charades, or your own variation of those rules, have each child take a turn drawing from the bucket and act out the word they select. The first person to guess the word or phrase, gets a point. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins.
From the He is Risen Sunday School Lesson
13. The Empty Egg
Supplies: candy or small prizes, plastic Easter eggs, printed out pictures of bugs, snakes, etc.
For this Easter game print out a pictures of things students will think are gross, such as bugs. Make the images small enough that, when cut out, they will fit inside a plastic Easter egg. Leave several eggs empty. Hide the eggs around the room. Let the students search the room for the eggs. Students who find the empty eggs get a piece of candy or a little prize, whichever is available.
The tomb was empty because Jesus had conquered death, and we are saved!
From the Empty Tomb Sunday School Lesson
14. Windblown Balloons
Supplies: blue and red balloons, fans
Inflate more blue balloons than red ones. Divide the class into teams. Turn on the fans and aim them at the balloons so that they move all over the room. One student from each team will go in to catch a red balloon. Once they get one, the next student from the team goes in to catch one. Continue until all the red balloons have been caught. The team with the most red balloons wins.
From the Ascension and Pentecost Sunday School Lesson
15. Scripture Detectives
Supplies: Bibles
Divide the class into teams. Give each team three verse references and a Bible. Instruct the students to look up each verse and determine which one discusses prophecy about Jesus. After giving them a few minutes to do their investigation, ask each team to read their chosen verse. If they choose incorrectly, explain which one is right and what the prophecy predicted.
A few good verses for this game include: Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, and Micah 5:2, Zechariah 9:9, and Zechariah 12:10.
From the Empty Tomb Sunday School Lesson
16. He Is Risen!
Supplies: paper plates, glue, brass paper fasteners (also called brads), cutouts of an angel outline, crayons, markers, glitter, other decorating supplies.
Cut a circular hole from the middle of half of the plates needed for the craft and keep the circle that was cut out. On the back side of the paper plate with the hole in it, write “HE IS RISEN!” Let students color in their angels, the inside of the paper plate without a hole, the circle cut out, and the backside of the plate with the hole. Instruct them to glue their angels to the middle of the plate without a hole. Attach the circle cut out to the plate with the hole in it, using the brass paper fasteners so that the circle cut out covers the hole. Glue the plate with the hole to the top of the other plate. They have created an “empty tomb” to remind them that Jesus is risen!
From the Empty Tomb Sunday School Lesson
17. Roll Away the Stone
Supplies: golf balls, plastic spoons, masking tape
Place a line on each side of the room. Divide the class into teams, and divide the teams in two so that each team has members behind the lines on both sides of the classroom. Give each student a plastic spoon and the team members on one side of the room a golf ball. Instruct the students to put the handle of the spoon in their mouths and use it to push the golf ball to the other side of the room. When the student arrives at the other side, the first person in the team’s line pushes the golf ball back to the other side of the room. The first team to have all members push the ball across the room wins.
From the Empty Tomb Sunday School Lesson
18. Who Am I?
Supplies: old clothes and large paper bags
Cut out holes in the paper bags for eye holes. Choose a number of students from the class and have them leave the room and put on the old clothes and the paper bags. One at a time, have the disguised students come back into the room, and ask the class who it is. The class can ask the disguised student yes and no questions (except for asking if their name is that of one of the students being disguised). Let them continue asking questions until they figure out who the disguised students are. The game will last longer if you choose students with similar hair color and more than one boy or girl to disguise themselves.
After his death, Jesus wasn’t disguised, but His closest friends and followers did not recognize Him when He appeared to them after His death.
From the Empty Tomb Sunday School Lesson
19. Filled with the Holy Spirit
Supplies: balloons, markers
Write “Filled with the Holy Spirit” on the balloons. Have the students inflate the balloons and then let go of them so that they fly away and go flat. At the end of the activity lesson, students can try to carefully draw on the inflated balloons. If the balloons pop, give the student a new one.
Explain to the class that a balloon is meant to be inflated. Its purpose has not been fulfilled until it is filled with air. God created us for a purpose and being filled with the Holy Spirit helps us to achieve the goals God has set for our lives. Without the Holy Spirit, we are as lifeless as a flat balloon!
From the Ascension and Pentecost Sunday School Lesson
20. The Wind Blows Easter Game
Supplies: chairs
Set up chairs in a circle with the seats facing away from the center. Choose one student to say, “The wind blows for” and then add something that may apply to other students. For example, “The wind blows for anyone wearing blue,” or “The wind blows for anyone who likes macaroni and cheese.” If the statement applies to a student, he or she must get up and change seats with another student. The last student to take a seat is the next one to call out something. Continue until the class needs to move on.
From the Ascension and Pentecost Sunday School Lesson
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