Easter
Bingo Cards
Recommendations:
Grades: 1st
through 4th grade
Instructions:
What you will need:
(1)Bingo cards enough for the whole class. A few ideas about the Bingo cards: You can copy them on white card stock and color the pictures in colored pencils, or you can copy them on another Easter color. Be as creative as you want to be.
Bingo cards: Easter Card 1, Easter Card 2, Easter Card 3
(2)Easter M&M’s or jellybeans. One side note to consider is if you have Muslim children in your classroom. They are not allowed to eat Jelly beans because of the ingredients used to make them. So out of respect you may want to use the Easter colored M & M's.
(3)Treats for the whole class. You might want to get two different things: One for those who get Bingo, and one for the rest of the class. There will be quite a few winners. It is meant to work that way so that it is fun. Example: A big Chocolate Easter egg for those who get Bingo, and another kind of treat for the rest of the class. Get something easy and inexpensive.
(4)Easter story/Bible
(5)You may want to recruit another Mom to help you, especially to catch the children who shout Bingo and help pass out treats.
How to use the
Easter Bingo card to share the Easter story:
Introduce your time together. You could say something like this:
“I have a fun game planned today that will help us learn
more about the Easter story. How
many of you know what Easter is all about?”
Hands will go up and you can call on a few children and just let them
share briefly. This just helps to
set the tone and it communicates to the children that you are interested in
them. The children love to
contribute and talk. This is a good
time to ask them about how they celebrate Easter.
Do you have egg hunts, get Easter baskets, etc…?
Ask about their traditions at home.
They will love to talk about what they do. Go on to explain that all
these different traditions are fun and important to us, but
it is important that we don’t confuse them with the historical events of the
true Easter story found in the Bible, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and why
we celebrate this event in history.
Transition here into: “Today I want to read the Easter story as it is told in the Bible over 2000 years ago. As I read the story we will play Bingo”. {Pass out cards}
“As I read the story, I want you to look for clues. Every time you hear something that matches a picture on your card, you can cover that picture with an M&M (or jellybean). You will want to listen closely and quietly so that you won’t miss a clue. When you get a Bingo {explain horizontal, vertical and diagonal}, you can raise your hand and my friend will come and give you your special candy for winning BINGO, but then I will continue reading until I finish the story. There will be a lot of Bingo’s, so be sure to keep listening. Everyone will receive something special at the end”.
Play Bingo/ Read story
Optional: After you finish the story {it won’t take long}, go back to the pictures and ask the children to explain what each of them means from what they heard in the story. You may want to ask something like this, “ How do you think a crown of thorns would feel on the top of your head?” Or “ Why do you think Jesus was nailed to a cross?” Or, “How many people do you think it would take to move such a big rock?” Affirm their correct answers and this will give you the opportunity to talk about the significance of each picture, and you can emphasize the important aspects of the story in your own personal way.
You can expound as much as you want here. You need to be sensitive here how much you share the gospel message. It’s best to do it in the actual context of what the story says. It depends on the teacher, on you and how you discern how things are going. The discussion about the pictures may be the time you can share more specifically. There usually are several believers in a class who know all the answers, so the message will get across. God’s Word will speak for itself, and remember most of these children are hearing the Christmas story and Easter story every year in their classrooms.
If you have time, you can play one more round of Bingo.
End by handing out the treats and letting them keep the Bingo cards.
I have included a typed out Easter story. While reading pause slightly after each bold word to help the children know there might be a picture and to have time to put their candy on the right space. Another option is to find an Easter story book and read it. If it does not contain all the details of the story simply write in a few sentences on post it's to complete the story.
Easter BINGO story
The true meaning of Easter based on historical events and the Bible
I will be reading three parts to the Easter story: The last supper, The crown of thorns, and New life.
Supper Together
Everyday, Jesus taught the people of Jerusalem in the temple. "Don't copy what your religious teachers do," warned Jesus. " for they only want the praise of men. But you must learn to please God." This made the teachers furious. "Who does Jesus think He is?" they cried. "The people should listen to us, not to the son of a carpenter!" Then the chief priests and teachers met together and made plans to put Jesus to death.
It was Passover time, and Jesus and His disciples were having supper together. But one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, loved money more than Jesus. He crept out of the house, into the dark night, and went straight to the chief priests. "What will you give me if I tell you where Jesus is?" he asked them. And they gave him thirty silver coins. After supper, Jesus went out into the garden to pray, "Father, help me to do your will," He Prayed. Suddenly, Judas arrived with an angry mob armed with swords and clubs. They arrested Jesus and took Him to Caiaphas, the High Priest. The disciples were terrified. They all left Jesus and ran away.
The Crown of Thorns
The religious leaders were gathered at Caiaphas's house. They were looking for witnesses, who would lie about Jesus, so they could sentence Him to death. But the witnesses could not agree amongst themselves, so at last Caiaphas asked Jesus, "Are you the Son of God? "Yes," said Jesus, "I am." "Blasphemy! (that's a big word which means you are lying about God.) So, "Blasphemy!" shouted the High Priest. "We don't need any more witnesses! What is the verdict?" "Death!" they shouted. "Death!"
In the morning they sent Jesus in chains to Pilate, the Roman Governor. They accused Jesus of many things. But Pilate could find no wrong in Him. So Pilate took a bowl of water and washed his hands in front of all the people and said, "I am not to blame for the death of this just man."
(Listen really close because a lot of pictures are coming up.) Then Jesus was whipped and a crown of thorns was placed on his head and a purple robe was placed around his shoulders. After that he was led away to a place called Golgotha meaning the place of the Skull. There Jesus was nailed to a cross. On top of the cross they placed a sign that read "KING OF THE JEWS". After this, Jesus said, "I am thirsty". A jar full of sour wine, vinegar, was standing there, so the soldiers put a sponge full of sour wine and brought it to his mouth.
At twelve noon it suddenly became as dark as night. Then, at three o'clock, Jesus died. The soldiers came to Jesus and pierced His side with a spear. After that, the soldiers took His outer garments, his clothes and cast lots to divide them amongst themselves. That is like playing a gambling dice game to win his clothes.
All at once the sun shone again, and a great earthquake shook the ground. And the great curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. By giving His life, Jesus had removed the barrier, wall, between God and the people.
New Life
Two of Jesus' friends, Joseph and Nicodemus, took the body of Jesus down from the cross and wrapped it in strips of linen cloth. They laid it in a new, unused tomb that had been cut out of a wall of rock. Then they rolled a huge stone across the entrance.
Three days later, a woman named Mary Magdalene came to the tomb with some spices to anoint Jesus' body. But she found the great stone rolled aside and Jesus' body gone! She ran back to tell the disciples. "The tomb is empty!" she cried. Peter and John ran to the tomb and went inside. They found the linen cloths that had been wrapped around Jesus' body. "What - what's happened?" they wailed. Then sadly they went back home. But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. Then suddenly, she saw two angels dressed in white sitting inside the tomb! "Woman, why are you crying?" they asked. " Because they have taken away my Lord," she sobbed. " and I don't know where they have put Him," Then she turned around, and someone was standing behind her. "Mary," He said. "Jesus!" she cried. "You are alive again!"
If God is God and Jesus is
His Son, as Christians say, Why would God send His Son here just to die?
It doesn’t make sense. What
do you think?
(Wait for answers…)
I agree with you.
If I were to describe it in a sentence that is what I would say.
Let me explain it a little more clearly what Christians believe.
God has a perfect design
for our life. It’s not so much
what you are going to be, but more how you are going to be; kind, not selfish,
not greedy. Good attitude, stuff
like that.