28 Creative Ideas to Explore the Easter Story

Explore the Easter Story with these creative activities for all ages. From Palm Sunday to Easter Day, these child-centred activities & crafts explore the highs & lows of Holy Week, offering children space to discover, create & wonder.

👣Exploring Holy Week

If you're looking for just one activity to share the Easter Story, the following four ideas are ideal for groups of children, individuals or families. The Rocky Road Through Holy Week recipe is especially popular with teenagers! 

:: Scavenger Hunt exploring the Easter Story 

Explore the journey of Holy Week through nature with this multisensory Easter Scavenger Hunt. Free printable available here - Scavenger Hunt 

:: Easter Sand Tray exploring Holy Week 

Create an Easter Sand Tray & retell the events of Holy Week with some small world play figures. Here's how we created ours - Easter Sand Tray.

:: The Life of Jesus Board Game - Free Printable

This 'Life of Jesus' Board Game helps children sequence some of the key events in Jesus' life. From his birth in Bethlehem to the birth of the Church at Pentecost & everything in between, this game is ideal for children to make & share with friends. Find the printable here - Life of Jesus Board Game

:: Rocky Road Through Holy Week

Tell the Easter Story with chocolate! Each of the ingredients in this special recipe take you along the 'rocky road' from Palm Sunday to Easter Day. Great to make with all ages, & a neat way to sequence the key events of Holy Week. Our free printable recipe includes Bible verses for each ingredient: Rocky Road Recipe

🌿Palm Sunday

:: Palm Leaf Prayers

Colour in your own Palm Leaf Prayers.  You could cut them out & stick them to your door, or use them as a prayer prompt throughout the week. Free Printable available here: Printable Palm Leaves

:: Printable Donkey Stick Puppets 

These Dotty the Donkey colour in stick puppets are great for children to make & take on an Easter Adventure. Whether you use them alongside our Dotty the Donkey Easter Trail, or make at home, they offer a wonderful opportunity for kids to explore & retell the Easter Story. Printable Donkey Puppets

:: Grow your own Easter Cross

Use a cross-shaped cookie cutter (or card template) to grow some cress seeds & watch how they transform over the next few days. By Easter Day, you should have a green cress cross, a reminder of the resurrection & new life that Jesus brings. 

:: Celebrate Palm Sunday with the Hosanna Rap

Use your whole body & voice to celebrate Palm Sunday with this Hosanna Rap. The rhyming, repetitive text makes it easy for all ages to join in, & it comes with simple actions too.

Free Printable available here. 

Jesus is here - Jump up & down
Hear us cheer - Crouch down low, then jump up high with your hands in the air
When He's near - Give yourself a hug 
We have no fear - Wave one hand over the other in front of you. 
When you get to the Hosanna chorus - choose your best dance moves! You could floss, jump or dab!

:: Make Your own Prayer Tree

Collect a fallen branch while on a walk & turn it into a Prayer Tree. Pop it into a container with a few stones or pebbles to secure it. Cut a few leaf shapes from paper to write or draw prayers on, then punch a hole through the top to thread onto the branches. Continue to add prayers as you journey through Holy Week.

💧🥖Maundy Thursday

  

:: Make Bread to share

Make some bread rolls to share with your family. If you're planning to do this with a large group of children, bread packet mix is the answer! One packet makes approximately 6-8 rolls. The rolls can be added to foil food containers & baked in the oven at home. Just add the cooking instructions to the lid of the container. As you break the bread at home, you can remember Jesus sharing the bread with his disciples at The Last Supper. 

:: Colouring Sheet - The Last Supper 

This free printable colouring sheet features the words Jesus said as he shared the wine and broke the bread during the Passover Meal. It's ideal for children but can also be shared with adults as a meditative colouring prayer activity. Find the free Printable here: Remember Me Colouring Sheet.

:: Wash your Wellie Boots

Gather everyone's wellie boots & wash them outside to remind you of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. I wonder how Jesus' friends felt as their Master knelt down to wash their dirty feet.

:: Friendship Bands

Jesus' disciples remind us how important friendship is. Their lives were woven together through Jesus. Use coloured embroidery thread or pipe cleaners to weave a friendship band to remind you that Jesus is always with you.

:: Soap Carving

Take a bar of soap & use some children's clay sculpting tools to carve a design or shape into it. The soap reminds us of Jesus, the servant king, washing his disciples' feet.

✝ Good Friday

:: Grow your own Easter Garden in an Egg!

Grow your own eco-friendly Easter Garden in an egg! Super simple & ideal for kids of all ages to make. Once you've used the cress, everything can be composted or recycled. More info here: Easter Garden in an egg.

:: Grow your own Easter Ressurection Garden

Made from recycled containers, this planting activity is simple enough for all ages to create, & enables them to watch the seeds grow through Holy Week, reminding them that the cross is not the end; the hope of Easter Day is to come. Grow your own Easter Garden

:: Weave an Easter Cross 

This String Art Easter Cross is a tactile craft & simple to make with just a few items. It explores the sadness of Good Friday but also the hope & power of God's transforming love. More info here - Easter Cross

:: Make a Lolly Stick Cross

If you're looking for a quick & simple activity that needs little prep, these crosses are perfect. The lolly sticks can be left alongside a pot of coloured pencils & double-sided tape for children to independently explore the activity. Children or adults can colour or design a cross, & these can be displayed together in church/school, or taken home.

:: Create your own Stained Glass Window

Decorate your window with a stained glass cross. Cut a cross-shape from a sheet of dark-coloured card or a recycled cereal packet. Spread glue around the edges of the cross cutout & place strips of coloured tissue paper over it to create your stained glass cross. Display it in your window, & watch the sunlight illuminate the colours.

:: Colouring Sheet - Cross of Hope

This printable colouring sheet features a simple cross that can be cut out and stuck to your window.  Free printable cross colouring sheet

:: Play Dough Hot Cross Buns

This simple play dough hot cross bun recipe is perfect for younger children to explore. It's quick & easy to make & smells amazing! Find a link to our favourite play dough recipe here - Play Dough Hot Cross Buns

:: Easter Cross Canvas Art

Explore the colours & emotions of Holy Week with these Easter Canvases. This hands-on activity can be offered to individuals or as a collaborative project where everyone can create together. The canvases in the image below were created independently by 3-year-olds in my toddler group. Find out more here: Easter Cross Canvas Art

:: Pebble Art Easter Egg

Turn a pebble into an Easter Egg with this activity & explore God's never-ending love. Find out how we made them here - Pebble Easter Eggs

:: Make an Easter Card with a Wooden Cross

Collect fallen twigs or driftwood & invite children to make a simple cross shape with them. The sticks can be secured with thread, rubber bands or double-sided tape. Decorate folded card with pens, pencils or paint & then attach your cross to the centre. We found that watercolour paints created a beautiful background in a short space of time & dried fairly quickly too. 

🥚Easter Day

:: Easter Resurrection Rolls

Celebrate the joy of Easter with these 'surprise' rolls! A great activity to make with a large group of children or individuals, & a wonderful reminder of why we celebrate Easter! Our quick & easy recipe is on this free printable: Ressurection Rolls

:: Decorate an Easter Tree with homemade Salt Dough Eggs

These Easter eggs make great decorations or gifts. Whether you make them in advance for children to paint, or mix up the salt dough with them, the eggs are a neat reminder of the empty Easter tomb. You can find our tried & tested Salt Dough Recipe here -  Salt Dough Easter Eggs

:: Easter Nature Frame 

Explore the resurrection through the beauty of nature with this Easter Nature Frame made from recycled cardboard. A great activity for families, groups or individuals to explore outdoors. Find how we used ours here: Easter Nature Frame

:: Plastic Egg Planters

Recycle old plastic eggs & turn them into Easter Egg Planters! A fun activity for all ages to explore the Easter Story & the new life Jesus brings. Find out how we made our mini planters here: Easter Egg Planters. Please don't buy new plastic eggs to make these; this is just an idea to reuse & recycle any old plastic ones you may have from previous years.

Whether you're exploring the Easter Story at school, church, or home, I hope these ideas offer you a creative way to share the events of Holy Week, & that they encourage discovery, wonder & hope.