Easter – a resurrection cross

On your marks

The following idea can be used with a children’s group to get them talking about the miracle of Easter Day, while still linking it to the cross of Good Friday. It can be used as a follow-up to the series on different crosses for Lent, which is also in this Ideas section or could be an independent activity for the children, which gives them something special to share in an Easter service or at an occasion soon after Easter Day.

Get set

You will need a copy of A-cross the World (BRF, 2011). The cross is called the Japanese cross (page 58) and you will find here the story behind this cross as well as craft ideas and a writing activity.

Go!

1. Introduce some of the meanings of the cross with the ice-breaker games that are outlined in A-cross the World (pages 107–109).
2. Show them a version of the Japanese cross – either one you have made yourself or a wooden one, which can be obtained in many Christian and Cathedral bookshops. Ask the children what they think this particular cross is saying about the significance of Easter Day.
   This particular cross could be seen as combining both the cross and the crucifix, as clearly Jesus has been there and suffered (Good Friday) but at the same time he is no longer on that cross but alive again (the empty cross of Easter morning)
3. Read together the story of Easter morning. Visit BRF Online to find a range of resources that you can read the story from.
4. Follow the craft ideas for this cross in A-cross the World. The group could perhaps make one large version of this cross to show in church. Why not use a whole host of people’s faces from your congregation either drawn by the children or using photographs, all collaged into the space where the body was, to represent all those here who now believe in the risen Jesus.
5. In A-cross the World there are also several prayers and poems about the cross so children could present an item in an Easter service that involves showing this cross and then using some of these readings.