This was the first year I’ve attempted to make a Resurrection Egg Countdown to Easter. Apparently they’re so popular, you can even buy one already made! But they’re so simple to make, there’s really no reason to pay for one.
However, I scoured the Internet and Pinterest and could not find an 18-day countdown. You can buy an 18-pack of eggs, so why wouldn’t someone have made a countdown that length, as well?
Well, now someone has! 😉 Below you’ll find my list of 18 verses to include in 18 plastic eggs in an 18-count carton. After going through and picking my verses, I’m amazed anyone was able to cut it down to only 12! Every version seemed to have another element I wanted to include!
You’ll need a small item to symbolize each verse to make it more hands-on and fun for the kids. I had most of these little things already, but if you don’t, you can find them at a dollar store for cheap. I still remember doing ours as a kid because of the little things inside each egg!
[Copy and paste the verses below into Word then print and cut to place inside each plastic egg along with a mini item of remembrance.]
1. The Promise: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:16 [cross]
2. Jesus is Anointed: Then Mary took a pint of expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. —John 12:3 [cotton ball soaked in perfume]
3. Palm Sunday: The crowd spread garments on the road and others spread palm branches. They shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!” —Matthew 21:8-9 [mini leaf or mini donkey]
4. The Last Supper: Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, saying, “Take this and eat it; this is my body.” —Matthew 26:26 [cracker bit–wheat thin fits perfectly]
5. Jesus Prays in Gethsemane: Jesus went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “O Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but yours be done.” —Matthew 26:39 [praying hands or communion cup]
6. Jesus is Betrayed: Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said to them, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. —Matthew 26:14-15 [three dimes]
7. Judas Betrays with a Kiss: While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” —Luke 22:47-48 [chocolate kiss]
8. Jesus is Taken to Pontius Pilate: When the morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. — Matthew 27:1-2 [purple cloth]
9. Pilate Has Jesus Whipped: So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged him, to be crucified. —Mark 15:15 [string]
10. King of the Jews: And they stripped him, and put him in a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” —Matthew 27:29-30 [crown of thorns or sign]
11. The Guards Cast Lots: And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. —Matthew 27:35 [dice]
12. Jesus is Crucified: There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. —John 19:18 [nails]
13. Jesus Dies: When Jesus had cried again with a loud voice, he yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent… Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.” —Matthew 27:50-52 [torn cloth]
14. Jesus is Pierced: But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.—John 19:34 [toothpick or mini spear]
15. Jesus is Buried: When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. —Matthew 27:59 [stone]
16. The Guarded Tomb: Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. —Matthew 27:66 [soldier man]
17. Sabbath Spices: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. —Mark 16:1 [bag of spices]
18. Jesus is Risen: The angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” —Matthew 28:5 [empty!]
I still have such fond memories of doing our 12-day one and wishing it would last longer, so I’m so excited to start this tradition with my little ones! (For Easter 2017, you’ll want to open the first egg on March 30.)
What sort of countdown do you use? I’d love to hear from you!