If the Easter Egg Hunt has gotten tired or overdone at your church, we have three Easter alternatives that your children’s ministry could host this year! These exciting ideas are fun for the whole family and create wonderful memories.
Alternative 1: Springtime Animal Zoo
Easter means springtime, and spring means baby animals! Why not host a Springtime Animal Petting Zoo? This event is ideal for preschool-aged children. A Saturday or two before the big Easter day is great for this event. Finding ducklings, chicks, baby rabbits, and possibly even a baby lamb would make an awesome petting zoo for children.
You can organize it with local farmers through a 4-H program or even reach out to them yourself. Please speak to the animal experts for the best advice on how to contain the animals and make it possible for kids to pet them or see them up close.
Springtime Animal Photo Op
A Springtime Animal Zoo is a perfect photo opportunity for parents to get their kid’s picture! Design a photo booth area where one or two animals are available for pictures. The owners of the animals will know which ones are the friendliest for this. Easter decorations and spring flowers will brighten up the background.
Find a volunteer who is good with a camera and willing to take pictures. Coordinate the best way to send pictures digitally to the families during or after the event.
When sending out flyers about the Springtime Animal Zoo, be sure to include an invitation for one free Easter photo with the baby animals. Parents may want to dress their kids up for the photo op!
Easter Animal Craft
Include an Easter craft for children to work on and take home as a memento of the day. Give kids a choice to make a lamb, duckling, chick, or baby rabbit out of cotton balls.
Create printable coloring sheets of these animals, but instead of coloring them, provide different colored cotton balls for kids to rip apart and glue to their animals.
Suggested Cotton Ball Color Options
- Yellow, blue, or pink for baby chicks
- Brown, gray, or white for rabbits
- White and black for lambs
- Yellow and orange for ducklings
Be sure to have plenty of glue sticks and markers for kids to add things like Easter grass or sunshine to their pictures. This fluffy craft will be a fun reminder of the baby animals the kids got to pet at your Easter event!
Easter Tie-In Animal Lesson
If you would like to include a brief lesson for the kids, tie in the theme of the new life and birth of the animals to the story of Jesus rising from the dead to new life and the invitation to be reborn in Jesus! Before the event ends, pass out invitations to your Easter Service for the parents and a small Easter activity book for the kids. Choose an activity that shares the good news of Jesus, like our Easter Story coloring book.
Alternative 2: Easter Bake Off and Other Competitions
Hosting an Egg-cellent Bake Off is a fun way to get everyone involved. Create competition rules such as “your baked creation must include eggs in the recipe,” “only one baked entry per family,” and “make an item large enough to share, like a cake or tray of cookies." Include a sign-up sheet so you can prepare for how many families will be participating in the event and instruct families to bake their items ahead of time and bring them to the Bake Off for judging.
Egg and Spoon Relay Race
This Egg-cellent event can involve more than just baking. While waiting for their baked creations to be judged, families can also participate in games and activities!
Family members will need to pair off for this race. Give each pair 2 plastic spoons and 1 plastic egg. Have one family member stand at one end of the room and the other on the other end.
When you say go, families race against one another by walking their eggs to the other side of the room on their plastic spoons. Then they will need to transfer the egg to their partner’s spoon. Their partner will have to take the egg back to the other side of the room where the race began.
If someone drops their egg, they must put it back on their spoon before continuing.
Easter Bake Off Awards and Prizes
End the event with your judge’s choice for the Egg-cellent Easter Treat Bake Off. For this last competition, give everyone a prize by awarding each baked item with an appropriate label. Examples could be “The most colorful”, “Chocolate Masterpiece”, and “Most Delicious”. Give each family a ribbon to take home and invite everyone to taste the creations. Cut into small sizes so people can taste-test one another’s egg-cellent treats.
Send home a plastic Easter egg with a little bit of candy and a cross keychain for each kid! Don’t forget to invite the families back for Easter Sunday!
Alternative 3: Easter Movie Night
Host a family Easter Movie Night! Set up chairs on the lawn like a movie theatre and rent a large projector screen or use the side of your church building to project the movie. Borrow a few popcorn poppers, and provide root beer floats, juice, water, and snacks like pretzels and candy. An Easter movie that the whole family will enjoy is “The Lion of Judah”. Another great choice is “The Messiah: A Brickfilm” which is done with Lego characters.
We recommend having an area with tables and chairs for parents to sit and chat if they’d prefer catching up with friends rather than watching the movie. It's also good to have a backup plan such as an indoor space option or a rain date in case of inclement weather
Immediately following the movie, give a brief explanation of the significance of what happened in the film. Give an invitation to everyone to accept Jesus as their savior if they have not yet made that decision. Invite families to attend Easter Sunday where they can celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!
