Check out our Triumphal Entry Sunday School Lesson! Teach kids to prepare their hearts to worship Jesus this Easter! By the end of this lesson, kids will think of something they can do next Sunday to come to church prepared for worship. This lesson is great for every Children's Ministry, Kids Church, and Sunday School! This emoji reminds us of how happy everyone was to see Jesus when he came to Jerusalem just a week before he would be crucified. When he rode in they celebrated. They laid down palms, and they shouted with joy at the arrival of the King.  God wants us to come to church every week expecting to meet with him. He wants us to ask for forgiveness of sins and an attitude of worship. Jesus gave us everything on that cross. More than we could ever deserve! The least we can do is come to church ready to receive him. And, if you like this lesson we have over 100 more free Sunday School Lessons for Kids! Take a look at our  Emoji Easter Children's Ministry Curriculum.

Triumphal Entry Sunday School Lesson For Kids:

BOTTOM LINE:

Prepare your hearts to worship Jesus at Easter.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids think of something they can do next Sunday to come to church prepared for worship.

KEY PASSAGE:

Mark 11:1-10, The Triumphal Entry

MEMORY VERSE:

“Jesus is not here! He has risen!” Luke 24:6a (NIrV)

SUMMARY:

This emoji reminds us of how happy everyone was to see Jesus when he came to Jerusalem just a week before he would be crucified. When he rode in they celebrated. They laid down palms, and they shouted with joy at the arrival of the King.

SIMPLE PRAYER:

Dear God,

Prepare us to praise you this Easter!

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

 

MEMORY VERSE

“He is not here; he has risen!” Luke 24:6a (NIV)

“Jesus is not here! He has risen!” Luke 24:6a (NIrV)

LARGE GROUP:

Divide the room into girls and boys. Have the boys read the verse aloud, and then have the girls read it aloud. Who can read the loudest?

SMALL GROUP:

Look at the verses surrounding this passage, or read the whole chapter so you can hear this verse in context. What was happening? How do the verses before and after the memory verse help you understand its meaning?

 

SKIT

 

EMOJI EASTER: WELCOME, JESUS!

ITEMS NEEDED:

A clipboard

An emoji costume; or a big cut out of an emoji the character can carry or wear

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:

2M

CHARACTERS:

Dave - A guy with a cell phone

Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji, Oh Boy - A big smiley emoji!

Dave enters.

DAVE: Okay, emojis, settle down, please, settle down. Thank you all for coming. Well, as you know from the calendar app on my phone, there’s another big holiday coming up, a day that means a lot to me. Easter is just a few weeks away. Easter is the time we celebrate how Jesus fulfilled his mission on Earth by saving us from our sins. I have a lot of good friends I’d like to share this good news with, and I need you emojis to help me. So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to throw an Easter pageant! You guys are going to re-tell the whole story of Easter so that my friends can know what Easter is about. Easter starts on Palm Sunday, with the arrival of Jesus in the city of Jerusalem, so here’s what I need. Ummm, you, Smiley Face emoji. I want you to be the people of Jerusalem welcoming Jesus.

Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji, Oh Boy, whom we will just call Super Happy, enters.

SUPER HAPPY: Excuse me, Dave?

DAVE: You’re late. We started the cast meeting five minutes ago.

SUPER HAPPY: Sorry, I was next door in your Minecraft app. But I heard every word.

DAVE: You did?

SUPER HAPPY: Look, I know you have a big, grand plan for this Easter pageant, but I think you can do better than Smiley to be the people of Jerusalem.

DAVE: I don’t know. Happy’s got a nice, happy face there.

SUPER HAPPY: Yes, he’s got a pretty smile. But there are bigger smiles in this phone! There’s So Happy I’m Crying Face, and Happy with My Teeth Showing Face, and Surprised But Happy Face.

DAVE: So which one do you think I need?

SUPER HAPPY: None of them. You need to give me the part!

DAVE: I’m afraid we haven’t met. You are?

SUPER HAPPY: You can call me, Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji, Oh Boy!

DAVE: Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji?

SUPER HAPPY: No, I said, Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji, Oh Boy!

DAVE: Oh Boy?

SUPER HAPPY: It’s all part of the name. It didn’t translate well from the Japanese, but it essentially means I’m the most Super Extra Unbelievably Stupendously Excited Emoji on the planet!!! Not to mention on your phone!

DAVE: I guess so.

SUPER HAPPY: Come on, Dave, you use Smiley to send messages to your sister, your best friend Terry, that girl you like, Liz.

DAVE: I don’t like Liz!

SUPER HAPPY: Come on, Dave, we all know you like Liz. It’s the Blushy Face emoji you use when you talk to your Mom about her that gives it away.

DAVE: I don’t like—

SUPER HAPPY: Look, I’m not here to pick on you about a crush that absolutely is real. I’m here to tell you that I, Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji, Oh Boy, am the only emoji who can play the people of Jerusalem.

DAVE: Any why is that?

SUPER HAPPY: Look who’s coming to Jerusalem!! It’s not Caesar! It’s not the king! It’s not Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence! It’s Jesus, man! Jesus, the only begotten son of God! Jesus, born of a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem! Jesus fed the 5000! Jesus walked on water! Jesus healed the sick, the blind, the disabled, even the dead! Dead things, Davey, dead things!

DAVE: Stop it! You’re creeping me out with that.

SUPER HAPPY: Jesus doesn’t just put a smile on your face. He doesn’t make you grin with your teeth showing. Jesus gives you joy! He came to save us from our sins! He deserves our best praise, and you don’t get that with Smiley. No offense, Smiley! You get that with me, Super Extra Excited Happy Emoji —

DAVE: Oh Boy?

SUPER HAPPY: Oh boy!

DAVE: Okay, Super Extra… whatever you said there. You want to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem, you’re on. Get out there and get your praise on. Let Jesus be exalted on Palm Sunday!

SUPER HAPPY: You got it, boss!!

OBJECT LESSON

 

ITEMS NEEDED:

A bunch of cleaning supplies

When was the last time you had important company come to your house? How many of you had relatives come visit at Christmas time? Who had grandparents visiting? Or aunts and uncles? Or even just a friend coming to stay the night?

When we think of relatives visiting, we think about the fun things we plan to do with them, but before we can welcome them into our homes, what does Mom ask us to do? We clean up, don’t we? We make sure the floors are swept, the toilets scrubbed, the mirrors clean, the sinks wiped down, and the sheets are changed. We prepare for company’s arrival so when they reach our door, we’re ready to enjoy them.

The triumphal entry on Palm Sunday reminds us that we need to prepare to worship Jesus, on Easter and every Sunday. We need to clean and prepare our hearts. We need to line up and wave our palm branches singing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Jesus is the Son of God. He is worthy of our praise. Let’s take a moment to praise God for who he is as we look forward to Easter.

 

LARGE GROUP GAME

 

STRAIGHTEN THAT TIE

ITEMS NEEDED:

A bunch of men’s ties

INSTRUCTIONS:

Choose two teams of two for this game. The game is a race between two teams to see which team can tie the most ties on one of the two players in 60 seconds. At the end of one minute, call “Time’s up!” and see who has hung the most ties on their teammate. Ties must be tied, one way or another, to count. Draping the tie around the neck like Jerry Lewis at the end of a telethon does not count!

VARIATION:

This can also be a race between two people to see who can put on and properly tie a tie the fastest.

WHAT’S THE POINT?

Prepare your hearts to welcome Jesus at Easter!

 

LARGE GROUP LESSON

BOTTOM LINE:

Prepare your hearts to worship Jesus at Easter.

OBJECTIVE:

Kids think of something they can do next Sunday to come to church prepared for worship.

KEY PASSAGE:

Mark 11:1-10, The Triumphal Entry

INTRO:

When you think of Easter, you think of many things in pastel colors. You think of Easter eggs, Easter baskets, and plastic Easter grass. Easter also makes us think about many things made of chocolate: chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs with filling in them, and of course, Cadbury Creme Eggs!

When you think a little deeper, some truly important things come to mind at Easter. We think about Jesus. We think about a cross. We think about an empty tomb. Every year, we celebrate not the coming of chocolate eggs but the coming of our Savior. We celebrate his arrival in Jerusalem, his willingness to be tried and convicted of a crime he never committed, of his sacrifice, and of his resurrection.

This year, we want to give you something extra to help you understand what all this means to us as believers. But rather than connect the Easter story with Easter things that will go back in the closet the Monday after Easter, we want you to connect with something you see all the time: emojis!

Emojis are those funny faces we use in text messages and social media to share our feelings. There are emojis that show happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, disappointment, doubt, bitterness, guilty feelings, regretfulness, and so much more. There’s an emoji for every feeling and every moment. There’s even an emoji for every big moment in the story of Easter.

Our first emoji is a happy one. We didn't choose the usual suspects, like the good old-fashioned smiley face or the ever popular laugh til you cry emoji. This week’s emoji has a smile so big he’s squinting! His mouth is open wide, his teeth are showing, even his tongue is visible. Clearly this is a really, really happy emoji, and he captures the feeling of the people in Jerusalem at the start of what we call the Easter story.

READ MARK 11:1-10

MAIN POINT:

This wasn’t Jesus’ first visit to the city of Jerusalem. Jesus came here as a boy with his parents. He came every year during the Passover after he started his ministry. He probably came almost every year of his life, from childhood to adulthood.

This year, Jesus does something a little different. Instead of walking in on foot, as he did most places, he arranged to have a donkey waiting for him. A donkey was a symbol of peace. You see if a king rode into town on a horse, it meant he was at war, but a king riding a donkey was a sign of peace.

Jesus isn’t the only one prepared for this moment. The people of Jerusalem are waiting for him! Those who knew he was coming lined the streets! The people laid their cloaks down on the ground. If they didn’t have a coat, they picked palm branches, waving them and laying them on the road. The people were ready for a Savior, and they welcomed Jesus with open arms.

Jesus is coming for us. He is coming to save the world from sin. That is what this Easter season is about. We want all of you to be ready to welcome him, and to praise him for all he has done.

DRIVE IT HOME:

Holidays like Christmas and Easter call for special decorations. Christmas especially can turn your entire house upside down with holiday cheer. We decorate our homes, our yards, and our churches. And when the holidays arrive, we dress up extra nice for church, don’t we?

This Easter, we want all of you to prepare yourself for Easter. This preparation isn’t about hanging decorations with care. It’s about preparing our hearts to meet Jesus!

God wants us to come to church every week expecting to meet with him. He wants us to ask for forgiveness of sins and an attitude of worship. Jesus gave us everything on that cross. More than we could ever deserve! The least we can do is come to church ready to receive him.

I’m not asking you to dress up every Sunday. I am asking that we pray before we arrive. If you’ve hurt someone, ask them to forgive you. If you’re mad about something, give it to God in prayer. Prepare your heart, and let nothing distract you from hearing the good news of Jesus.

God wants you to come in here with an attitude of worship, ready to praise Jesus. It’s the least we can do after all he did for us.

CLOSE WITH A SIMPLE PRAYER:

Dear God,

Prepare us to praise you this Easter!

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (K-2ND)

ICEBREAKER:

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY:

Luke 24:6a

Look at the verses surrounding this passage, or read the whole chapter so you can hear this verse in context. What was happening? How do the verses before and after the memory verse help you understand its meaning?

SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY:

Toss a balloon around the circle and see how long you can keep it afloat using your hands to bat it in the air. Then add a second, then add a third. It takes commitment and teamwork to keep them all afloat!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Read Mark 11:1-10

What did Jesus tell the disciples to go and find before he went into Jerusalem?

What did the people do when they saw Jesus on the donkey?

What did the people say when they welcomed Jesus?

Do you prepare yourself to come to church each week and worship Jesus?

What is one thing you can do differently next Sunday to prepare for worship?

SIMPLE PRAYER:

Dear God,

Teach us how to prepare our hearts to meet you every Sunday.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

 

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (3RD-5TH)

ICEBREAKER:

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

MEMORY VERSE ACTIVITY:

Luke 24:6a

Look at the verses surrounding this passage, or read the whole chapter so you can hear this verse in context. What was happening? How do the verses before and after the memory verse help you understand its meaning?

SMALL GROUP GAME/ACTIVITY:

Toss a balloon around the circle and see how long you can keep it afloat using your hands to bat it in the air. Then add a second, then add a third. It takes commitment and teamwork to keep them all afloat!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Read Mark 11:1-10

Why did Jesus ride into town on a donkey?

How did the people welcome Jesus into Jerusalem?

How did your family prepare for church this morning?

Be honest: who got into a fight with someone at home while you were getting ready?

What is one thing you can do differently next Sunday to prepare for worship?

SIMPLE PRAYER:

Dear God,

Teach us how to prepare our hearts to meet you every Sunday.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

 

For your convenience, you can also download the entire PDF version of this Triumphal Entry Children's Ministry Lesson (just click the link). 

Here's a video from Saddleback kids that you might find helpful to go along with your Sunday School Lesson on the Triumphal Entry.

Take a look at the links below for other ideas for teaching a Triumphal Entry Sunday School Lesson: 

Free Easter Sunday School Lesson - The Triumphal Entry Of Jesus

Triumphal Entry Bible Lesson - Ministry-To-Children

Bible Lesson: Jesus' Final Days: The Triumphal Entry

Jesus' Triumphal Entry (John 12:12-50) Sunday School Lesson