Resurrection Rolls and Resurrection Eggs are classic and hands-on activities that symbolize Jesus Christ rising from the dead. They’re great ways to impress the truths of the Easter story on your grandchildren’s hearts.
Resurrection Rolls are made with canned biscuit dough, marshmallows, melted butter, and cinnamon sugar. The marshmallow represents Jesus and is wrapped in the biscuit dough (the tomb). Before this step though, the marshmallow is dipped in the butter, then rolled in the cinnamon sugar – a picture of the oil and spices Jesus’ loved ones prepared for his burial.
The most memorable part of the finished rolls is not how they taste, even though they taste good. When you bite into it after it’s baked, the bun is hollow and looks like an empty tomb because the marshmallow has melted in the oven. Christina at Carolina Charm calls them Empty Tomb Rolls, and she has an excellent post, recipe, and video about them.
Resurrection Eggs have been around a while and are another way to tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. I still have the set we used for my kids’ Easters when they were growing up. It contains a dozen plastic eggs, and each one has small token inside that represents part the Easter story. For example, a plastic donkey stands for Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem the week of His death, a miniature crown of thorns like the one Jesus wore, and a small stone, a reminder of the stone that was rolled away from the tomb after Jesus rose from the dead.
Benjamin’s Box by Melody Carlson coordinates with the Resurrection Eggs. In the book, Benjamin (a fictional character) discovers who Jesus during the Passion Week. The book indicates when each egg should be opened to illustrate a truth about Jesus’ life.
These are two helpful visuals I’ve used – what traditions and activities have you used to tell your kids and grandkids the Easter story?