How do we talk to children about Easter?

Jen Robertson | Children’s Resources Manager

I think most of us find Christmas an easy story to share with children. It involves a baby, stars, sheep, wise men, and presents. Easter isn’t so easy.

The Easter story is about loss, sadness, death and betrayal. When talking to children about Easter, we might be tempted to just fast forward to Sunday and not get bogged down too much about what happened before that.

But the joy of the resurrection cannot fully be appreciated without the story that brought Jesus to the tomb. Children are all too aware of death and sadness around them. When we explore the Easter story together with them they discover a God who has also gone through these things. Time after time I have been surprised and inspired by how astute and ready to hear the Easter story children are.

Children are ready to hear the whole story – so how do we best go about talking to them about Easter?

When to talk to children about Easter

Meaningful conversations with children about any topic often happen when we are doing something else – playing a game, walking the dog, or eating dinner. It is in the normal moments of life that we chat about the biggest questions in life. And when we talk with children about God, we want to make sure that we give children time and space to ask questions and wonder about what it means for their lives. A great way to give them that space is by start talking about the Bible while you’re doing something else – at a time you know they are most likely to get involved in conversations.

Wonder Walks, our new all-age resource for 2022, gives you a structure to walk together, enjoy the world around you, do things together read a little bit of the Bible and talk, without it feeling odd, awkward, or forced.

What to talk to children about at Easter

When you let children take the lead on what questions they want to ask, you find out what interests them most about what you’ve been reading. Encourage their questions and take the conversation in that direction. Don’t see the conversation as a place where you must answer all their questions and give them all the information you know – just enjoy exploring together. You never know, finding a way to get your children to engage with the Easter story could also contain moments of quiet reflection when God speaks into your life too.

Wonder Walks splits the Easter story into eight manageable passages, with things to think about together and questions to prompt the conversation. You can use as many or as few of the prompts as you like, depending on how easy the conversation is flowing!

Where to talk to children about Easter

Wonder Walks makes it easy to talk while enjoying a walk with a family or group. There really is no right or wrong place to take your wonder walk – you really can do it anywhere.

Prepare yourself for the reality that your conversation on your Wonder Walks will not be a perfect experience. One moment you might be making wooden crosses together and wondering about what Jesus went through, the next you might be fighting, laughing or crying together as normal life continues on your walk; someone falls over, siblings fall out or someone tells a silly joke.

We have created Wonder Walks to be a truly intergenerational resource, where groups of all ages can benefit from reading the Bible, taking part in activities, asking questions, reflecting and praying together.

Wherever you are this Easter, take the opportunity to go on a Wonder Walk and experience the Easter story with children and adults in a different way.

take a journey through the

Wherever you are this Easter, we invite you to walk through the Easter story as told by John.