This is not quite a book review, but I'd like to review something relevant to Holy Week, which is coming up. Resurrection Eggs: The Easter Story for Children by Randal Lee Walti, is actually more of a teaching aid for parents and Christian Education leaders. The kit is composed of 12 hollow plastic eggs which contain objects inside that are relevant to the Easter story, and a booklet containing information on how to use the eggs. The kit is produced by Family Life Today, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ.
I bought my set of Resurrection Eggs over a decade ago when I was still teaching Sunday School, and they captured the attention of the students in the program. There were other teaching leaders who were quite taken with idea of the eggs that they utilized them in the programming for other fellowships such as the youth/high school and even possibly the college and career groups. My set is contained in a Styrofoam carton, such as the ones that can be found at the grocer's, but current sets are packaged in more durable plastic containers.
This past week, I've had the opportunity to look at a few other sets belonging to others, and it is interesting to compare how the sets have changed over the years in packaging and construction. The shells are of a firmer plastic than many of the hollow eggs that are sold in dollar stores, but it is still a good idea to open these objects gently. The booklet recommends that you squeeze gently at the seam between the two halves.
I saw a set sold at Walmart in the United States just over a week ago, and it was bilingual, for use in English and Spanish. It also appeared to have some change in the content of some of the eggs; I saw a rooster in the set, which is not an item contained in the set that I have. I did not open the packaging, so I don't know if other items had been changed since the original came out. I tried looking online to find out more information about this, but haven't been able to discover much about it so far.
My set is an English version and the copyright date inside the booklet is 1999. The booklet gives a few hints on how to use the eggs, and includes a brief blurb/explanation/description that can be read as each egg is opened. There are Scriptural references for each section. Some of the blurbs work well as a devotion. There was one that was rather brief as it only covered the narrative. For the egg containing three nails placed in the arrangement of a cross, however, there is a more substantial explanation. It had about two and a half pages describing humankind's problem with sin, our need for a Savior, and how Jesus is able to save us. Towards the back of the booklet, there are a couple pages containing hints how to present the Gospel to children and in leading them to Christ. There is also a chart with 16 more ideas and corresponding Scriptures that could also be included in making additional eggs. The rooster is included in this chart in my booklet, which makes me wonder if the changes between the older and newer sets were made simply through switching items from the original roster with the ones that are on this chart. I don't know if the current sets include booklets with similar information which is contained in the one I just described.
The Resurrection Eggs have been very useful for me in presenting the Easter story to children, both in Sunday School, and with my own children. I keep them stored in one of my kid's rooms, and they know that the set is there. We have been using them for storytime for the past week or so, and the kids are the ones who are asking for the story. The author of the book encourages people to adapt the blurbs and descriptions to suit their needs, and I found this to be especially true, depending on the audience. Smaller children might not be up to listening to the entire description of the blurb. When I first started using the set for my children, I only covered the basics of the narrative, but as the years pass by, I have started to include more information. One of my kids is now old enough to understand the idea of prophecy and I am able to talk about how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies if the content of the egg allows me to expand on that topic. I also volunteer as an English as a Second Language teacher at our church. We are planning to use the eggs in our programming. I have heard of people using the eggs as part of their Easter Egg hunt, although I haven't personally done that myself yet.
I have found this teaching aid to be particularly versatile, and it has been fun to use, for myself and for my children.
