Jelly Bean Salvation Story

It’s Good Friday!  We finished all of our regular school work yesterday so that we could spend today doing school work that focuses on Jesus and Easter! Here's a recap of what we've done today and a little lesson that you can use with your own kids!

We watched "Jesus Is the Good News" from the What's In The Bible DVD series.

We read about the crucifixion from the Read and Share Story of Easter.

And we listened to "Songs For A Cross Centered Life" by Sovereign Grace Music.

Then we did a jelly bean lesson, because what's Easter without jelly beans!?!  I want my little ones to learn about Jesus and how wonderful He is.  I want them to know that He died for them.  I want them to know that they can be part of His family!  So I decided to do this little activity.  Its very similar to the "salvation bracelets" that we used to make as kids.

Here's what you'll need:
1.) A bag of jelly beans (Get the regular, cheap jelly beans.  You will need BLACK, RED, WHITE, PURPLE, GREEN, and YELLOW.)

2.) Easter Eggs (I used Eco Eggs. They're made from non-toxic, durable, plant-based plastic. They're also larger than your typical Easter egg, which is great!  And they have a secure closure, so they don't just pop open when they aren't supposed to! You could also use cross-shaped eggs if you can find them!  My mother-in-law got us some us last year.  They were filled with candy.  I saved the crosses because I thought they'd come in handy.)

3.) A Bible (So you can look up the Bible verses.  If your child is older, you can call out the reference and have them find the verse themselves and read it.)

Here's what you'll do:
1.) Get an egg for each of your children and one for yourself. 
2.) Fill each egg with a jelly bean of each color.
3.) Give each child an egg to hold.  Tell them that you are going to talk about Jesus.  Let them open their eggs, but tell them not to eat any jelly beans until you give the OK.  (If your child is too young to "control" themselves around candy - like my two year old - then you can hold their egg and give them each jelly bean as you discuss it.)
4.) Discuss the jelly beans in order. Read the corresponding verse for each one.

Here's what each jelly bean stands for:

1.) BLACK is for sin.  We are all sinners.
(Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.")

2.) RED is for the blood of Jesus.  He shed His blood on the cross for us.
(1 John 1:7b - "...and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.")

3.) WHITE is for forgiveness. Jesus' sacrifice cleanses us of our sins.
(1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.")
(Isaiah 1:18 - "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall become like wool.")

4.) PURPLE is for royalty.  When we accept Jesus' into our hearts, we become sons and daughters of God.  That makes us royalty!
(Galatians 3:26 - "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.")

5.) GREEN is for growing in the Lord.  As we learn God's word and practice it, we grow in Him.
("2 Peter 3:18 - So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.")

6.) YELLOW is for Heaven. If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can live with Him forever in Heaven!
(John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
(Revelation 21:21b - "... and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.")

I let my little one eat each jelly bean as we discussed that color.  I actually didn't eat my jelly beans, so after we finished I "quizzed" her.  I held out each of my jelly beans again.  This time I asked her what each one stood for.  As she told me, I gave her the jelly bean to eat.

Check out more about our Easter celebrations in my Easter At Our House post.
Check out more Easter crafts and activities in my 12 Days of Easter post.

Check out the What's In The Bible website HERE.
You can find the "Jesus Is The Good News" DVD on the What's In the Bible website or on Amazon.
You can find the Read & Share Story of Easter on Amazon.
You can find Songs for the Cross Centered Life at sovereigngracemusic.org or on Amazon.
Buy Eco Eggs on Amazon or ecoeggs.com.