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Jesus Is Alive!

Waving branches, a big stone that rolls away, a peekaboo empty box, and happy Easter arms up high

  • 🧸 Nursery
  • Week 13
  • 📅 Sunday, March 28, 2027
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Jesus is alive, and He loves me.

I can raise my arms up high and say, “Jesus is alive!”

Come, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Easter Week)
Know the chapters

The Easter lesson walks through the last week of Jesus’s life. Crowds waved branches and shouted “Hosanna” as He rode into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:8–9). He ate a last supper with His Apostles, prayed in Gethsemane, and was crucified and laid in a tomb. Early on Sunday morning the stone was rolled away, and an angel said, “He is not here: for he is risen” (Matthew 28:6). Mary heard Jesus say her name (John 20:16).

For toddlers, the whole lesson is one happy feeling: Jesus is alive! Say the sad part in one gentle sentence, “Jesus died, and His friends felt sad,” then move quickly to Sunday morning. Toddlers don’t need details. They need a big stone to push, an empty box to peek into and arms that shoot up high. Say “Jesus is alive!” with your arms up, over and over, all day long.

Easter Sunday can mean new clothes, candy in pockets and extra wiggles. Check pockets gently at the door: jelly beans, hard candy and plastic-egg toys are choking hazards, so hand them back to parents. Nobody plays Jesus; you read the words. The lesson is six minutes, and the play-time ideas below repeat “empty” and “alive” for the rest of nursery.

Only have 5 minutes?

Bring a shoe box with a lid, empty inside. Count and pop it open for peekaboo: “Empty! That’s happy news!” Swipe through the six-picture story on your phone or tablet, do the Sunrise Stretch, raise your arms slowly while you say “Jesus is alive!” and end with “I know Jesus loves you.” For play time, pick three ideas below. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing”: your cupped hands become the box, and your phone or tablet shows the pictures.

What to bring5 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Put the lid on the empty box and hide it in your bag until the hook.
  2. Open the Sound Board on your phone or tablet and find the cheer and bells buttons. Turn the volume low. Skip rumble and thunder: big booms can scare little ones.
  3. Sweep the floor with your eyes and hands for anything small, especially Easter candy and plastic-egg toys. Quick test: if it fits through a toilet-paper tube, it’s a choking hazard and goes up high or away.
  4. Decide with the other adult who leads the lesson and who greets and comforts at the door. There are always two adults in nursery.
  5. Practice raising your arms slowly up high and saying “Jesus is alive!” a few times. That’s the whole key phrase.

If your class is wild

  • Tears at drop-off are normal and usually pass in a few minutes. Let the other adult hold the crying child near the fun and say softly, “Mommy will come back. Let’s peek in the box!” A quick, happy goodbye works better than sneaking a parent out.
  • Nobody has to sit. Lead from the floor at their level and keep going. Toddlers who wander often shoot their arms up when they hear “Jesus is alive!”
  • Keep the sad picture short and soft. Put your hand on your heart, then say right away, “But wait! Something happy happens!” and turn the page.
  • Easter clothes can be stiff and new. Skip the floor-rolling for a child in a fancy dress and let them wave and cheer instead.
  • Follow your ward’s policy for diapers and potty trips, and never leave one adult alone with the class or go off alone with one child.

The 25-minute plan6 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

Peekaboo Empty Box

1 min

A closed box and a count to three pull scattered toddlers toward you and turn “empty” into the happiest word of the day.

  1. Sit on the floor and set the closed box in front of you. Whisper: “Shhh… what’s in my box?”
  2. Tap the lid: knock, knock. Count together: “One… two… three!” Slowly lift the lid: “Peekaboo!”
  3. Look inside and gasp with a big smile: “It’s empty!” Let each child peek in: “Empty!”
  4. SAY“Empty can be happy! Today we learn that Jesus is alive!” Raise your arms up high.
  5. Put the lid back on and set the box up high until play time.
🌪️ If everyone crowds the box, walk it around the circle so each child gets a turn to peek and say, “Empty!”

Class screen: 📦 Peekaboo! It’s empty!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A shoe box or gift box with a lid, empty inside

Peekaboo Empty Hands

  1. Sit on the floor. Cup your hands together tightly like a little box. Whisper: “Shhh… what’s in my hands?”
  2. Count together: “One… two… three!” Slowly open your hands: “Peekaboo!”
  3. Gasp with a big smile: “They’re empty!” Help each child cup and open their hands: “Empty!”
  4. SAY“Empty can be happy! Today we learn that Jesus is alive!” Raise your arms up high.

Class screen: 🤲 Peekaboo! My hands are empty!

2. Story

Picture Story: The Happy Easter Morning

2 min

Six pictures with one sentence and one action each let toddlers wave, push and cheer while they hear that Jesus is alive.

  1. Hold your phone or tablet up at their eye level. Everyone is the Happy Crowd, the Stone Pushers and Jesus’s Friends.
  2. Read the one sentence, then do the action big so they can copy you. Don’t wait for everyone to join; the joiners will come.
  3. On the sad picture, slow down and soften your voice, then say: “But wait! Something happy happens!” and go on.
  4. If attention is gone before the end, jump to the last picture: “Jesus is alive!”
🌪️ Let a child who won’t stop moving tap your phone or tablet to change the picture (with your hand on it too). A job beats a battle.
🔊 Sound Board (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🌅 Wave, push, hooray!

3. Wiggle break

Sunrise Stretch

1 min

Toddlers need to move after two minutes of anything, and rising like the sun turns Easter morning into a big, happy stretch.

  1. SAY“Let’s be the nighttime! Curl up tiny.” Curl up on the floor with them.
  2. Whisper: “Here comes the sun on Easter morning!” Rise slowly to your knees, then stand.
  3. Reach up high like the sun: “Jesus is alive!” Jump up and down: “Hooray!”
  4. Wave your arms like branches: “Hosanna!” Then curl up and rise again while they giggle.
  5. End with arms up high one more time, then sit down together.

Class screen: ☀️ Rise up like the sun! · 🌙 Curl up · 🌅 Rise · 🙌 Arms up! · 🌿 Wave

4. Scripture

Our Little Verse: Matthew 28:6

1 min

Four words and one motion, said many times, is how a toddler carries a scripture home.

  1. Hold up your scriptures. Say: “This is the Bible. It tells about Jesus.”
  2. Read slowly: “for he is risen.” Say: “That means Jesus is alive!”
  3. Start with hands low and raise your arms slowly up high: “Jesus is alive!” Say it three times: a tiny whisper, a regular voice, a happy voice.
  4. Kneel by each child, lift their hands gently with yours, and say, “Jesus is alive, and He loves Ella.”

Class screen: 🙌 Jesus is alive! · 🙌 Arms up high!

5. Testimony

I Know Jesus Loves You

1 min

A quiet moment with a picture of the Savior helps each child feel His love on Easter.

  1. Lower your voice to a whisper. Hold up the picture of Jesus Christ. Say: “This is Jesus.”
  2. Let each child look closely, point or gently pat the picture.
  3. SAY“Jesus is alive. I know Jesus loves you.”
  4. If your nursery has a prayer now, fold arms together while a grown-up says a short one.

Class screen: ❤️ Jesus loves you!

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A picture of Jesus Christ (from your meetinghouse library, a Friend magazine, or home)

  1. Lower your voice to a whisper. Put your hand on your heart and say: “Let’s think about Jesus.”
  2. Whisper “Jesus loves you” as you touch each child’s hand or wave to them.
  3. SAY“Jesus is alive. I know Jesus loves you.”
  4. If your nursery has a prayer now, fold arms together while a grown-up says a short one.
6. Song

Arms Up, Jesus Lives

2 minBONUS

If they’re still with you, a slow Easter song with rising arms is a calm, happy way to finish.

  1. SAY“Let’s curl up small like the nighttime.” Curl up on the floor together.
  2. Sing “Did Jesus Really Live Again?” (Children’s Songbook, 64) slowly. Rise a little at a time as you sing.
  3. At the end, raise your arms up high and whisper: “Jesus is alive!”

Class screen: 🎵 Sing and rise up high!

Story drama

The Happy Easter Morning

Matthew 21:8–9; 27:59–60; 28:1–8; John 20:11–18 ↗

Parts to hand out

  • Happy CrowdEveryone! Wave your arms like branches and say, “Hosanna!”
  • Stone PushersEveryone! Push the big pretend stone: “Ugh! Heavy!”
  • Jesus’s FriendsEveryone! Feel sad, then jump up happy with arms high.

Scenes

  1. 🌿 Hosanna! Wave, wave, wave!

    Happy people waved branches for Jesus and shouted, “Hosanna!”

    🎬 Wave your arms high like branches and say, “Hosanna!” Grown-ups wave big so little ones can copy.

  2. 💛 Jesus died. His friends felt sad.

    Jesus died because He loves us, and His friends felt sad.

    🎬 Put your hand on your heart and make a soft, sad face. Give a gentle hug to anyone who wants one.

  3. 🪨 A big stone closed the tomb.

    His friends laid Him in a tomb, like a little cave, with a big stone door.

    🎬 Push the big pretend stone with both hands: “Ugh! So heavy!”

  4. 🌅 Sunday morning! Roll the stone away!

    Early Sunday morning, an angel rolled the big stone away!

    🎬 Roll your hands round and round: “Roll, roll, roll!”

  5. 🤲 Peekaboo! The tomb is empty!

    The tomb was empty. The angel said Jesus is risen!

    🎬 Cover your eyes, then open them and show empty hands: “Empty!” Then raise your arms up high.

  6. 🙌 Jesus is alive! Hooray!

    Jesus is alive! Mary saw Him, and she ran to tell everyone.

    🎬 Arms up high and cheer: “Jesus is alive!” Then gently point to each child: “Jesus loves Ella!”

Key verse

Matthew 28:6 ↗
“for he is risen”
In kid words: Jesus is alive!
🙌 Start with your hands down low, then raise both arms slowly all the way up high while you say all four words.

More verses

Matthew 21:9 ↗
“Hosanna to the Son of David”
In kid words: The happy crowd cheered for Jesus.
John 20:16 ↗
“Jesus saith unto her, Mary”
In kid words: Jesus said Mary’s name. He knows my name too.
1 Corinthians 15:22 ↗
“even so in Christ shall all be made alive”
In kid words: Because of Jesus, everyone will live again.

Forehead Guess words8 words

  • 🌿 Branch
  • 🪨 Stone
  • 🌅 Sun
  • 👼 Angel
  • 📦 Box
  • 🌷 Flower
  • ❤️ Heart
  • 🤗 Hug
Clues for each word
  • Branch: Wave it high: Hosanna!
  • Stone: Big and heavy! Push!
  • Sun: It came up on Easter morning
  • Angel: Rolled the big stone away
  • Box: Peekaboo! It’s empty!
  • Flower: It blooms in springtime
  • Heart: Jesus loves us
  • Hug: Squeeze someone you love
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown5 questions

  1. What did the happy people wave?
    • A. 🌿 Branches
    • B. 🍕 Pizza
    Show answer

    ✅ A. 🌿 Branches Wave, wave! They waved branches and said, “Hosanna!”

  2. Which one is big and heavy?
    • A. 🪶 Feather
    • B. 🪨 Stone
    Show answer

    ✅ B. 🪨 Stone Push! A big stone closed the tomb.

  3. Was the tomb full or empty?
    • A. 📦 Full
    • B. 🤲 Empty
    Show answer

    ✅ B. 🤲 Empty Peekaboo! It was empty, because Jesus is alive.

  4. Who is alive?
    • A. ❤️ Jesus
    • B. 🦖 Dinosaur
    Show answer

    ✅ A. ❤️ Jesus Arms up high: Jesus is alive!

  5. What comes up in the morning?
    • A. 🌅 Sun
    • B. 🧦 Socks
    Show answer

    ✅ A. 🌅 Sun The sun came up on the first Easter morning.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

Songs

  • Did Jesus Really Live Again? Children’s Songbook, p. 64

    Sing it slowly while everyone rises up like the sun, arms high at the end. Find it ↗

  • On a Golden Springtime Children’s Songbook, p. 88

    A springtime Easter song. Curl up like flower bulbs and bloom open with wiggly fingers. Find it ↗

  • Popcorn Popping Children’s Songbook, p. 242

    Spring blossoms pop open! Crouch down and pop up with arms high. Find it ↗

  • He Sent His Son Children’s Songbook, p. 34

    Hum it softly in Quiet Easter Morning. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Arms Up at Home

This Easter week, when you see the sun come up or a flower bloom, raise your arms up high together and say, “Jesus is alive!”

Text the parents

Happy Easter! Today in nursery we learned that the tomb was empty and Jesus is alive (Matthew 28:6). We waved branches, pushed a big pretend stone, peeked into an empty box and raised our arms up high while we said, “Jesus is alive!” Try it at home: raise your arms and see if your child says it with you, especially when you see the morning sun or spring flowers.

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Nursery play time

The lesson is short on purpose. Fill the rest of nursery with these: pick what fits your little ones today.

📦 Happy Empty Boxes · 10 min

  1. Set out a few boxes and containers with lids (shoe boxes, clean wipes tubs, a toy bin) next to the nursery’s dolls, stuffed animals and trucks. Let children play however they like.
  2. Hide a big toy in some boxes and leave one empty. Toddlers love to open and close lids over and over.
  3. Every time a child finds the empty one, cheer: “Empty! Jesus is alive!” and raise your arms up high together.
  4. Safety: lids only, no tape or strings, and nothing inside smaller than a toilet-paper tube. One adult stays close.
  5. No boxes? Play peekaboo with a blanket over a big toy: lift it up, and when the toy is gone, say “Empty! Jesus is alive!”

👂 Who Said My Name? · 5 min

  1. Sit on the floor with the children. The other grown-up hides behind a chair or the tomb blanket, still in the room.
  2. The hidden grown-up calls one child’s name in a happy, singsong voice: “El-la!” Ask: “Who said your name? Let’s look!”
  3. Peek together and find the grown-up: “Peekaboo! Sister Jones said your name!” Then call the next child.
  4. SAY“On Easter morning, Jesus said Mary’s name, and she knew it was Him” (John 20:16). “Jesus knows your name too!”
  5. Both adults stay in the room, and the hider stays where children can reach them. No hiding spot? Cover your eyes, call a name, then uncover: “Peekaboo, Ella!”

🎵 Springtime Songs · 5 min

  1. Sit together and sing “On a Golden Springtime” (Children’s Songbook, 88). Curl up like a flower bulb and bloom open slowly with wiggly fingers.
  2. Stand up for “Popcorn Popping” (Children’s Songbook, 242). Crouch down and pop up with arms high like spring blossoms.
  3. Tap Freeze Dance on your phone or tablet. When the music stops, everyone freezes with arms up high: “Jesus is alive!”
  4. Don’t know a tune? Play it once in the Gospel Library app, or just chant “Curl up… pop up!” while you move.

🍞 Easter Morning Snack · 10 min

  1. Check allergies and your ward’s snack policy first. Wipe every child’s hands, and yours, before snack.
  2. Everyone sits to eat, with an adult watching. Skip choking foods for this age: no jelly beans, hard candy, popcorn, nuts, whole grapes or chunks of raw carrot. Easter candy from home goes back to parents.
  3. Fold arms. A grown-up says a short blessing: “Thank you for our food.”
  4. Talk while they munch. Say: “Jesus shared bread with His friends at a special supper. Jesus loves His friends. Jesus loves you!”
  5. SAY“Who is alive?” Raise your arms: “Jesus!” Let them say it with a mouthful of giggles.
  6. No snack today? Have a pretend picnic: pretend to break a big loaf of bread, share a piece with everyone and say thank you to Heavenly Father.

🖍️ Easter Garden Scribble · 8 min

  1. Tape a big sheet of paper to the table or floor. Draw a little cave with a big round stone rolled to one side, and a sun above it. Say: “Jesus’s tomb was in a garden” (John 19:41).
  2. Give each child one chunky green, yellow or orange washable crayon. Every scribble is grass, a flower or sunshine! Say: “The stone rolled away, and Jesus is alive!”
  3. Write each child’s name by their scribbles and hang the picture by the door for parents to see.
  4. Safety: chunky crayons only. Skip stickers, glitter, pom-poms and marker caps (small parts). Count the crayons back into the box.
  5. No paper or crayons? Open Draw & Guess on your phone or tablet and let each child finger-paint sunshine while you hold your phone or tablet.

🪨 Push the Big Stone · 6 min

  1. Drape a light blanket over a small table to make a cozy tomb. Stand a couch cushion or big pillow in front of the opening: “This is the big stone!”
  2. Push the soft stone together with both hands: “Ugh! So heavy! Push, push!” Heavy pushing is great for busy toddler muscles.
  3. When it tips over, peek inside: “Empty! Jesus is alive!” Raise your arms up high.
  4. Stand the cushion back up and let the next child push. One child pushes at a time while the others cheer.
  5. Safety: soft cushions only, never chairs or boxes that could fall on someone, and one adult stays at the tomb. No blanket or cushions? Kneel and let children push on your hands like a stone, then roll away and cheer.

🖼️ Picture Walk: Easter Morning · 5 min

  1. Sit on the floor with a child or two in your lap. Swipe back through today’s story pictures on your phone or tablet, or open a picture book about spring or Easter.
  2. Point and name one thing on each picture: “Stone! Push!” Ask: “Where’s the sun?” and let them point.
  3. Walk together to the window. Look at the sky, grass and flowers: “Spring is here! Everything is waking up.”
  4. Finish at the picture of Jesus Christ. Raise your arms and say: “Jesus is alive!”
  5. Stay in the nursery room with both adults. If a child drifts off, let them go; picture walks are for whoever wants to come.

😴 Quiet Easter Morning · 4 min

  1. Spread out a blanket. Children may lie down, sit or climb into a lap. Nobody has to.
  2. Play soft bells on the Sound Board with the volume low.
  3. Hum “He Sent His Son” (Children’s Songbook, 34) softly and pat backs gently.
  4. Whisper each child’s name: “Ella, Jesus is alive, and He loves you.”
  5. Upset child? Hold them, rock side to side and walk to the window together. Calm comes before learning.

👋 Run and Tell Goodbye · 5 min

  1. Five minutes before the end, say: “Mary ran to tell her friends that Jesus is alive! Let’s tell the toys it’s time to go home.” Put the toys in their bins together.
  2. Toddle together from one side of the room to the other adult: “Jesus is alive!” Walk, tiptoe, then march.
  3. Hand each child only to their own parent or guardian, as your ward’s policy says. Give an arms-up cheer and say: “Tell Mommy, ‘Jesus is alive!’”
  4. Share today’s family note from the app with parents, and tell them one happy moment about their child.
  5. Kids still waiting? Keep them busy with Happy Empty Boxes or a picture book. Both adults stay until every child is picked up.

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

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