Sound effects

Beforehand, practise the following words and actions: tomb ‘Brr!’; spices rub fingers together and sniff them; women girls point to themselves and say, ‘That’s us!’; men boys point to themselves and say, ‘That’s us!’; dazzling cover eyes; has risen jump up with arms in the air and shout ‘He is risen!’ Read the story with the children participating.

Calming the chaos

Beforehand, print out four copies of the story and give them to confident readers. Set one person off reading – once they reach the second sentence, start a second reader from the beginning, and then a third, until everyone is speaking at once. Stop them all, and say how confusing it must have been that first Easter morning with different accounts, and nobody sure what was happening. Ask the fourth person to read the story.

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Talk together  ( Connect faith with everyday life)

• How might you have reacted to the empty tomb?
• How would you try to convince someone of something that you were certain about?
• What difference does the resurrection make to our lives?