A few years ago, I set out to make “Resurrection Rolls” with my three oldest children. It’s an Easter tradition for many families, but we had never tried them in our house before. If you’ve never heard of Resurrection Rolls, the basic gist is that you use a marshmallow wrapped in a crescent roll to symbolize how Jesus rose from the dead. (When you bake the roll, the marshmallow melts giving the illusion that it has disappeared, just like Jesus disappeared from the tomb when He rose).

Many online tutorials will walk you through this (most with MUCH better photos than mine!), but few give you a step-by-step guide on how to share the story of Easter (and specifically salvation!) while you make them. After giving this a try with my own children (then ages 3, 5 and 7), here are the steps I recommend.   I wrote it out as if it were a lesson, so feel free to read it word-for-word when you make these at your house.

What you will need:

Large marshmallows
1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough
Melted butter
Cinnamon/Sugar mixture
Toothpicks

1. Jesus was without sin

[Give each child a marshmallow]. Look at how white your marshmallow is! The marshmallow is like Jesus because Jesus was white and clean and never got dirty with sin. The Bible says that “Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!” (Heb. 4:15 CEV).

2. Jesus died for our sins

[Give each child a toothpick]. Even though Jesus never did anything wrong, there were still people who wanted to kill him. They arrested him, beat him up, and he died on the cross. They even poked his side with a spear! Can you punch the marshmallow with your fingers? Can you poke it with a toothpick? That’s like what they did to Jesus! But because he loves us, he didn’t fight back. He chose to stay on the cross and die for us.

3. They took his body off of the cross

After Jesus died, some of his followers took his body and got it ready for burial.  First they wiped special oils all over him, kind of like this [Demonstrate and have children dip marshmallow in melted butter]. Then they sprinkled special spices all over his body [Demonstrate and have children roll marshmallow into cinnamon/sugar mixture]. Finally, they got special linen cloths and wrapped his whole body up like a mummy! [Demonstrate and have children wrap the marshmallow with the crescent roll dough. Make sure to pinch all of the sides very securely! Then place the rolls onto a cookie sheet.]

4. They buried Jesus in a tomb

After Jesus’ body was ready, they took it and put it into a tomb. The tomb was kind of like a cave. And then they rolled a huge rock in front of the tomb and placed guards beside it so that no one could get inside. [Put the rolls in the oven (tomb) and have your child stand guard in the kitchen].

5. They waited

For three days, Jesus’ disciples and friends were very sad that Jesus had died. They didn’t know what they were going to do without him, and they missed him very much! [At this point, your children will probably become very bored. I haven’t met a child yet who will stand guard for a whole 12-15 minutes while rolls cook in the oven. That’s okay. Just remind them every few minutes how hard it is to wait and urge them to imagine what the disciples must have been feeling after Jesus’ death].

6. Jesus rose from the dead!

[When the oven dings, get the rolls out and allow them to cool for a few minutes. When they are cool, give one to each child, but tell them not to touch it yet]. This is the best part of the story! Listen to what happened next! [Read Mark 16:1-7 below]

16:1 After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus’ body. ² Very early on Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up, they went to the tomb. ³ On their way, they were asking one another, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” ⁴ But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. And it was a huge stone!

⁵ The women went into the tomb, and on the right side they saw a young man in a white robe sitting there. They were alarmed.

⁶ The man said, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn’t here. You can see the place where they put his body. ⁷ Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” (CEV)

Isn’t that exciting! When the women went to the tomb, Jesus wasn’t there! Now, tear open your roll and see if your marshmallow is still inside! [Help them cut open their rolls if they are having trouble. Notice that the marshmallow has melted away, but don’t let them eat it yet.] Wow! Your marshmallow is gone just like Jesus was gone from the tomb! Isn’t it exciting that Jesus rose from the dead?! His resurrection is the reason we celebrate Easter!

7. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, we can have something wonderful – eternal life!

Jesus’ resurrection is important because through his death, we can have something wonderful – life! He gives us eternal life which means we can go to heaven and be with him someday. The Bible says that, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23 NIV]) There’s one important word in that verse that I don’t want you to miss – the word gift.  What if I gave you this roll and you just held onto it forever and never ate it? You would never experience how yummy it is! [Now, let the children eat their rolls.] Isn’t that good! That’s how it is with the wonderful gift of eternal life that Jesus gave us when he rose from the dead. You have to accept Jesus into your heart in order to experience the yumminess of eternal life just like you have to actually eat the roll if you want to taste how yummy it is.  The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9 NIV). It’s that easy, and it’s that yummy!

[Note]: A full week after making these, I was talking to my daughter about why we celebrate Easter. I had forgotten all about the rolls, but when I said that we could be happy because Jesus rose from the dead, she said, “Like a marshmallow!” Clearly the simple little lesson was memorable enough that it made an impact, even for a 3-year-old. I hope it will do the same for your children too!

Have you ever made Resurrection Rolls with your children? How did they respond?