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Good Friday Craft for Kids: Pop-Up Cross Card

An easy Good Friday craft for kids in three levels, a pop-up card where an empty cross stands up at Calvary, with Romans 5:8 on the back. Free template.

Preschool–Grade 5

Good Friday Craft for Kids: Pop-Up Cross Card

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Free to print and copy for your church, classroom, VBS and home. Please don't resell or re-post our files; link to the page instead.

Ages
Preschool (3–5), Early Elementary (K–2), Upper Elementary (3–5)
Time
15 to 30 minutes
Scripture
Luke 23:33–53; Matthew 27:57–60
Bible story
Jesus Dies on the Cross

What you need

  • The printed pop-up card, cross and verse card template (page 2), one per child (cardstock is sturdiest)
  • Crayons or markers in dark blue and brown
  • Scissors and a glue stick
  • The printed three-cross card page (page 3), one per child (harder level)

Steps

  1. Color the top half of the card dark blue for the evening sky and the bottom half brown for the ground. Color the cross brown. The wood lines will show through.
  2. Cut out the card, the cross and the verse card on the outside dashed lines. Help younger children with the cutting.
  3. Fold the card in half on the long dotted line, with the colored side inside.
  4. With the card still folded, cut the two short dashed lines in the middle, starting at the fold. Fold the flap between the two cuts forward and back to crease it well.
  5. Open the card. Push the flap through to the inside so it pops out into a little step, then close the card and press it flat.
  6. Open the card like an L, with the sky standing up. Put glue on the bottom of the back of the cross and press it on the front of the step, with the bottom edges lined up. The empty cross now stands at Calvary (Luke 23:33).
  7. Turn the card over and glue the verse card on the back of the bottom half. Read it together.

This Good Friday craft turns one printed page into a pop-up card where a plain, empty cross stands up at Calvary. Kids color the evening sky and the ground, fold the card, cut two short slits and pop up a step for the cross, the way Luke tells it: "when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him" (Luke 23:33). Romans 5:8 goes on the back. It costs under 50 cents a child, takes about 20 minutes and comes in three levels, from preschool to 5th grade.

The finished craft, easy and medium level

The finished craft, harder level

What it looks like finished: easy and medium (first photo) and harder (second photo).

Why this craft works

  • Cheap and simple: one printed page, crayons, scissors and a glue stick.
  • Reverent: the craft never shows Jesus on the cross. The cross is empty, at even, after Joseph of Arimathaea took the body down and laid it in the sepulchre (Matthew 27:57–60; Luke 23:53), and it points kids to the empty tomb next week.
  • It keeps the Bible's details: the place called Calvary (Luke 23:33), flat ground because the Bible doesn't say it was a hill, and, at the harder level, three crosses with Jesus' in the middle, "one on the right hand, and the other on the left" (Luke 23:33). The verse card on the back has Romans 5:8 (KJV).

Three ways to make it

  • Easy (preschool, ages 3–5): you cut, fold and pop up the card. Kids color, glue the cross on the step and glue the verse card on the back. No scissors.
  • Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, cut out the pieces, fold the card, cut two short slits, pop up the step and glue on the cross and the verse card.
  • Harder (grades 3–5): kids use the three-cross card on page 3, pop up three steps and add two smaller crosses for the two men crucified with Jesus (Luke 23:33). Then they say the memory verse from memory.

Questions to ask

While kids work, ask where Jesus was crucified (Luke 23:33), what He prayed for the people who hurt Him ("Father, forgive them," 23:34) and what happened to the sun (23:44–45). Then point to the empty cross: that evening Joseph laid Jesus' body in a sepulchre (23:53), and Jesus had said, "After three days I will rise again" (Matthew 27:63).

Tips for the classroom

Print page 2 on cardstock if you can, so the step pops up crisply. Crease the flap hard before pushing it through to the inside.

Teaching the story first? Use the free Jesus on the cross Sunday school lesson and the Jesus dies on the cross word search. The week after, make the empty tomb craft for Easter Sunday.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a simple Good Friday craft for preschoolers?

Cut out, fold and pop up each child's card ahead of time, and cut out the cross and verse card. Preschoolers color the sky dark blue, the ground and the cross brown, and then glue the cross on the step with your help. It takes about 15 minutes with no cutting by the kids.

How much does this Good Friday craft cost?

Under 50 cents a child: one printed page (cardstock is best) and the crayons and glue stick you already have. The template is free to print.

What Bible verse goes with a Good Friday craft?

Romans 5:8 (KJV), "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is printed on the verse card that kids glue on the back.

How can older kids make this Good Friday craft harder?

Use the harder level for grades 3–5. Kids use the three-cross card on page 3 and cut three pop-up steps, then glue Jesus' cross in the middle and two smaller crosses on the left and right for the two men crucified with Him (Luke 23:33). Then they say Romans 5:8 from memory.

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