This is a little bit late, but after a discussion with a friend asking for Lenten suggestions for her kids to do; I realize that its never to late to start things in Lent. The important thing is that we try! So I thought I would share this beautiful free printable that kids can use this Lent from Ponder in my Heart. Each year they have a new colour in calendar so here is the one for 2018, my boys are enjoying it and I hope your kids will too .
I was reflecting on the word Easter earlier this week – many people see Happy Easter and think of cute little bunnies and fluffy tails. But just like the word Christ-mas it too has so much symbolism. It is a word I want my children to associate with the most important day of the year – the most important day in the history of the world. The day our Lord gave himself for you, for me, for all. So while thinking about this I came up with a cute little poem/story for the kids to help them remember Easter in a new light.
Click here for a pdf of theEaster Poem Craft– Happy Resurrection!
A really great blog for wonderful Christian crafts is catholic icing – I am always excited to see what Lacy will come up with next!
Kids 40 Day Lenten Count Down Craft:
This year my kids did her 40 day Lenten countdown and really enjoyed colouring in the path as we counted down to Easter! It was a great tool to use to sit down with the kids on Ash Wednesday to talk about what we would each like to do or give up for Jesus this Lent. It also was great as we got close to holy week to talk about how we were doing with those commitments and if we would like to maybe add anything new! You can get a free copy of this great craft at Catholic icing.
Resurrection Set Craft:
The second craft my kids are loving from Catholic Icing is their free Printable Resurrection Craft. I saved this craft for Good Friday as I thought it was a great way to use it. The kids coloured in a few of the sheets as the day went on. In the afternoon we read from The Jesus Story Book Bible and then we taped Jesus on to the cross (with painters tape so it is easy to remove).
This evening before bed we prayed a decade of the Divine Mercy Chaplet (to start the beginning of the novena) then each of the children placed Jesus on the bed in the tomb. Next we rolled the stones (taped with painters tape) and placed the guards outside the tomb. This is sitting on out table as our center piece till we can continue the story on Easter morning!
The kids will complete the remaining pieces of the resurrection story on Holy Saturday! Lacy is so talented to come up with the great craft! To be honest it was a lot of work for the kids to do all these pieces in one day – it was a good lesson in perseverance for my daughter. Next year I think we will work on the throughout Lent!
For younger kids they even offer this in a colour version so you just need to print and go!
Fast, fun and Easy Craft for Easter!
My daughter and I had a lot of fun painting these pastel easter eggs together. We painted ceramic eggs so we can use them next year. We mixed silver paint into each of the colours we used so that they would be a little metallic looking. This could easily be done with hard boiled or blown eggs instead and would display nicely in a basket as a center piece.
This year for Lent I thought I’d like to do the Way of the Cross with my daughter in a more detailed way. Last year I used a black and white copy of the stations of the cross form Catholic Art Work. I want to do something appropriate for children so I decided on purchasing and using the Glory Stories: Passion of Christ – Way of the Cross CD from Holy Heros.
To accompany the CD, I also bought Holy Heros – The Road to Calvary Colouring book, so my daughter could have the visuals to go along with
the CD. This set looks great, looking forward to do this with my daughter this Lent. I will also be giving these to my godsons too.
Description of the Way of the Cross CD from Holy Hero’s Website: “Mesmerizing way for our children to learn about and pray the Stations of the Cross. Children hear other children leading the prayers and offering short meditations and resolutions which match their own lives and connect them to Christ: obedience, telling the truth, trying again and again, making sacrifices for the ones they love, and more. Each station is described with sound effects which inspire the imagination as if you are there…and parents will learn something at the same time! English and Spanish on the same CD.”
For the past couple years I have signed up my family to Holy Hero’s Lenten Adventures – – a free daily faith based program emailed directly to your email daily. This wonderful and unique program is produced by a great catholic family’s children. Each day they have 1 -2 You Tube Videos just jam packed with ideas, suggestions and encouragement for how your child can more fully participate in Lent. The videos also contain scripture and solid catholic faith instruction. You will also find free colour pages, prayers and more daily for your child to do. My daughter looks forward to these videos each day. They also have a free summer camp version too! So check out this incredible program today!
Holy Hero’s also sells a great variety of catholic products – Glory Story CD’s. The Treasure Box Books and more!
Stations of the Cross for Kids
I found two great resource links to use during Lent that I wanted to share:
The first is a great Stations of the cross for kids from CatholicArtWorks.com- I printed it out on 2 sheets of paper, folded it in half and stapled it to make a booklet and it is great for my preschooler. You can print it out in either color or black and white.
The second is a great 15 page booklet on the stations of the cross from Catholicmom.com- I think this one is nicer for older children as it is a bit more graphic.
These are both great ways to introduce this beautiful devotion to our children, with lots of opportunity for dialogue and the ability to use them according to age level.
