Showing posts with label Lent/Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent/Easter. Show all posts

Friday, March 1, 2024

March Radiant Roundup: St. Joseph, St. Patrick, and Holy Week!

Here's a list of ideas to help you and your kids have a holy and purposeful Lent and Holy Week, as well as celebrate some of the important March Feast Days like St. Patrick and St. Joseph!


Feast of St. Katharine Drexel: March 3rd

Feast of St. Patrick: March 17th
St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer Cards*

Bl. Josef and Wiktoria Ulma and Children: March 24th
Ulma Family Biographical Study* (7th & up) Editable/Google Classroom ready

Solemnity of the Annunciation: March 25th (Transferred to Monday, April 8th this year)



The Season of Lent
Lent: Ideas for 40 Days* (Round-up Post of Links)
What Lent Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable
What the Triduum Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable
Lent: Pray, Fast, Give Foldable* (Also in Spanish)
Lenten Prayer Challenge Board* (Also editable)
Lent Family Weekly Plan*- Pray with Sunday Gospels and Fasting/Giving using the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (editable)




Holy Week & The Sacred Triduum
Holy Week Family Retreat & Journal* (In English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese)
This post has ideas for each day of Holy Week, including a printable journal and clickable links to activities and videos.

Here's a list of great books for March:

And Stations of the Cross books for kids:

Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family, pray for us!

Hands on Stations of the Cross (for one, or for a group!)



A long, long time ago (2012!) I posted a set of Resurrection Eggs (for the stories during Holy Week) that I made with our CCD program. A couple of years later, I also made a set of Way of Light Resurrection Eggs (for the stories during the Easter Season). We recently had a CCD family day focusing on the Stations of the Cross. Kids aged 5-14 participated, and I knew that the little ones would benefit from something hands-on before we went to the church to pray the Stations together. I thought about making a version of the Resurrection Eggs, but really wanted to make sure we were hitting all of the traditional Stations of the Cross- and then I remembered how my friend Bonnie prayed the Stations with her kids back when her now teenagers were toddlers. So, inspired by Bonnie Engstrom (who tells me she was inspired by Kate Wicker), I set up a symbol for each Station for the kids to collect, complete with artwork and a table tent explaining the meaning of the symbol.

You can certainly use this idea to make a hands-on set of the Stations of the Cross for your own home, but I wondered if maybe someone else had seen activities like this and wanted to be able to replicate it for a whole group. So I made sure that I used objects that were affordable on a larger scale and created printables using public domain images (or my own art) so that you would be free to print them yourself. 

I ordered simple cotton bags for the children to put each object in (fyi, I got 4x6 bags, but 5x7 would have been a better choice) and added a tag that they labeled "Stations of the Cross" and wrote their name (important since they will look exactly alike). Practically speaking, the set would be easier for preschoolers to use at home if they were in a box, rather than having them dump the bag out when you are planning on using them. But the bags were a simple and affordable way to package them for the activity at church, and then parents can always change up the storage when they take them home. The rock, nail, cross, and medal are also choking hazards for little ones, so if you are making these without parents present, it might be a good idea to give them a heads up before those items get lost around their house! ;)

Here is the list of objects according to each Station: (You can obviously switch these up based on supplies you have on hand or your own creative ideas!)

  • Station 1- Jesus is Condemned to Death- Rope for His arrest (piece of twine)
  • Station 2- Jesus Takes Up His Cross- Cross (small wooden cross)
  • Station 3- Jesus Falls the First Time- Bandage (I wrote a #1 on the bandaids, the kids stuck them on a purple card before putting in their bag)
  • Station 4- Jesus Meets His Mother- Miraculous Medal
  • Station 5- Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus- Helping hand (image of a hand, but this would be a good one to trace and cut out your own hand)
  • Station 6- Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus- Veronica prayer card (block print made by me)
  • Station 7- Jesus Falls the Second Time- Bandage (Bandaid with #2)
  • Station 8- Jesus Meets The Women of Jerusalem- Tissue for the tears of the weeping women
  • Station 9- Jesus Falls the Third Time- Bandage (Bandaid with #3)
  • Station 10- Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes- Piece of cloth
  • Station 11- Jesus is nailed to the Cross- Nails (we added one large nail to reduce the chance of them falling on the floor and getting lost. Three large nails would be even better)
  • Station 12- Jesus Dies on the Cross- Crucifix (we used a picture, but adding a small crucifix would be great)
  • Station 13- Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross- Pieta image
  • Station 14- Jesus is Laid in the Tomb- Stone for the stone rolled in front of the tomb
I had some of these items already on hand- like the nails, stones, miraculous medals, twine, and cloth. I was able to print the images at our parish office, so I only needed to purchase the bags, crosses,  (affiliate links) and bandaids, which worked out to about $.60 a child, so quite inexpensive! We also gave every family a copy of this Stations of the Cross book to make it easier for them to pray at home.

We set up each Station in order and the children went down the line to collect their items. Parents walked with their younger children, and I loved listening to them read the name of the Station to their child while pointing to the art, and then read the description from the table tent with the short meaning of the object.


If you'd like to make these with a group, here are copies of all of the printables I made!









Station 6: Veronica (Also available for you as a print here)


You may also like this printable Prayer before a Crucifix card, which is a handy way to get kids involved in praying group Stations even when they aren't able to follow the book the congregation is leading:

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Lent Radiant Roundup


It's almost time for Lent to begin! Ash Wednesday is on February 14th. If you are looking for some ways to bring the beauty of the prayer, fasting and almsgiving to your children or students, here's a whole roundup of ideas: 

First up, here are some favorite posts:

Lent: Pray, Fast, Give Foldable* (Also in Spanish and Portuguese)

What Lent Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable


Give Up & Take Up*: Lent Youth Group Lesson, Videos, and Resources


And tons more Lenten posts: 
Lent: Ideas for 40 Days* (Roundup Post of Links)
Lent Family Weekly Plan*- Sunday Gospels and Fasting/Giving using the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (editable)

Here are a few ideas for Holy Week and the Triduum if you like to plan ahead!
Holy Week Family Retreat & Journal* (In English, Spanish, and French, and with an editable schedule)

What the Triduum Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable

Thursday, February 1, 2024

February Radiant Roundup

Happy February! We welcome in the month of the Holy Family during this short chunk of Ordinary Time. Here are some resources to enrich your home or classroom this month, including a look ahead at Lent, which begins on February 14th!
Resources with a * mean that they contain free printables (or shareable digital files).


Month of the Holy Family:





St. Abigail (St. Gobnait): February 11th
St. Abigail coloring pages*


St. Valentine: February 14th
Saintly Friends Bingo Game*

Lent: Begins on February 14th 
Lent: Ideas for 40 Days* (Round-up Post of Links)
Lent Looks Different (Classroom decorations)
What Lent Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable
What the Triduum Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable
Lent: Pray, Fast, Give Foldable* (Also in Spanish)
Lenten Prayer Challenge Board* (Also editable)
Holy Week Family Retreat & Journal* (In English, Spanish, and French, and with an editable schedule)
Lent Family Weekly Plan*- Sunday Gospels and Fasting/Giving using the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (editable)


Bl. Fra Angelico: February 18th


Click here for a list of great books for Catholic kids in February:

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Memento Mori Visio Divina & Reflections

November is the month dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Whether during the month of November, around Halloween, or even during the Season of Lent, this Memento Mori collection of art can help us reflect on "remember your death."

This slide show is intended for junior high and high schoolers to start a conversation on living each day with Heaven in mind, as well as praying for the dead. It includes a recommended video, a set of art to use with Visio Divina, and a collection of Saint and Scripture quotes to use for discussion or journaling.

Click here for the slides:

 Memento Mori Visio Divina & Reflections

And here's a printable guide to the steps for Visio Divina the kids can use to help with discussion or a written reflection of the included art.

Saturday, August 26, 2023

St. Veronica Block Print- Feast Day 7/12

 

This image of St. Veronica was inspired by many years of praying this line from Fulton Sheen's Stations of the Cross:

“O Lord, the day I was born anew of water and the Holy Spirit, the image of your Cross was engraved upon my heart. Today you ask me: ‘Whose inscription is written thereon?’ It is be yours, then let me render to God the things that are God’s. Grant that like, like Veronica, I may brave all human respect to carry your image about with me, not on a veil but on the tablet of my heart. Bestow on me the grace to be so much like you that others among whom I live may see something of you in me, as the maidservant saw something of you in Peter. If they do not see in me the marks of your passion, let them at least see the sparks of your love.”
-Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Way of the Cross, Station VI


This block print was the first time I tried a reduction print with multiple layers of color. It isn't perfect, but I enjoyed the process and will definitely try it again! You can see some of the process in this video on Instagram:


Saturday, April 1, 2023

April Radiant Roundup- Ideas for Holy Week, the Whole Season of Easter, and April Saints


Happy April! Tomorrow we enter into Holy Week, with the Sacred Triduum and Easter Sunday just around the corner. Here's the Radiant Roundup for the month, filled with resources for the whole Season of Easter, the month of the Holy Spirit, and Saint Feast Days for April!

Holy Week & The Sacred Triduum
Holy Week Family Retreat & Journal* (In English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese)
This post has ideas for each day of Holy Week, including a printable journal and clickable links to activities and videos.

The Easter Season 4/9-5/28
50 Ways to Celebrate the 50 Days* Easy to share pdf with ideas for the whole Easter Season
Fifty Days of Easter* Post with collection of ideas for celebrating Easter
What Easter Looks Like* Coloring Page/Printable
The Sound of Easter: An Easter Playlist
Resurrection Eggs*
The Gospel in an Eggshell*

Divine Mercy Sunday- 4/16
Divine Mercy Watercolor Art* (printable coloring page-2nd-6th)
Divine Mercy Melty Bead Craft* (printable pattern and examples-2nd-8th)
Pop Out Divine Mercy Chaplet* (Connection to Reconciliation-2nd-6th)


The Month of the Holy Spirit
Feast Days this Month

4/16- St. Bernadette Soubirous

4/28- St. Gianna Molla
4/28- St. Louis de Montfort

4/29- St. Catherine of Siena


4/30- Good Shepherd Sunday
While these activities are not exclusively about Jesus, the Good Shepherd, I think that Good Shepherd Sunday is a perfect time to teach about the parables:
More info on how to teach the parables* (ideas for all ages, printables for 6th & up)

April Books for Catholic Kids
Click here for a list of book recommendations for Holy Week, the Easter Season, and Saint Feast Days this month:

May the Lord bless and keep you!