40 Ideas for 40 Days—Lenten Activities: Looking for Clues

Joe Paprocki Lenten Activities

boy with magnifying glass

This Lenten activity is called Looking for Clues and is an opportunity for catechists to help children become more familiar with the Passion story.

Looking for Clues

  • Gather pictures of the following items from the Passion according to Mark (14:1—15:47).
    • a jar (bottle of perfume) (14:3)
    • water jar (14:13)
    • a dish(14:20)
    • bread (14:22)
    • cup (14:23)
    • olive tree (14:26)
    • swords and clubs (14:43)
    • sword (14:47)
    • a fire (14:54)
    • blindfold (14:65)
    • rooster (14:68)
    • rope (they bound him) (15:1)
    • whip (scourging) (15:15)
    • purple robe (15:17)
    • crown of thorns (15:17)
    • a reed (15:19)
    • cross (15:21)
    • bottle of wine (15:23)
    • nails (15:24)
    • dice (15:24)
    • sign reading INRI (Latin, acronym for Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) (15:26)
    • sponge (15:36)
    • curtain (15:38)
    • linen shroud (15:46)
    • tomb (15:46)
    • stone (15:46)
  • Place (hide) these pictures all over the classroom and tell the young people that their mission is to search for clues about the Passion of Jesus.
  • Have the young people search and gather the pictures.
  • Invite each of them to describe their picture(s) and to see if they have some idea of how it fits into the Passion story.
  • Next, invite volunteers to read aloud the Passion according to Mark 14:1—15:47.
  • Tell the young people to call out “Stop!” whenever one of their clues is mentioned in the Passion story.
  • As each clue is revealed, have them come forward and attach it to a poster or bulletin board.

40 Ideas for 40 Days
Download the PDF version of this activity.

40 Ideas for 40 Days
Check out all of the activities for Lent.
Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

Related Articles

Lent resources from Loyola Press
Lent

Celebrating Lent: A Season of Sobriety

Joe Paprocki Lent

While Lent is a season of preparation for Easter, right now, for catechetical ministers, is a season of preparation for Lent. With Ash Wednesday looming right around the corner, this is the “acceptable time” for catechetical ministers to be solidifying plans for celebrating the season of Lent with those you teach. That’s right, I said “celebrating!” Lent is not a somber time but a sober time, and achieving sobriety is something to celebrate! We human […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
Crucifixion icon
Lent

18 Questions on the Paschal Triduum

Joe Paprocki Lent

Today, we enter into the most solemn three days of our liturgical year: the Triduum. For many, these three days may seem a bit confusing. We celebrate with profound and reverent rituals that are only seen, felt, and experienced at this time of the year. To help with our understanding of the Triduum, the USCCB has put together 18 Questions on the Paschal Triduum, a resource that may help to answer some questions about these […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
St. Vincent Ferrer by Giovanni Bellini (circa 1430–1516) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
High School/Youth Ministry

Lent with the Saints, Part 2: Fasting with St. Vincent Ferrer

Bob Burnham High School/Youth Ministry, Lent, Mary and the Saints

This is the second of three articles on the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a season in which we respond to the Lord’s call to “return to me with all your heart, / with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” (Joel 2:12) As I remind young people of the requirements for Lent, I usually share this passage with them to remind them that this obligation is nothing more than responding to […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly

1 Comment

  1. I can’t wait to do this with my 7th graders again. I had found this a couple years ago and did it with them. For one thing, it got them up and moving. For another thing, they really had to look at some of these things and try and figure out what they were. I did help by pausing after reading a clue, so they knew they had to look for it.

    Thank you for all the great ideas.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*