Doing Arts and Crafts Projects in Short Class Times

girl making craft

Most catechists experience the crunch of time when teaching, knowing that they have a great deal of content to convey to their participants in a very short time. Sometimes, the notion of incorporating an arts and crafts project in a lesson just seems impossible given the time constraints! Thankfully, over the years, I’ve heard of a number of suggestions from catechists about how to accomplish this. Here are a few of their ideas:

  • Provide children with wooden crosses from the hobby and crafts store. On label sheets, print out the Act of Contrition so that it will fit on the crosses.
  • Make Holy Spirit doves out of paper plates.
  • Have children create prayer sticks.
  • Create lapbooks.
  • Get little canvases from the dollar store, and have children use crayons to color a picture. Give them options of First Holy Communion-related pictures, like cross, chalice, or dove. The crayons make it mess-free and easy, and then they have cute pieces of art to take home.
  • For First Reconciliation, create “Jesus Heals” Hearts. Get foam hearts at the dollar or craft store. Add a cross of bandages, a pipe-cleaner holder, and a few Christian foam stickers.
  • Have children make cards thanking their parents for bringing them to church and sharing with them their faith so they can receive the Eucharist.
  • Create prayer cubes.
  • Have children make a folding craft-stick canvas.
  • Make one-decade rosaries with pipe cleaner and beads.

I have written before about the role of arts and crafts in faith formation and even did a Pop-Up Catechesis video on the topic of crafting faith. What are some ideas you have for craft projects that can be completed in short class times?

About Joe Paprocki 2758 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.

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