For a fresh approach to a Lenten calendar, explore a variety of values with young children this Lent. Our Lenten Countdown for Children invites children to choose a good value to practice each day, coloring and numbering circles as they go to track their progress. Values listed include sharing, patience, honesty, and more—all traits covered in the book A Whole Bunch of Values.
Denise Gorss is a catechist with more than 20 years experience, mostly in junior high. She appreciates the gifts of Ignatian spirituality and likes sharing various types of prayer with the young people in her groups. She enjoys seeing the world on pilgrimages and lives in the Chicago area, where she works as Web Editor at Loyola Press.
Avoiding Temptations Arrange the young people in pairs and invite them to brainstorm a list of temptations that young people their age can try to avoid during Lent. (Examples: gossiping, calling people names, being lazy, and so on.) Then, have them identify strategies for resisting temptation. (Examples: praying, doing another activity to avoid thinking about the temptation, talking to a parent, teacher, or older friend/relative, and so on.) Have each pair report their ideas to […]
Today’s Lenten activity comes from an eighth-grade catechist in Ohio who just loves her kids and wanted to share something she does with them during Holy Week. She calls them “Resurrection Eggs,” but they could easily be referred to as “Holy Week Eggs” or “Passion Eggs,” since they help children to recognize various elements of the Passion reading. Resurrection Eggs I found some “Resurrection Eggs.” They are plastic eggs that have a symbol of the Passion, Death, […]
The 40 days of Lent can be a long time for any Catholic. It᾽s even longer for third graders. I’m not one to take any number at face value, so I always ask my class to count the days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday. They are shocked to learn that there are actually 44 days! That seems to make Lent even longer. Working with younger students, I always include some fun activities in our […]
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