Safety Commandments

This year, I bundled a safety lesson into our session on the Ten Commandments, and I presented families with "10 Commandments of Safety."

After handing out the posters, we talked through each rule and gave examples of real-life situations that kids might face.  For example, we talked about following your parents' rules, even if you're not at your parents' house, using the example of a friend who wants to watch a movie or show you wouldn't be allowed to watch at home.  With parents, we talked about how too much "hovering" can actually make a child less confident and more vulnerable, so I offered simple ways to let them feel some independence, such as using a changing room alone at the store, with the parent just outside the door.  Then, families had a few minutes to discuss where they were doing well and where they could improve.

Click here for a link to the poster.

God's Big Ten

In November, we had a session on the 10 Commandments.  First, I presented the actual commandments; each was printed on a poster board "stone tablet," and 10 kids came up at each session to hold up the posters while I explained the meaning of each Commandment.  Because some of the Commandments are rather adult-oriented (i.e. adultery!), I broke down the basic, core message of each one (i.e. keeping promises).
Our theme this year is "Catch the Spirit," a sports/sports fan theme.  So, for our art project, I got creative with Big Ten sports logos.  The kids colored these 17x11 place mats, and we ran them through the laminator before they took them home:

This project was a big hit, even if a lot of the kids didn't know all of the logos.  They did all recognize the Minnesota Gophers, of course!  Obviously, I made it clear that these are not the actual 10 Commandments, but rather a breakdown of the basic messages of them.  It's also worth noting that these are based on the "Catholic" 10 Commandments, which are numbered a bit differently than other versions.  You could also skip the laminating and call it a poster, but I like to make things that can be used at home as much as possible.  Click here for a link to the place mat.

Fishing For People

For our final lesson of 2014/15, I wanted to do something special.  Our topic was discipleship, and I was using the "I will make you fish for people" passage from Matthew.  So, I designed these cool Tshirts for the kids to color with fabric markers.  It was a huge hit!  Feel free to copy & personalize the design for your own use, and spread the Good News!

Eucharist Means Thanksgiving

We did this lesson in February of 2015, but it will work at any time of the year when you're learning about the Eucharist.

I walked kids quickly through the order of Mass, and I wrote 1 word or short phrase on the white board for each part as we discussed it:
Introductory Rites: Together
Liturgy of the Word: Hear
Penitential Rites: Ask forgiveness
Prayer of the Faithful: Needs
Eucharist: Know Jesus is with us
Closing Rites: Sent

I then pointed out that the first letter of each of the above spells out "Thanks."  We talked about the Mass as thanksgiving, and the kids made these cut-out cards.  Each letter represents one of the words above:

I also handed out these prayer cards that kids could take to Mass with them.  On the back were the instructions on coloring the Thanks cards:

Click here for a PDF of the prayer card

Enjoy!

Beatitudes Lesson and Fun Project

For our lesson on the Beatitudes this month, we started by having kids & parents brainstorm at their tables about the things they thought people sometimes think will make them happy.  Then, I had kids bring up posters that I had placed on the tables.  These were numbered on the back, so that all of the "I could be happy if..." posters came up first, followed by all of the corresponding Beatitudes.  I taped them up and discussed each one.  I taped the Beatitudes over top of the other posters.  Here is an example of 2 posters that went together:

You can download a pdf of all 16 posters by clicking here.


For our project, staying with our "Detectives" theme, we made what I called "Beaticlues" games.  This is basically just a baggie of rice with small hidden objects in it.  Each object corresponds to one of the Beatitudes, which are listed on the label.  I ordered some cool striped vinyl tape at Amazon to make it look more like a real evidence bag.  Also, this good, strong tape helps ensure that the rice will stay in the bag!  Kids can have fun playing "I Spy" with the objects by moving the rice around inside the baggie.  Most of my purchased objects came from Oriental Trading, although the tear-drop shaped beads were from JoAnn ETC.  The pennies and pebbles I just found at home.  Here's a finished project:

Here are some pics from how I set up the project assembly line:

After labeling the bags, the items went in.  Then the rice, scooping over the bowl to avoid spills.

Finally, we ended with a prayer I wrote based on the Beatitudes.

Click here to download the Beaticlues game labels.

Click here to download the prayer.