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.

The Evidence Lab

Because the "Art & Snack" portion of GIFT is self-directed, some kids finish their projects quickly and have extra time on their hands.  So to keep them busy, I have a table in the back with an assortment of optional activities to choose from.  In keeping with our Faith Detectives theme this year, that table is called the "Evidence Lab."  The Lab always contains books related to that month's topic, a simple craft item for kids who like to make stuff, activity sheets such as word finds or mazes, and some special activities.  Here are photos of some of the activities from the Lab:

The photos on the sign are actually from our Sanctuary

Kids are invited to add prayer requests to the box.  

We do not open it or read them out loud, we just pray over the box.

The papers are printed on one side with teeny-tiny Bible verses that kids use the magnifying glass to read.  The other side has discussion questions for the kids & parents to talk about the verse.

These cross-shaped puzzles from OTC will premier in the Lab in January

November GIFT: Incarnation & Paschal Mystery

Yes, these are big topics for first-through-fourth graders; they are even big topics for the parents!  But a game and a (somewhat time-consuming) art project helped make these mysteries more accessible.

The Game: Incarnation Clue Hunt
     I posted "clues" on different colors of paper around the room.  The were just printed on a 1/4 sheet of paper and folded over, so kids could lift the flap to read them.  Staying with their parents, they needed to find 10 different colors of paper around the room (I had 2 of each color hanging to avoid traffic jams) and read the clues.  Each student had a tally sheet with 2 columns: God & Human.  For each clue, they marked a tally for whether it was evidence that Jesus was human or evidence that Jesus is God.  The clues were:
1. We pray to Jesus
2. Jesus died
3. Jesus felt pain
4. Jesus rose from the dead
5. Jesus walked on water
6. Jesus healed the blind, sick, & lame
7. Jesus turned water into wine
8. Jesus was born on Earth
9. Jesus got hungry and thirsty
10. Jesus had parents that he lived with while growing up
     Most of the kids decided that 5 of those were "human" clues, and 5 of them were "God" clues.  This was the introduction to our first Mystery: the Incarnation.  We talked about Mysteries as things in our faith that we believe but can't fully explain, and we read a simple definition of the Incarnation as Jesus becoming human but still being God.  Not half and half, but fully both.  We remembered that last month when we talked about Creation, we read that God said, "Let us create people in our image."  So Jesus as God has always existed and never stopped existing, but at the Incarnation Jesus also became human.  But why?  Well, for a clue to that answer, we went to the "end" of the story (or the new beginning, as it were): we talked about the Paschal Mystery of Jesus suffering, dying, rising, and ascending to bring us forgiveness & eternal life with God.
     OK, this part gets a little tough to explain, as Mysteries tend to do.  So I used this analogy with the kids (realizing it is imperfect): Have you ever been using a set of paints, and you try to use the white paint, but your brush isn't 100% clean, and you get a murky, icky color instead?  Well, God is like the white paint; God is perfect and without sin.  People are not perfect; we all make poor choices and do things we know are wrong - even the Pope sins!  Our imperfection can not live with God's perfection, or it wouldn't be perfection anymore - we would be like the dirty brush messing up the white paint.  When Jesus died but then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, he gave us a path to God that forgives all of our sin and "cleans our brushes."  Because of Jesus, we can live with our perfect God!
 
The Project: Life of Jesus Symbol Book
     For our art this month, we made a book that gives the "highlights" of the story of Jesus, emphasizing the Incarnation and Paschal Mystery.  To fit with our overall Faith Detectives theme of the year, I gave the cover the look of a mystery novel:

As I mentioned, the book was a pretty involved project.  It is 2 sheets of construction paper folded in the middle, making 6 interior pages.  For each page, the kids had text to cut out & paste in, as well as 2 symbols per page to make & mount on paperclips.  The tops of the text boxes were left unglued, so the symbols could be clipped on like this:

On the last page, they glue an envelope to hold all of the symbols:

To make this project, you need to download the instructions page, which also contains the cover, the text page, and the symbols for kids to color.  You also need 2 sheets of construction paper, sticky foam or felt harts (2 per child), sandpaper, and red and orange or yellow tissue squares.  We used both double-stick tape and glue sticks for adhesives (see instructions).  The instructions can be printed on regular weight paper, but the other 2 pages should be on card stock weight.

Finally, we ended with a prayer reflecting on some of Jesus' "I am" statements from the Gospel of John.  Click here to get the pdf of the prayer.

GIFT 2014/15: Family Faith Detectives!

October Lesson: Mystery of Creation
This month, we kicked off a brand new theme for GIFT: Family Faith Detectives.  I have lots of fun spy-themed projects and activities for the families to do this year, and to start us out, every child got a "decoder ring."  I found some foam decoders at Oriental Trading Company, which as of the date of this post are still available.  But it would be quite easy to make your own!  You just need a symbol for each letter of the alphabet.  (With the OTC version, I pre-assembled just the ring part, saving the clip & magnet for some future project and discarding the pre-printed clue.)  Here's the photo and link from their website:


http://www.orientaltrading.com/agents-of-truth-clip-magnet-vbs-craft-kit-a2-13647851.fltr?Ntt=agent

I also made "Detective's Guide" booklets for each grade, which they received with their textbooks.  In the Guides are there homework schedules, the clue page for each month (to go with the decoder ring), and an extra activity page in case they need more to do while waiting for the program to begin.  For October, we learned about Creation, so the clue spelled out: "All Life Comes From God."  After letting one of the children share the answer, we talked about the 2 Creation stories in the Bible, and then I showed a fossil sample and talked about what science has told us about how the Earth was formed.  So here was our first mystery for the year: Which of these 3 stories is true?  The answer - they all are!  The Biblical creation stories are myths that teach us some very important Truths about God, Life, and humankind's place in the world and in relation to our God.  We talked about how being made in God's image means we can all "show" God to others through our actions, and we can look for signs of God in the people around us.  We started doing just that in our own little GIFT community, playing the game "Getting to Know You BINGO"

Click here to download a pdf of Getting to Know You BINGO



Security Badges with a Secret Message

As everyone arrived, they made Security Badges for each family member at GIFT.  These are basically just clip-on name tags that they wear each month, so I can call on people by name.  But I like to make them fit the theme, so this year they are Security Badges.  After playing the BINGO game, I asked the kids to take a closer look and find the "secret message" hidden on their badges!

Click here to download a pdf of the Security Badges



Progressive Craft
A progressive craft is one that we begin at our first session, and then we add to it each month.  By the end of the year, the project is complete.  This year, we are making Braided Bookmarks.  We made the braid and added the first charm - the globe - this month.  We will add the other charms as the year goes on, for a total of 6 charms.

Hands of God/ Fruit of the Spirit

For our April GIFT Session, the last of this school year, we wrapped up our "Family Faith Under Construction" theme with the verse: "You are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus..."  We talked about how everyone is created by God's hands, and then we learned about the "Fruit of the Spirit" (from Galatians 5).  Families played a board game that I found at this link:
http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Pages/FileFolderGames/FruitoftheSpirit.html

In the game, kids get to practice sharing the Fruit of the Spirit by answering "What would you do" morality questions suitable for children.  We had 2-5 kids per game board, with parents helping, and they used wrapped LifeSavers candy as game pieces.

For art, kids made a "paintbrush person" as a reminder of the message that each of us is uniquely created by God to love and serve through the Holy Spirit.  I found inexpensive brushes in 15-packs at Home Depot, and we used eye stickers, paint pens, and foam shapes to decorate.  Here's a picture of one that my son made:

We also used finger-paints to create a mural of how kids share the Fruit of the Spirit in their homes, schools, and community.

Lastly, for prayer, I asked kids to examine and think about their hands, and to compare them to their parents' hands.  We noted that although all hands are different, they have 2 things in common: they were given to us by God, and we can use them to share God's love with others.  We ended the session by handing out clappers - on one side, they say "Made by God's hands..."  On the other side: "...to be God's hands!"

Last Supper Wheel

This is a project I used for children preparing for First Eucharist.  It goes together very quickly with just a little cutting and a brad.  I pre-punched the holes in each piece with a Crop-A-Dile tool before giving them to the kids.  They also had the option of coloring the top piece.

The top piece is supposed to look a little like a plate.  As you turn the wheel, information about different elements of the Last Supper show in the cut-out space.  The 4 sections of the bottom piece are: Eucharist, Passover, Upper Room, and "Only Human" (about Judas betraying Jesus, and Peter denying Him 3 times.)



Here are the links to the pattern pages:

Top Page

Bottom Page w/ Instructions

Family Creed Tiles

At our February GIFT Session, we learned about the Apostle's Creed.  We played a ball-toss game in which each group of 6-9 people attempted to toss multiple balls across a circle to each other.  Done randomly, this was quite a challenge.  But when we set some guidelines for everyone to follow - establish a pattern of who throws to whom, and say the person's name and make eye contact before tossing - the groups were able to get up to 3 balls sailing fairly smoothly through the air.  Then, we talked about how helpful it is for a group of people trying to accomplish a task together to have a strong foundation, or to all be on the same page about things.  In the case of the Church, we are trying to accomplish the mission of spreading the Gospel.  One of our shared foundations is the Creed, our statement of basic beliefs for everyone in the Church.

After taking a closer look at the text of the Creed, I shared with families a wall-hanging I had noticed at a friend's house that said, "In This House..." and went on to list things like "We do I'm sorry," "We do grace," and "We do loud really well."  The list reminded me of a creed.  So I asked our families to think about: What does your family believe in?  What's important to you?  How do you choose to live?  They took these ideas and made "Family Creed Tiles," using basic white 6x6-inch tiles and acrylic paint pens.  This was a very popular project, so I wanted to share it here.  Here are some samples I made for the class:

GIFT Families: If you missed this session and would like to pick up a tile and some paint pens, please contact Dez

Bible "Catcher"

At our November session about the Bible, kids made these "catchers" to share Biblical messages with friends and family:

 

 

In case you're like me and (shockingly) never learned how to fold these, there are very specific instructions included on the pattern page.  Click here to download the pattern.

 

 

 

To Play:

Player picks a word from the outside, and the "operator" of the catcher opens & closes the "mouth" alternate ways while spelling out the word.  Next, player chooses a number from those showing inside the catcher.  Operator opens & closes alternating ways that # of times. Player picks another number, and the operator opens the catcher to read the message under that flap.  The messages are:

 

Forgive others as God forgives you.
Take care of God’s creation.
  Share what you have with those who have less.

Believe in miracles!
Love others as Jesus loved.
Trust in God at all times.
You are the light of the world!
Use your talents well.

 

One last note: I never understood why these toys were called "catchers" until one of the moms at GIFT this month said, "Oh!  We're making a cootie catcher!"  Somehow I missed this part of junior high!

 

 

Solving the Problem of "What Now?"

One of the biggest challenges in planning a session for a large group of kids with an age spread of four years is managing what we call "Art & Snack Time."  This is the "free time" of each session, when families have snack and complete art projects and other tasks related to the lesson at their own pace.  And that's what makes it so hard to plan - each child has their own unique pace.  Some children will spend copious amounts of time coloring a flower until it is "just right."  Other children will slap on a little color, call it done, and ask, "What now?"  As in, I'm done with that, what can I do now?  For the past few years, I've answered that question with what I called "optional worksheets."  I would just have an assortment of puzzles, mazes or word finds for kids to pick and choose.  It worked fairly well for a lot of kids, but this year I decided to step it up a notch and offer a better variety of activities that would not just fill the time but would to some extent support the lesson of the day or the general concept of living our faith.  Since our theme for the year is "Family Faith Under Construction," I created The Workshop.

 

Kids can visit The Workshop after completing their main "Art & Snack Time" tasks. 

Certain items will be the same each month, like these Share Sticks:

Kids take a stick from the paint can back to the table to stir up a fun family "What If" talk

 

 

Other items will change from month-to-month to fit both the theme of the lesson and whatever season we are in at the time.  These items include books, activity sheets like mazes and word puzzles, and a simple crafty activity.  Kids choose just the things they want to do, and if they run out of time, they can take something home.  Here's a photo of The Workshop for our October session:



 I'm looking forward to coming up with fun new items to add each month!  Got a great idea?  Leave a comment!

October GIFT: Join the Crew!

Our theme for GIFT this year is "Family Faith Under Construction," and our October session is called "Join the Crew!"  As we gather for the first time this year, we focus on these points:

Ø  Our families help us put God first and build our faith

Ø  The Saints were people who put God first and built up the church

Ø  Families commit to building faith together

Each month, we will find a tool in our tool box that symbolizes our lesson for us.  This month, it's a ruler/tape measure.  This is a very important tool in construction - ask any carpenter, and they will tell you - "Measure twice, cut once."  When we are building our faith, we too need to consult our ruler - God!  Our Bible verse for this lesson is from Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord builds the house, the work of the builders is useless."

To get kids thinking about the session theme, we begin the lesson with this handout for parent/child pairs to work on together:

We talked about building strong families and about families building their faith together.  We also talked a little about the Saints - holy people who built both things we can see & touch (like schools and hospitals), as well as things we can't touch (like faith, hope, and charity).  Parents and children were asked to discuss what "untouchable" things they wanted to build on or "grow" in their families - things such as love, kindness, together time, being closer to God, and knowing more about their faith.  After sharing their ideas with other families and in the large group, we went on to discuss the "how" - what are the concrete things families can do to build up their family and their faith?  Some ideas were: going to Mass, reading Scripture, doing their GIFT textbook homework, praying together, and eating meals together.  They used those ideas to write a "Family Covenant" in the space at the bottom of the page.  Kids could choose to cut it out & glue it to card stock to make a bookmark keepsake to use this year:

Click here to download the My Family Rules page.

Progressive Craft:
Each year, I have a "progressive craft" for GIFT - this is something the kids make at the first session, and then they add on to it at future sessions.  This month, we made a tool box that will hold the things we make in future months (I can't tell yet what that will be - tune in in November!).  The toolbox comes out looking like this:

You can download the pattern and directions for the toolbox by clicking here.  Remember to print it on card stock to make it sturdy!

Thanks to all of our great GIFT families who made our first session of the year so much fun!

Prayer for Parents

I wrote this for an upcoming orientation for parents new to the GIFT program.  It's making me a little weepy, as my oldest started high school today.  Click here to download the pdf.

The Great Commandment: Our Compass for Making Good Choices

I love lessons that combine learning about faith with other useful skills.  When I had a session about the Great Commandment, I decided to use a compass as a fun visual to help kids practice being guided by the 3 pillars of this important teaching:
1. Love God - This first pillar has its own 3 components: first, love God with all your heart.  This means we don't let things like money or popularity become more important to us than God.  Second, we love God with all our minds.  This means we take the time to learn about God by reading the Bible and attending Mass and Faith Formation classes.  Third, we love God with all our souls.  The soul is the deepest part of ourselves, the breath of God that is within each of us.  To love God with all our soul means to accept that we belong not to ourselves, but to God.  When we try to remember this, God will work from within to help us make loving choices.
2. Love Others - We must also remember that God made and loves everyone else, too - even if they are making some unloving choices.
3. Love Yourself - This is implied in the Commandment; if you don't love and respect yourself as a child of God, it won't be very effective to "love your neighbor as yourself." 

After covering these 3 parts of the Great Commandment, the kids had a chance to practice using it as a "compass" for making choices.  Each table had a "Loving Compass:"





Starting with the closest birthday, each child takes a turn spinning the arrow on the compass as the leader reads the following scenarios.  As you're reading, pause to remind kids to be moving the arrow as you go, toward loving or unloving as they hear it played out in the story:

1. You’re at Mass.  When your mom said you were coming, you said, “OK, Mom” because that’s what Dez (leader insert own name or change wording - we had just had a lesson on going to Mass) told you to say.  (How are we doing so far?)  But now that you’re here, and they’re singing the Opening Song, your mind is starting to wander.  Sure, you could try to follow along on the screens, but you don’t feel like it.  So you fold your arms, put on your best mad face, and start swinging your feet just hard enough to kick the pew in front of you. (pause)  Oh, oh – you’re getting “the look” from your parents.  You stand up and stop kicking, but you’re NOT going to sing.  (pause)  Now, it’s later in the Mass, and Fr. Tom is giving his homily.  It’s very adult stuff that you don’t really understand.  You decide to use the time to say a silent prayer thanking God for all the people who love you, trying to think of as many people as you can.
2. A new student comes to your school, and you invite him to sit with you and your friends at lunch.  He really appreciates being included, and you discover that he’s a pretty cool kid.  You play together at recess, and you help him find his place in his book during math.  The next day, you sort of ignore your other friends during lunch and recess, because you’re having plenty of fun with your new friend.  By the end of the week, you’ve declared him your new best friend, and you tell him he’s not allowed to play with anyone else at recess, or you won’t be his best friend anymore.
3. You’re at the dinner table.  You’ve almost cleaned your plate, except for that last thing.  You don’t like that thing.  But your parents say you need to eat it.  You wait, you talk about your day, and you sort of push the thing around on your plate, so it looks like you’re going to eat it.  Then, as soon as your parents start cleaning their plates from the table and walk away, you quietly feed the thing to the dog.  You get excused from the table and go to watch some cartoons.  But you’re not feeling very well.  There’s an icky feeling in your gut.  It can’t be from the thing, cuz you didn’t eat it.  Nope – what you’re feeling is guilty.  You know you shouldn’t have lied to your parents.  You turn off the TV, take a deep breath, and go to tell your parents.  You’ll probably get a consequence, but you know they’ll be proud that you told the truth. 
4. Your school is having student council elections, and you decide to run.  You work hard to make a poster with photos of you and the things you like to do.  The next day, they hang all of the posters up in the hall.  Right away, you notice a really fancy poster made with shiny papers, glitter markers, and puffy stickers.  You tell your friend, “That’s not fair!  I bet that kid’s parents did all of the work on that poster!”  For the rest of the day, you think about that poster.  That kid always has the nicest, most expensive stuff.  That kid is better than you at sports.  And math.  And breathing.  It’s just not fair!  Later, you’re walking down the hall, and nobody is around.  You grab the top corner of that kid’s poster, and Rriip!

We completed this lesson by giving each child a small compass - I ordered mine from Guildcraft.  Order extras because some don't work so well - they're just plastic toys.  Kids used the compass to find North, and then we prayed:

 

Directions Prayer

Leader: Face East, where the sun rises.  (pause) And we pray…

All: Lord, thank you for the gift of life.  Help me to rise every morning with you in my heart, in my soul, and on my mind.

Leader: Face North, where a compass always points.  (pause) And we pray…

All: God, thank you for sending Jesus to point us in the right direction and teach us how to live with love.  I pray that my actions will always point to you.

Leader: Face South, and think of geese flying away for the winter.  (pause) And we pray…

All: God our Creator, help me to remember that no matter where I go, I am never alone, because you are always with me.

Leader: Face West, where the sun sets.  (pause) And we pray…

All: Thank you, Lord, for another day to learn to love you more.  Amen.

 

Link to the Loving Compass here: Print & copy onto card stock.  Cut out 1 arrow per compass.  Punch a hole in the center of the compass and in the bottom of the arrow.  Use a brad to hold it together.

Halloween Prayers

Kids and adults will all enjoy creating their own prayer using a Fun Size pack of M&Ms candies.  Peanut alergy or non-chocolate eater?  Re-work the colors and use Skittles!

Click the link below for a PDF of the prayer activity, plus another fun Halloween Prayer.

Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2Jb2-8xEDPGTDIyUFFUam9TQXc

Cleaning House with Reconciliation

Generally, I blog about children's formation.  But this one is for the grown ups...

Last night we had our Parent Meeting for First Reconciliation Preparation.  I always enjoy this opportunity to talk with adults about this often misunderstood and under-appreciated Sacrament.  We start by asking parents to recall their own childhood experience(s) with Reconciliation - What did it look like?  Who was there?  And most importantly - How did it make you feel?  Unfortunately, the answers to that last question are almost always negative, and last night was no exception.  Parents remember feeling scared, embarrassed, intimidated, and ashamed.  My goal is to help parents see the Sacrament in a new way, so that they can prepare their child for a positive, uplifting experience.

After a very brief look at the history of the Sacrament, we delve into the question: what is sin?  Sin is anything that causes a break or strain in our relationship with God.  Sin often also causes a similar break in our relationships to others.  And, because we are all members of the Body of Christ, our personal brokenness weakens our faith community.  Sin is both personal and communal.

Not all sins are created equal.  Certain sins create a much larger and more severe break in our relationship with God and our community.  Things like murder, theft, and adultery are considered "mortal" - or serious - sins when the sinner both understands the seriousness of the sin and freely chooses to commit it.  These sins require the Sacrament of Reconciliation to help us heal that wound.  It would be quite unusual for a second grader to commit a mortal sin.  So for many, this begs the questions: Why do we "make" kids celebrate this Sacrament?  And the follow-up question: Why should I, as an adult who has not committed mortal sin, "have" to go to confession?  The best way I've come up with to answer those questions is the analogy of cleaning your house...

Think of your soul, and your relationship with God, as your house.  Every day, you do little things to clean up around the house - loading the dishwasher, wiping the counter, tossing your clothes in the hamper.  Similarly, every day we are called to pray - to spend time with God contemplating our actions, asking forgiveness when we fall short of living as Jesus would, and asking God to help us do better.  This is our daily "straightening up" of our relationship with God.

Once a week, you probably do things like vacuuming the carpets and dusting.  This more focused cleaning effort helps keep your house manageable throughout the week.  This is like attending Mass, with the Penitential Rites and many prayers of forgiveness.  The prayers of the Mass are sufficient for the forgiveness of most sins and prepare us to receive Christ in the Eucharist, which sustains our faith life throughout the week. 

Then, once or twice a year, you do a good, thorough cleaning.  Perhaps you get your carpets shampooed, clean the baseboards, or move the fridge to clean behind it.  I love the feeling of peace I get when the house is really clean.  This is like the Sacrament of Reconciliation!  It's a deep cleaning for our souls, a chance to really reflect on bad habits we've too easily fallen into and start afresh with a clean slate.  Ideally, it brings us a sense of peace, comfort, and renewed energy to live our faith.

But what about mortal sin?  Or a sin that may not officially be categorized as mortal, but for whatever reason is eating away at you and making it hard to feel authentic in your relationship with God?  The example I use for these situations always gets a few giggles, but it's a pretty effective visual: sometimes my dog poops on the floor.  I don't leave it there until spring cleaning time; I deal with it immediately.  Those sins that are eating at us are like the poop on the floor - we must deal with them right away.  This is why we may sometimes feel the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation more than once or twice per year, and this is why the Church teaches it is necessary in the case of mortal sin.

When we celebrate First Reconciliation at Risen Savior, we actually celebrate; our service is followed by a reception with treats and colorful balloons.  If I've done my job, this makes perfect sense to the children, because they recognize the peace and joy that this Sacrament brings.  If I've done my job really well, it makes sense to the parents, too.  And ultimately, with the help of the Spirit, I hope that our families will be inspired to join the celebration again and again!

Away We Go!

This month at GIFT, we kick off our "Faith Journey" theme.  The symbols to introduce our monthly topics will come out of a fabulous old, avocado green, hard-sided suitcase.  This month's session is titled, "Getting on Board," and the object in the suitcase is a boarding pass.  Remember those?  I know it's a dated symbol, but I liked it too much to let it go.  The main themes of this session are having a positive attitude about growing in our faith and getting to know the people who are there to help us on the journey.  We also dip our toes into the faith journey field guide - the Bible.

Opening Activity/ Discussion Starter

As kids and parents arrive, they pick up the Getting on Board worksheet to complete at their tables.  It's a pretty simple, straight-forward matching game about who does what when you fly on a plane.  Then, after revealing the boarding pass as our symbol for this session, I hand out bookmarks that look like this:

When you place the bookmark on the worksheet and line up the pictures, you can see how on our faith journey, our parents are like our pilots, coaches and teachers our copilots, etc.  When I'm talking through this with the kids, I point out that even though our teachers and coaches may not be talking to us about God, they are teaching us Christian values like hard work, cooperation, and respect.  I also stress that the kids are like the passengers - their main job is to listen to the people who are there to help them, especially their parents.

Download the pdf of this activity

 

 

Crafts & Paper Airplane Activity

We have a lot of activities for this session!  The kids make their own name tags, but I won't go into the details of that right now - if they hold up as well as I hope, I will dedicate a post to how to make them.  Because this is our first session, we also get started on the "progressive craft" that we will add to at each future session.  This year I have made it easy on myself by purchasing a kit from Oriental Trading Company.  Their travel-theme VBS products from this past summer offered me some great options.  We are making the Awesome Adventures Foam Cross.  We will add a different foam sticker to it each month. 

But my favorite activity for this session is the paper airplane game.  First, kids make a paper airplane.  Then, they fly the plane at a "game board" which is just a large piece of foam core board divided into 4 numbered sections.  Whichever number the biggest part of the plane lands on, they take that numbered activity card from the table.  The card then directs parents and kids to look up something in the Bible, discuss a few questions, and do a quick activity.  The kids like it for the airplanes; I like it for the parent/child time spent together discussing Scripture.  How often doe that happen?  (Note: we use the "Breakthrough Bible" by St. Mary's Press; some content is only found in this Bible)

Download the pdf of the activity cards

 

Closing Prayer/ Commitment

For our closing prayer, each child is given a boarding pass like the one I pulled from the suitcase.  With a closer look, the kids can see that the coding at the bottom spells out "Got 2B Open."  We talk about approaching GIFT and Mass with an open heart and mind.  The kids write their names on their boarding passes as a sign of their commitment to do just that, and then the parents whisper a little blessing over them for the year.  They turn in their passes, which will be hung in the Church commons, so that our parishioners can pray for them, as well.

 

Download a pdf of the boarding pass



 





So that's our start to the year...and we're off!

 

 



Take Time to Make Time

I was at a seminar for Faith Formation professionals last week, and the speaker quoted a study that said the average parent spends an average of 1.5-3 minutes in "non-directional" (meaning, "Did you do your homework" or "Brush your teeth" doesn't count) communication with their children each day.  We all gasped, and I immediately started adding up my stats in my head.  How much time do I spend just having conversations with my kids?  I did a little more research, and I found another study that put American parents at an average of 2 minutes per day.  A Canadian study gives us 10 minutes - that seems better - until I read on to find they were talking 10 minutes per week.  Ouch.

Now, compare that to how much time our children spend in front of a screen, watching TV or playing video games.  On average, a few hours.  Every day.  Double ouch!

Some of us may be doing a little better with this, but I think all of us have room for improvement.  So, I'm asking parents who read this to comment on this post, sharing your tips for making time, facilitating meaningful conversations, or being a better listener for your children.  Maybe together we can improve our average!