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!