Lenten Journey 2022

As full-time mummies unfortunately we don’t have as much time to work on our FaithSteps projects as we would like. But we try as far as possible to make sure that our kids still have a roadmap to lead them through the seasons of Lent and Advent at the very least, so again this year we have modified last year’s Lenten calendar which we are offering as a free download.

This year, in addition to activities based on Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving for Lent, we would also like to expose our little ones more to the Virtues, which many of them are learning about in their catechetical sessions, so we have decided to focus on one Virtue per week.

We hope to add some printable activity sheets that correspond with some of the calendar’s suggested activities, so do check back here from time to time to see if there are updates here.

Download our 2022 Lent calendar here:

Road To Easter 2022 (PDF)Download PDF

Road To Easter 2022 (JPEG)Download JPEG

You can print this as an A4 sheet, however the calendar works best in A3, so if you have an A4 printer you could size adjust the print settings to “Poster”, size to around 90%, and it will print out on 2 A4 sheets which you can join together. Below is screengrab of what your printer settings should look like.

PRINTABLE ACTIVITY SHEETS (updated throughout the season):

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7th March 2022 Prayerfulness Colouring Page Download PDF

8th March 2022 The Lord’s Prayer Tracing PageDownload PDF

We’ve also found this great video for kids on Praying The Our Father – Guided Prayer and Meditation by Catholic Kids Media as well as this which explains The Meaning of The Our Father by the Religion Teacher.

14 March 2022 Humility Colouring PageDownload PDF

21 March 2022 Obedience Colouring PageDownload PDF

28 March 2022 Perseverance Colouring PageDownload PDF

4 April 2022 Generosity Colouring PageDownload PDF

11 April 2022 Gratitude Colouring PageDownload PDF

Here are some of our previous posts on Lent where you can find some other crafts and activities you can work on as a family during Lent:

My Journal For Lent

Lent & Easter

We hope you find this a meaningful way to journey through Lent with your family. Please do stay connected with us here as well as on social media to get updates on suggested activities. Wishing you and your family a blessed and spiritual Lenten journey.

Lenten Journey 2021

Once again, the season of Lent has come upon us so quickly that we haven’t had the time to offer out any printed materials for Lent. But we wanted to make sure that our kids still have a roadmap to lead them through Lent, so again this year we have modified last year’s calendar which we are offering as a free download.

Download our 2021 Lent calendar here:

Journey To Easter 2021Download

You can print this as an A4 sheet, however the calendar works best in A3, so if you have an A4 printer you could size adjust the print settings to “Poster”, size to around 90%, and it will print out on 2 A4 sheets which you can join together. Below is screengrab of what your printer settings should look like.

This year, in addition to activities based on Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving for Lent, we would also like to expose our little ones more to Scripture, in the form of reflecting on the week’s Gospel readings as well as some Bible Memory Verses. You can find activity sheets for some of the calendar’s activities here. We will be updating these as the weeks progress, so do check back for updates.

PRINTABLE ACTIVITY SHEETS:

Week of Ash WednesdayDownload

First Week of LentDownload

Second Week of LentDownload

Third Week of LentDownload

Fourth Week of LentDownload

Fifth Week of LentDownload

We hope you find this a meaningful way to journey through Lent with your family. Please do stay connected with us here as well as on social media to get updates on suggested activities. Wishing you and your family a blessed and spiritual Lenten journey.

Crown of Thorns Craft for Lent

We would like to share this simple craft to help you and your family observe the days of Lent. You start off by making a “crown” out of modelling clay and then stick toothpicks in to represent the thorns in the crown that Jesus was made to wear. As Lent progresses, we mark how we are observing the 3 pillars of Lent by removing a thorn every time we perform an act of Prayer, Fasting or Almsgiving.

Here’s how we made ours:

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  You can place this Crown of Thorns near your prayer space, or as a table centrepiece throughout the season of Lent

Advent Activity – Reverse Advent Calendar

“This is not the year to get everything you want. This is the year to appreciate everything you have.” No doubt many of us would have seen this quote making its rounds on social media as we approach the festive season in this oh so challenging year. We’re not sure exactly who this saying is attributed to but we first saw it posted on Dr Scott Hahn’s Facebook page.

We find this saying oh so apt… this year has been challenging for all of us in one way or another, and while our first instinct may be to go all out with the celebrations, we find that it is the perfect time to take stock of our blessings and reflect on what is really important. This year many of us have learned that we can manage with a lot less than we are used to, especially during the circuit breaker we had in the middle of the year.

Many kids love the excitement of opening the little doors on commercial Advent calendars to see what surprise is in store for them. But do they really need that extra chocolate, sweet or plastic trinket? This year, we thought it would be a good idea for our little ones to be on the giving end for a change, so we decided to have a reverse Advent Calendar, where instead of receiving a gift each day, our little ones will give a little gift, note, craft or prayer. They can still enjoy the excitement of opening something each day, only it will be to put something in instead of to take something out.

We have decided to do this with some little pouches that we found online. After we fill the pouch with our treat of the day, we will hang it up on a string using a peg (we found some cute little stocking pegs some years ago, but you could also use regular wooden pegs or clips. The kids can decide on their own what they would like to put in the pouch. It could be a little note or card for someone in the family, it could be part of their allowance, which could be added up on Christmas Eve to buy a gift for someone who could benefit from it. Each person in the family can put something in the day’s pouch and all the contents will be gathered up and rightfully distributed on Christmas. A simple way to teach our little ones the joy of giving instead of receiving at Christmas.

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Here are some easy ways to make your own Reverse Advent Calendar:

• Find some little pouches like we have, and using some little wooden pegs or clips, hang them up on some string or ribbon. You could also use envelopes here, punch a hole in a corner and string them up as you add your gift of the day.
• Use a shoebox or tissue box with little envelopes to place your gift of the day in
• Use little paper cups and string them up

You can also find many suggestions on how to make your own Advent Calendar on Pinterest, and you could use these suggestions to make a reverse Advent Calendar instead of the traditional version. We hope you find this a worthwhile family project to work on with the family. Wishing you and your family a blessed, holy and peaceful season of Advent!

Advent Countdown Calendar 2020

Once again, the season of Advent is upon us! After a very different and somewhat challenging 2020, Advent is the perfect time for us to pause and reflect on the trials we may have faced this year and to prepare our hearts as we embark on a new liturgical year, anticipating the birth of our Saviour.

In this vein, we are so excited to share with you our new Advent Countdown Calendar! This year’s Calendar takes us on a journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, with meaningful daily activities to complete as a family.

Mark out the week you are at by placing a sticker of Mary and Joseph in the respective space as shown. As you complete the day’s activities, colour in that day’s star with a gold or yellow marker or a highlighter, to help “light up” the path that Mary and Joseph take on their journey. On Christmas Day you can place the picture of the Holy Family in the stable in Bethlehem.

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Our A3 posterboard calendars are being sold at $8 each and come with a set of stickers and exclusive digital access to our printable reflection journal which contains pages that are supplementary to the calendar’s daily activities.

sample pages from our downloadable, printable journal. exclusively available to
those who have purchased the calendar.

Orders can be placed via our Facebook or Instagram pages.

All Saints’ Day & All Souls’ Day

*reposting this post from 2019, including this month’s Book of the Month

All Saints’ Day

With Halloween featuring prominently everywhere we look these days, we thought it would be important to educate our little ones on the meaning of All Hallow’s Eve, and remind them of its connection to 2 important Catholic Feasts: All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

This weekend, we shared with a group of little ones about what All Saints’ Day is, how we celebrate the holy men and women who have lived their lives in the service of God. We told them stories of some of the Saints, who may not have done big incredible things, but did small things out of great love. In class we had fact posters of some of the Saints. Some posters, however, were blank. The kids each drew a token from a bag and got together in groups according to the name of the Saint on the token they had picked. They then had to work as a group to make a poster of their Saint, similar to the ones that were already on the board.

For their craft activity, they made a little book about All Saints Day, and had to copy the information of one of the Saints on the board. They also had to write a promise of one thing they could do to out of love for God, just like the Saints.

The little ones also took home their Saint tokens, with the promise to find out more about the Saint they had picked.

Book Review: I’m Bernadette by Emily Grace Ortega, illustrated by Meg Rhoss Whalen

We recently came across this book on Formed.org. It is a children’s novel about a little girl named Bernadette, who attends a Catholic school. She is disappointed to find out that her school will not be having a Halloween parade (as is the usual custom of many schools in the USA). Instead, all the children will have to dress as Saints for the school’s All Saints’ Day parade. Bernadette is upset because she won’t be able to wear the princess dress she had planned for Halloween, and we read about her struggles trying to find a Saint to dress up as.  Young ones will relate to her dilemma and enjoy her interactions and observations as they come from a point of view that is similar to their own. Suitable for up to 8 or 9 years old. Younger kids will also appreciate hearing it read to them.

Family Activity for All Souls’ Day

As a children, we would always commemorate All Souls’s Day by visiting the graves of our departed loved ones. As our families grow more international, its not always possible to be physically present at the graveside of our family members. So we have found another way to remember our loved ones and pray for them on All Souls’ Day.

We had seen this activity on another website and have been wanting to do it for some time. It’s best to use a candle that’s encased in glass or plastic. We bought one at the Catholic bookstore; we were originally looking for a plain candle but found one with the Holy Family printed on it, which we thought was lovely for this purpose. We printed the words “Always In Our Hearts” on a piece of paper and glued it onto the candle. We then wrote the names of our departed loved ones with a Sharpie, so that when we pray as a family on All Souls’ Day we will light the candle and we can be sure to remember all those who we hold dear who we would like to pray for.

Totally Catholic – A Catechism for Kids and Their Parents and Teachers

Title:A Catechism for Kids and Their Parents and Teachers

Author(s): Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND
ISBN: 978-0-8198-7479-5
Available from: Amazon & Book Depository

This book is a must-read for all Catholic families with young children. It is perfect for independent reading for pre-teen to early teens, and is also extremely beneficial for parents and catechists looking to teach the faith to their children or charges.

The book outlines faith instruction in a clear and concise manner and even provides references for the Catechism of the Catholic Church and links to scripture. Other great features include trivia (“Did You Know?” and “BTW”) and at the end of each chapter there is a call to action and a summarized recap of the chapter.

 

 

A wonderful tool for supplementing faith formation in Catholic families.

Mass Communication – Discovering the Beauty of the Catholic Mass

Title: Mass Communication – Discovering the Beauty of the Catholic Mass
Available from: ParablesGifts

This book, written and published by an inspired team right here in Singapore, is a great resource to help us delve deeper into the meaning of the Mass, of why we do the things we do at Mass – postures, prayers etc. We can have a greater understanding of the liturgical significance of the order and elements of the Mass through these beautiful, comprehensive and easy-to-read infographics.

 

 

We recommend this book for all Catholics, new and “seasoned”. It certainly helped us re-look at the way we approach the Celebration of the Eucharist and enhanced our participation. It makes a great gift for a newly-Baptized, newly-Confirmed loved one, or simply for anyone you would like to share the faith with.

A Short Guide to Praying As A Family

Title: A Short Guide To Praying As A Family
Author(s): the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia Congregation
ISBN: 978-1-681890-683-0
Available from: Amazon & Book Depository

We discovered this book by chance and ordered it online based on a recommendation. We were delighted to uncover its value as a tool to help families place God as the center of their lives.

The book is divided into phases, with Phase 1 touching on the basics that every Catholic family should be aware of. It introduces basic prayers such as the Sign of The Cross, The Our Father, The Hail Mary and the Glory Be and reminds us what these prayers truly mean, giving suggestions on how to pray them.

Phase 2 revolves around family rituals like daily family prayers and reminds us the importance of setting up a sacred space in the family home. I especially love the suggestion of a Monthly Family Meeting, centered around prayer, taking the time as a family to share, honour each other, seek forgiveness and pray for each other.

In Phase 3 we learn how to “Advance In The Life of Prayer”, by preparing for the Sacraments. The section of “Preparing for Mass as a Family” is a wonderful reminder to us to approach the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with reverence, preparing our hearts to receive Him in the celebration of the Eucharist. It offers some welcome suggestions such as reading the coming Sunday’s Gospel as a family beforehand and some discussion questions after Mass, which could help the little ones pay closer attention during Mass as they are more aware of what is going on.

Phase 4 talks about the Power of Prayer, touching on Intercessory Prayer and introduces the Divine Mercy Chaplet. We found the section on Eucharistic Adoration As A Family especially useful as it offers some great tips on what to do at Eucharistic Adoration with children.

Phase 5 gives great insights on Living the Virtues as a family and suggests many other ways in which we can pray together as a family.

Overall we found this book to be a wonderful addition to any Catholic family’s library, we certainly found it worthy of a place on our shelves!

 

Eucharist Crafts

With the Solemnity of Corpus Christi coming up this weekend we thought we would do a post about this special day and feature some crafts based on the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

What is Corpus Christi? On the Thursday or Sunday after Trinity Sunday, the Church celebrates The Feast of Corpus Christi, also known as The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  This Feast commemorates the immense gift of the Eucharist in our lives and in the Church. In Latin, Corpus Christi means Body of Christ. Corpus Christi Sunday allows us to focus solely on celebrating the real presence of Christ – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – in the bread and wine.

A beautiful way to celebrate is participating in a Eucharistic Procession! Children who have just received (or who are just about to receive) their First Holy Communion can walk in front of the procession scattering flower petals in honor of Our Lord. If there is no procession at a nearby parish, going to Mass and Adoration are excellent ways to celebrate on this day! (text source: mycatholickids.com)

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Printable Crafts:

Real Presence Colouring Page: This colouring page is a reminder of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Just print out the page and colour / decorate as you wish.

Our printable is available here: Real Presence Black and White Colouring

Bread of Life Eucharistic Adoration Bookmark: This bookmark in the shape of a slice of bread features a Bible verse from John Chapeter 6 which reminds us that Jesus is the Bread Of Life. It also features some suggested ways that we can spend time withe Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration.

You can download this craft (with instructions) here: Bread Of Life Bookmark

Other Online Resources

True Presence Craft by Catholic Icing. This incredible craft by Catholic Icing is so unique and creative that we thought we had to share it with you: True Presence Colour-By-Number Accordion Craft by Catholic Icing. We made a simplified version of it for a Catechism class lesson a few years ago (we pre-coloured half of the sheet in the interest of time) and it was a big hit with the kids. Do take note that the template is chargeable at US$2 per download. (Disclaimer: We are not connected with Catholic Icing, however they are one of our favourite sources for ideas for faith-based crafts and activities for kids.)

Videos by Catholic Kids Media. These are a few short videos we found which explain the meaning of Real Presence, and talk about why we celebrate Corpus Christi.

Catholic Kids Homilies: Corpus Christi

Catholic Kids Homilies: Real Presence

There are also a whole host (pardon the pun) of crafts and activities and colouring pages on the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, making/drawing a Monstrance that you can find on Pinterest. We hope you are able to find something that you would enjoy working on together as a family!