Good Friday

Last year we did a few of these projects and Kayla loved them.  I added another few to the mix, too.

The first project is to make (or buy) some bread dough.  Braid it and make it into a crown.

Let the kiddos stick toothpicks in to make a crown of thorns.

 






Because I hate to waste and also because the girls are so young, we only put 20 toothpicks in and we only have two days (Good Friday and Holy Saturday) to pull them all out before Easter (and the bread is still good).  Bake the bread to a lovely golden color, and you are ready to begin the sacrificing part of the activity.

You can do as many toothpicks as you want and you can extend the sacrificing as long as you want. Some people do all of Lent, some do Holy Week...it's really up to you. You could even make a crown every week of Lent. The idea is simply to focus on making sacrifices and taking the thorns out of Jesus' crown of thorns as you do.  It gives the kids a better understanding that it is OUR sins that put him on the Cross, but He sacrificed his life for us to show He loved us.  We can show Him that we love Him by sacrificing too.


The next project is another that helps children to understand that it wasn't just a bunch of mean men a long time ago that put Jesus on the Cross.   It was me.   It was my sins.

Start with two white construction paper crosses for each child.  They symbolize our souls.

On Good Friday, color one of the crosses with all the 'yucky' colors (black, brown, gray).  This is to symbolize that when we sin, our souls get all dirty and yucky.
              

We'll finish the project tomorrow in preparation for Easter.  The second white cross is decorated with bright colors, sparkles, and whatever fun glitz you have on hand to signify NEW LIFE in Christ.  The second Cross replaces the old one on Easter to show that Christ's death on the cross and his rising from the dead have brought us salvation.  Now all we have to do is accept it and live as children of the light! (we'll post pictures of our pretty crosses tomorrow or on Easter...)

Our last activity centered a bit more around Mary at the foot of the cross.
“The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary” (John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, §10).

Additionally, Kayla and I did some poetry.  I reworked the "diamonte" poem to make it a cross shape with a total of 11 lines.  Kayla is a few months shy of 4 years old, but this is a bit above her, so she needed guidance.

Line 1:  Noun  (I went ahead and chose Jesus as our subject)
Line 2:  Adjective  (I read some virtues from the 1 Corinthians 13 "Love is patient..." to give her ideas)
Line 3:  Adjective
Line 4:  3 Verbs (ending in -ing--we discussed and read some of her Bible stories to give her ideas)
Line 5:  4 nouns (the first 2 describe the noun in Line 1, the second two will describe the noun on the last line of the poem.  You may want to stop after the first two and skip to Line 11 and work backwards)
Line 6:  Verb (describing last noun)
Line 7:  Verb (same)
Line 8: Verb (same)
Line 9: Adjective (same)
Line 10: Adjective (same)
Line 11: Noun  (that relates in some way to the noun in Line 1-- I went ahead and chose Mary)

Here is the cross poem that Kayla and I wrote together. All the decorating is hers, of course.

Our second poem is typically written as an autobiography.  I changed a few aspects and we wrote it as a biography with Our Lady as the subject.

Line 1: Name
Line 2:  Three characteristics or physical traits (adjectives)
Line 3:  Mother of  (Change this as needed)
Line 4:  Who loves  ____, ____, and ____ (three people, things, ideas)
Line 5:  Who feels _____ about ________ (one emotion about one thing, event)
Line 6:  Who needs ____, ____, and ____  (three things)
Line 7:  Who gives  ____, ____, and ____ (three things she shares or give to others)
Line 8:  Who is _________  (special title of Mary--we used a litany or ideas, though Alice didn't need any; she knew exactly what she wanted to say)
Line 9:  Another name/familiar title or repeat name from first line

I still had to help Kayla, but the answers for the biography poem seemed a bit easier for her to grasp.  She had a lot of really sweet ideas.

And of course, we can't forget that the Chaplet of Divine Mercy starts on Good Friday. What a beautiful prayer to reflect on the Passion and abundant Mercy of Christ.