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Lent preparation as a child is something I never grew up with. Unfortunately my parents didn’t have their reversion until much later in my life. A a Catholic child all Lent meant to me was giving up something I liked to eat!
Upon my own reversion years ago, and my continuous conversion these last several years of seeking & discovering truth, I’ve become more serious about my vocation as a wife & mother & my duties to guide my children. I want to make sure our kids are properly nurtured spiritually & we're fostering a life of virtue.
THIS, THEN, IS OUR TASK: TO EDUCATE BOTH OURSELVES AND OUR CHILDREN IN GODLINESS; OTHERWISE WHAT ANSWER WILL WE HAVE BEFORE CHRIST'S JUDGMENT SEAT?
+ ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
After doing lots of research & seeing what would fit in our budget, I'm sharing a few of my favorite Lenten resources for children I’ve found. Some are DIY & either FREE or are very budget friendly. I've also included some books & a special Catechesis tool we've purchased for this year.
FOR THE HOME
The Lent Home Oratory & Devotional Pack has some added goodies this year. I made this last year so our kids could have lots of visuals & a way to participate in the Stations of the Cross. This pack also has banners, devotionals & some prayer/scripture prints. I find having these visual reminders around our home keeps us focused on the Liturgical season & our Lenten programs.
Lena from Joy Filled Family has some top notch resources we've incorporated into our daily spiritual routines at home. Above is her Lenten Calendar that the kids couldn't wait to put up! Seeing our Lenten journey at a glance with Holy Days, Feast Days, devotions & pictures of the Saints is something my kids just love. She also has a Spiritual Duties printable which has been a game changer in keeping the kids accountable for their Spiritual Duties each day & has helped them enter Lent more mindful of how they're serving Our Lord.
This Lenten Countdown from Fig & Thimble is a great way to help the kids keep track of where we are in Lent. They have 2 different versions available to download for FREE! You can download the version you prefer here.
This Holy Face print above our sacrifice beans jar has been in my drafts for a while, so I'm glad that it's finally available in the shop! It comes with 2 different styles depending on your preference. I printed it off at home & got a Dollar Tree frame & placed it next to an area the kids pass by the most. They have asked tons of questions about this picture of Our Lord, so it's a great way to display our devotion to Him, and also educate them on this important devotion. The print is available here.
BOOKS & ACTIVITIES
I'm so pleased that I've found some more beautiful books to add our collection! I'm usually on the hunt as a homeschool mom to add a couple each year.
One of my favorite resources I found this year is these amazing (and completely FREE 😲) Lenten Books for children. They're filled with beautiful prayers & pictures & are just amazing resources I know we will use year after year. Of course I'm a tad bit extra at times & so I created the book covers for these free resources you see above. The covers & books are in this link.
The Wonder Series & Bible Stories for Baby Hands (they're board books & made sturdy for little hands 💕) are some of our favorites from St Augustine Academy Press the ones pictured in the top row cover this part of the Liturgical year, but if you can get the entire collection of both of these series I highly recommend it! They are so so beautiful & support great Catechesis in story form.
The bottom two books are new additions for us this year & I found them at Angelus Press. The Holy Week Missal takes the child through Holy Week with prayers, stunning illustrations & age appropriate explanations of each day. Catholic Childrens Hour is a collection of sermons, talks & lessons for children that journey's through the Liturgical year. The lessons/sermons are sweet, funny & engaging for our children. We will use this weekly throughout the Lenten season and I'm SO excited for both of these books to be added to our collection this year!
One of the activities I'm SO eager to receive our Stations of the Cross from Saintly Heart. We're about an hour away from our Oratory & our main vehicle is having issues... (pray that it gets fixed for good this time 😵💫🙏🏽💗) so going to weekly Stations is not an option for us. While there's nothing more beautiful than praying the Stations at Church, we will be doing them at home this year. We won't be "playing" with these while we pray the Stations, we will be using it as a Catechesis tool. I think it's a beautiful resource so my littlest one can truly grasp & understand Our Lord's journey to the cross He so lovingly bore for all of us.
I hope this helpful in finding some resources that you can use & make Lent with your children virtuous & fruitful!
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