Nina concerned about Jesus when she was first introduced to the Stations as presented in the Story of the Cross two years ago. |
I don’t want the same for Luke, Nina and Jack.
I want my children to
have strong memories of experiencing the Way of the Cross as a family – to grow
in their understanding of the passion as their personal faith development
unfolds. Thus, as I prepare for Lent
this year, I place part of my focus on collecting ideas, materials and
inspiration about experiencing the Stations as a family.
As I have sorted through boxes in my basement, excavated
recovered hard drives and accessed a list of links I had scrawled in a
notebook, I have come upon Stations of
the Cross books, coloring pages, booklets, cards games, mediations... You
name it. I think I have discovered a tangible
resource, link or printable offering for it somewhere.
Many of the printables, of course, are similar to one another. However, I have found that different things
appeal to my children on different days and in different ways. So, I like to keep an ever-growing list of
resources to choose from based on the needs and wants of a given child on a
given day. Praises be for the generosity of many individuals and organizations
online, I think I now have almost everything I could ever need to enrich my
children’s lives with a focus on the Stations:
To help others prepare for Lent, I thought I would share a Station of the Cross Round-Up of resources
we have used, as well as those we plan to use this year.
~1~
Our Favorite Stations of the Cross Book
Of course, we will be reading the Story of the Cross, a book we added to our home collection some a couple years back.
~2~
Booklets and Pages to Color
St John the Baptist Religious Education’s site has coloring pages of the Stations. We did some of these last year. This year, I want to do more. I can see using them for notebooking, to hang
in our hallway in order to make our own Way of the Cross, or to have the
children color as we experience the Stations as a family at our local
parish. They also offer a Stations of the Cross booklet, if you scroll down the page linked
here. The booklet has ½ page size
coloring pages, as well as a script for celebrating the Stations with a leader
and children.
~3~
Part Montessori Cards and More
In the past, we have used the full-color,
three-part Stations of the Cross cards that Bookworm offers. This year, I hope to finally use them with an
actual Stations of the Cross Box, including Stations
of the Cross Box cards for toddlers from Three-Sided Wheel. Or, instead of the box, to make Stations
of the Cross eggs like the ones Lacy shared at Catholic Icing.
~4~
Lenten Adventure Videos, Printables, Etc.
Last year, my children thoroughly enjoyed parts of Holy Heroes
free Lenten adventure. We look
forward to more coloring and videos there this year.
~5~
Full-Color Booklet for Sequencing, Narration, Etc.
I found a wonderful full-color Stations of the Cross booklet
saved on one of my recovered hard drives that I meant to print last year and
will this year. When I searched the file
title online, it came up with this Scribd
link which was uploaded by Stacy at Catholic Moms Helper, a now defunct (I
gather) site. I cannot find the original source though. The images in the booklet could be used for
sequencing activities, to inspire narrations, and, of course, with their accompanying
text, for mediating and walking the Way.
~6~
Online (and Printable) Meditations
Cptyron.org has a Stations
of the Cross mediation for children online.
Loyola Press also has an
online multi-media presentation, plus a downloadable pdf of the Stations with color
images and text Since Luke
and Nina consider a treat to be online with me, I will likely introduce these
this year.
~7~
Lesson Plan and Links
For more formal lesson-time materials, as well as Family
Time activities, I plan to dive into the
lesson plan filled with loads of links for activities, coloring, crafts and
puzzles that Laura at Catholic Mom put together, as well as the one that
Amazing Grace has at Catholic Toolbox, which also includes printable
games.
~8~
Stations of the Cross Candles
I have wanted to make Stations
of the Cross votive candles like the ones at Ten Kids and a Dog for a
couple years now. Maybe this year will
be the year!
~9~
Living Stations
Last year, or was it the year before (?), the kids and I
went to our local parish’s Living Station of the Cross event. It was put on by confirmation class students
and, happily for me, appealed to my children.
This year, I want to try Living Stations at the parish my friend Karen,
of A Servant’s Memories,
told me about. It literally brought her to
tears (good tears!), as I understand, because the meditations that the teens
there wrote were so poignant. As I understand,
many parishes do Living Stations on Good Friday, so I encourage others to check
out local ones.
~10~
The Best for Last: Two One Stop with Loads of Printables and Ideas
And, of course, I will go to two favorite
one-stop-for-so-much sites online: Jennifer
Gregory Miller provides a one-stop, get-everything-you-might want in the way ofStations printables at Family,Feast and Feria: cards, booklets, pamphlets, etc. in black and white and
color! She also offers a handy description
for Stations of the Cross object boxes.
Lacy, at Catholic Icing has a fantastic
Lent page with loads of links, too.
I am excited to experience the Stations in many ways with my
children this year and in years to come.
I’d love to hear how you and yours do the same.
Have I missed a fabulous Stations
of the Cross resource? Do share about it
in a comment!
You are sweet! Thanks for the kind mention. I'm behind on updating some things this year.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy all your ideas...
Jennifer, you thoroughly inspire, amaze and help me and many others. You make and share things that I have in my mind, but never get to paper and computer and I am so grateful for that. Moreover, you make and share things I would never think of, and I am even more grateful for that!!!
ReplyDeleteI just realized I messed up the link you sent. I changed the category name without thinking. So the link is now: http://familyfeastandferia.wordpress.com/category/liturgical-year/lent/
ReplyDeleteSorry about that!
Thanks for sharing all of these resources; I'm looking forward to trying some of them out.
ReplyDeleteElisa, glad to share. Jennifer, thank you for letting us know the new link. I will adjust it. :)
ReplyDelete