The Altar Gang is a Hit!

What do Easter baskets, a boy hopping down the hallway, three children that took forever to get to sleep one night and a boy sniffing along the altar this morning after Mass have in common?

The Altar Gang!

Among the things that Luke, Nina and Jack found in their Easter baskets this year, were Glory Stories and Altar Gang Cd's.  

Who knew the Altar Gang would be such a hit?

Since then, not a day has gone by without the children (especially Luke) listening to one or more of the CD's over and over with rapt attention and, at times, raucous giggles.  In fact, the Altar Gang seems to have become woven into the rhythm of our days for the time being.

 

My cue, some mornings, that Luke is awake has been the sound of his shuffling feet and then the Altar Gang character voices emanating from the boys' room.

Then, later in the day, the Altar Gang characters enter into lesson and play time.  The kids ask questions about vocabulary words they have heard; we talk about faith and character truths related to the CD's'; Luke and Nina illustrate visual scenes they have imagined while listening to the CD's; and, of course, there is lots of dramatic play!

Luke as AJ the Aspergillum

The dramatic play began early last week when Luke cracked me up by hopping down the hallway , asking, "Mom, who am I?" only to answer his own question before I could respond to him.  "I am AJ.  I am AJ!  I AM AJ!"

And bedtimes?  Well, it sure is difficult for excited children to fall asleep, so I am about ready to forbid the Altar Gang from the sleep-time CD collection.  But, not yet.  For, as I wrote on my personal Facebook page the other day:

You just cannot go in and be the bedtime ogre when you hear three children joyfully avoiding sleep by dancing, singing and storytelling along to their Easter bunny booty... It is cracking me up.  Keep selling fun, faith-filled CD's Holy Heroes!

So, now you can see how the CD's in the kids' Easter baskets inspired Luke to hop down the hall and he and his siblings to spend hours listening, learning and playing this week.  You also know about how the CD's have affected bedtime.

But what about the sniffing along the altar?

Leave it to Luke and his imagination....

This morning during Mass, the heater at church was knocking.  When Luke heard it, his ears perked up.  He wondered if it was Skiff and AJ, the main characters in the Altar Gang, perhaps trying to get back into the church after some adventure.  Thus, Luke began inspecting the altar, looking for the altar cloth, the candles and whatnot.  He wondered why our church has no consecration bells.  His mind synapsed with Altar Gang story-inspired hypotheses, which led to Luke sniffing along the altar after Mass for smoke, looking for clues that might indicate a mystery such as the one in We've Been Wronged?

Ah, yes.  Our boy (and his siblings along with him) may not have been as centered on the Eucharist as I would have liked this morning, but they were most certainly interested in the altar.  I'll rejoice over baby steps as they are taken!

   

What CD's (or other resources) have ignited your child's imagination lately?

 

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