The Easter Triduum, including Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil (or Holy Saturday) represents the most sacred
days in the Catholic liturgical calendar. I was a homeschool mom in the early
1990s, before the Internet. I made all our curriculum. During Lent, we counted
down to Easter with Lenten crafts, lesson plans and activities.
Pope
John Paul II spoke of the family as the primary educators of children. He
encouraged parents and children to set up altars in their home. Create a niche
with votive candles, crucifix and holy relics. Pray with children before the
altar.
Use
my article to get free printable Catholic Holy Week activities. Help children explore Easter beyond bunnies
and Easter eggs. Here are printable Palm Sunday
crafts to make with kids.
Print donkeys, a palm basket and other child-centered religious lessons.
Pray
the Via Dolorosa or Way of the Cross. Use these free printable Stations of the Cross coloring
pages. The Stations of the
Cross is one of the most important Lenten devotions. On Good Friday, the
faithful gather to follow the footsteps of Our Lord to Calvary. These free
printable coloring pages form a devotional booklet that helps children understand
each station of the cross. You might make your own Stations of the Cross by
arranging children's pictures in the hallway (we did this). Or kids' could make
outdoor dioramas and arrange in a prayer garden.
Here
are more free printable Lenten lesson plans for Holy
Week and the Easter
Triduum. Use these activities to practice the spiritual exercises of prayer,
fasting and alms-giving. You can print games, crafts, devotional exercises and
lesson plans. Have children color Bible Easter images. Think coloring is too
worldy an activity for the holy season of Easter? Consider this: Children learn
by doing. What better way to learn about their faith and experience it more
deeply than by doing activities that focus their minds and hearts on God?
