Free printable Catholic Christian and Bible coloring pages for Ash Wednesday and Lent

Hello my friends of the Omschool, My family is Catholic and follows Catholic Christian teachings in what we call the liturgical calendar.  Today is Fat Tuesday (where we use up all sweets in the house) Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday when we enter into a time called Lent. Lent is the 40-day countdown to Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter). During this time we "follow Jesus" through the desert where he was tempted by the Devil. We practice fasting (giving up certain treats to get closer to God), almsgiving (sharing with those in need) and prayer (talking to God). Here are some free printable Catholic activities based on stories from the Bible to help your family follow Jesus in the Lenten journey. 

Let's start with free printable Catholic coloring pages featuring Bible stories. prayer, sacraments, mass, Gospel, saints, Lent, Advent, holidays and holy days, life of Jesus, Catholic saints' feast days, rosary and stations of the cross. Whew! That's a lot! And The Catholic Kid has free printable Catholic coloring pages galore. 

Catholic Sprouts (love the name) has free printable Catholic activities, Bible coloring pages and Christian crafts. It looks like they are all free to print from a download or PDF. Isn't it amazing how generous people are? There are so many to love but my favorites are printable Catholic ABCs in Spanish and Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious and Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary coloring book to print free. 

Use these free printable Bible coloring pages to make a Lenten Walk with Jesus countdown calendar. Color one picture a day, to celebrate Jesus and all he did on earth: miracles of Jesus, Sermon on the Mount, baptism, holy communion (or Eucharist) and more. Put them in order in a booklet to read to younger siblings. 

Paper Dali has free printable Catholic and Bible story coloring pages and paper dolls to cut, color and assemble. I'm linking you to her home page because I want you to see  how big her collection is. Also, I want to honor her request not to use for anything but personal use. So I'm not sharing any here but linking back.  

St. Anne's Helper has many free Catholic, Christian and Bible coloring pages and activities for Lent and throughout the liturgical calendar. Some are for purchase and some are free. 

Catholic Icing has been one of  my go-to resources for years. I linked to the homepage so you can click around and find what you need. Here is the Lent page with all kinds of Catholic activities. 

Catholic Playground has some of the loveliest vintage Catholic coloring pages to print that I have ever seen. I think they must come from children's books or CCD materials. I think Our Lady of Lourdes is my favorite. 

Karen's Whimsy has been one of my favorite vintage coloring pages sites since I began writing online in 2006 😲(has it been 20 YEARS!?) On her page called "Christianity" you'll find dozens of gorgeous images created from old manuscripts, Bibles, prayer books, etc. Have children color these and make a living stations of the cross. 

And last but not least, is my friend Marilyn The Toymaker, with free printable vintage toy crafts to color, cut and paste. All made by the toymaker herself and free to print. I've linked to the Easter pages but there's so much more and that's  just the holidays. Check out her vintage animal paper crafts. Some are religious and some are just adorable.  Children could make these paper toys as acts of Lenten service and donate to children's missions, senior homes and more. Moses, I think you direct your siblings to make very nice Sun Boxes.

May all your Lenten journeys be all you need them to be. Love, Teacher Omi

How to help children deal with sadness, jealousy and anger

Hello my dear friends of the Omschool! I'm Teacher Omi, as grandson Silas dubbed me years ago. I'm not sure if I've ever addressed this but I want to now. Around here, we welcome everyone of any background or identity. It's not about how you do or don't worship, where you live, what you look like. You matter to me. There is not one person to whom the door is closed. I'm not so blessed with friends that I can afford to lose a single one. In fact, the more varied the tapestry of friends, the richer we all are for it. I'm excited to hear about what you like and think. 

As Mister Rogers sang (and I'm probably going to cry here but in a good way) "It's you I like. It's not the things you wear. Not the way you do your hair. It's you I like. That's what I'm aiming to keep alive was his huge, loving heart, the size of the ocean with room for all. If you are sad, I'm sad too. Trouble shared is trouble halved. And if you're glad, then by golly let's be glad together! There's so much to be glad about on this beautiful big blue marble we call home. And there are some sad things too, like wars and people not getting enough to eat. I care about that too. 

And sometimes people we love aren't happy for whatever reason. That's hard. But right here and now, I want to tell you that it is okay for you to be happy, even if they can't be. You're not happy because they are sad. I've said this before. You are happy because you're having chicken nuggets (right, Emmett?) or you found the moon for us (thank you, Flora). Maybe it's because you configured a Po Teletubby  hat from coat hanger (clever you, Lucian) and now you've shared it with little brother Max. Or because you mastered that song on the piano (Milo) or skied down the hill just like an Olympian (Juno).

So much to be happy about. But when you're not, it's okay too. No one is happy all the time. How would we know what joy is unless we know what sadness is? Mr. Kahlil Gibran taught us that in his poem On Joy and Sorrow. That's another one that makes me cry but also in a good way. He says that our joy and sorrow are not enemies, but actually kind of friends. 

It's even okay to be angry. We can probably agree it's best for everyone if we don't hurt anyone while we are angry. But if you do (and most of us have, even Teacher Omi, old as she is) you can try to fix it. Start by feeling sorry, then tell the person you hurt that you are sorry. Let them tell you how they feel about it. Then say what you are going to try to do differently so you don't do it again. Last, try really hard to do just that. And it doesn't hurt to do an extra kind deed for them. 

We all do things it would be better if we didn't. Like yell at someone or hit them or take or break something of theirs. And sometimes we don't do things it would be better to do. Such as help mom or dad or fold the clothes without fussing. I find it helps to try and find out why I did or didn't do those things. Sometimes I'm surprised at what I find. Perhaps I'm a little jealous or mad that someone has something I don't. Or I'm sad that my picture doesn't look as nice as theirs. 

But the more I think about it, the more I see that I don't want their toys. I might just like one of  my own. So I can ask my Omi if she could get it for my birthday. (Lola, are you still loving your Evie doll? It made Omi happy to send it because it made you happy and it reminds me of my Chrissy doll) And Ezra and Remus, I want you to know that your Opi (grampa) took a long time choosing your excavators because you are so important to him.

So that's one thing I could do. Or I could do extra chores to earn the money. And as for the picture, I can ask sister to show me how she made it. Or I can explore new ways to draw things. Or I could look at my picture and see the nice things about it. I could brainstorm about ways I could solve this problem. 

You can also ask God (however you understand him/her/them) for help. I think God loves it when we reach out for help. At least that's what the Bible I read says. We are told God is waiting with open arms for us to run into them. Like dad or mom. Or grandma and grampa. I hope that you all have people in your lives whom you love and who love you. 

So drop me a comment-- what do you do when you are sad or lonely? We can help each other find ways to feel better. Picture is me smiling at you! 

Love always, Teacher Omi