Lenten Activities Update

I thought I would update our Lenten/Easter Activities. We do some things differently, since the kids are older. We still do our Lenten/Easter tree. When we first started this we did the Bible verses, but now I do this Lenten sacrifice on a cross or crown from Catholic Inspired. On our crosses we put a special sacrifice we want to do during Lent. Then on Holy week we switch them out with our Easter tree decorations. I found these new eggs from the dollar tree, my old ones were heavy and broke branches.

We usually do the calendar from Catholic Icing, but this year the kids got some from Religious Education. They open a window everyday and it has a Bible verse.

 

One year we also did a sacrifice bean jar, but with a busy toddler that gets into everything, we will not do it this year. 

Last year we bought some neat Lenten Resolutions pages from Catholic Icing. We like that they are interactive and fun! Plus they help you stay accountable. Every year as the kids get older, they can be more understanding of sacrifices. This year we all gave up the same thing, sweets. You would be surprised how well kids can do with giving up things. They all can help each other and encourage one another. There are some really neat Lenten planning sheets that help you organize everything. You can get some if you subscribe to her newsletter, Catholic Icing. 

We chose as a family to also use our monthly eating out fund to give to the Rice Bowls. We always do a lot of clutter cleaning and donate items we don't need anymore.
As a family we take up praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet every night during Lent. We pray every night anyways, but like to add to the experience different forms of prayer. This year we are also going to our Parish's Penance service together, since our oldest has received this Sacrament. We would also like to add a Stations of the Cross every Friday. We are doing the Brother Francis one so it is kid friendly and engaging. Our kids love the Brother Francis videos. Teaching our children about prayer, fasting, and alms giving with rich experiences is an important aspect of our faith. So they can understand better the sacrifice Jesus made for us and give a little back to Him.
On Holy week we try to go to Holy Thursday Mass. It is such a beautiful Mass to attend, even with children.
For Easter we die eggs and have a nice picnic feast with an egg hunt. I decorated some fake eggs with the Easter Story on them, for added decorating. I also made a Resurrection garden that we place on our altar, idea from Pinterest.

These are what we during Lent, hope they encourage you to add them too! We pray you have a Lent full of growth and remember how much our Lord loves you!!! :)<3