Getting the Most Out of Holy Week

When the kids were little, I was much more on top of the liturgical colors and the upcoming liturgical seasons.

Why?

Well, because I made it part of my curriculum. Just like we teach our children the seasons of the year, as a Catholic mom, I taught the Liturgical seasons.

These seasons guided the rhythm of our daily lives including what I taught. Not only that, but I have seven kiddos and there are just so many hours in the day to get in everything!

Incorporating lessons pertaining to our liturgical seasons and faith make it possible to involve everyone in the family!

BUT, it was hard to find meaningful and faithful items each year…

That’s why I put together my favorite, family-tested ideas into packets around the Catholic seasons and feast days and used them as our “school work.

I absolutely love the build up of Holy Week as we journey towards Easter.

Holy Week

To share this love, I want to firstly foster a sense of reverence for this most Holy Season and do so together, family style.  

Hands-on projects, such as the Jonah Project, Resurrection eggs, and Pascal Candle do just that. They connect Scripture, God’s Word, with physical activities the kids create. We dive into the story of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection as they unfold throughout Holy Week. We add another activity each day!

I promise to write soon about the benefits of making mini-books, which is such a powerful method of creating sustained learning!

But I will tell you that my kiddos benefited greatly from making mini-books! So I made templates to use for Holy Week and Easter.

For example, we made mini-books to learn what are the real symbols and true colors of Easter. If it involved some writing, I had the older siblings help spell words for the younger guys. Sometimes they just made them together. 

My little ones practiced handwriting skills making these mini-books. My older ones used beautiful Easter notebook pages for journaling and taking notes during the week.

The art of letter writing and handwriting!

I found if I added Easter Cards as our “school work” this week, it was actually easier than during do so in the Christmas season. It brought back the art of letter writing to my kids.

I made printable cards that are blank inside to write personalized messages. I also made some with lines, to make it easier for the little ones. This definitely counts as handwriting practice!

It is always such a delight to see the Easter cards we made each year, not to mention the awesome THANK-YOU’s from our neighbors, friends, and family! Easter cards remind our loved ones of the awesomeness of Christ’s victory over Death, especially those family members who have fallen away from the faith, or need a gentle reminder that you are praying for them!

This year it may be especially important to share tangible messages of love from our children to all our friends and family!

As always, it was virtually impossible for me to find beautiful faith-filled Easter stickers to decorate our dyed Easter eggs.

So I made Easter sticker sheets in the activity kit too! These feature the real symbols and true colors of Easter (see them in the group photo above). I researched the symbolism and made info sheets for easy reference. The kiddos use them to learn, take notes, or add to a mini-book!

With Holy Week and Easter upon us, I better start printing up these activities for this year, as I do every year! Better make certain I share some of these traditions with my dear grandchildren too!

Visit my Easter Pinterest Board which I put together with a bunch of additional family, Holy Week, and Easter ideas.

My hope is that this FREE resource will inspire you to add some these activities to your family traditions too!

It truly is my all-time favorite time of the year!

Please share, comment your favorite Easter traditions!

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4 Comments

  1. Elizabeth

    Thank you for sharing Paola! I downloaded and we will be doing at least the cards today to mail to our family. Bless you !!! Loved the homily also, thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  2. Rachel Watkins

    We just finished our Easter letters which took on a whole new perspective coming from our place of social distance – –

    Reply
  3. Helen

    Thank you for your Holy Week gift. I will use it to enhance our unique at home activites . God bless you!

    Reply
    • Paola Ciskanik

      Yay! So glad it helps! May you have a blessed Triduum and Easter Helen!

      Reply

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