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Showing posts with label Printables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Printables. Show all posts

Sunday, December 2, 2018

December 02, 2018

Get Your Free Prayer for the Child in the Womb Copywork and Consider Offering Spare Change to Spare a Life


Happy New Liturgical Year!  We pray your Advent has opened with plenty of time for prayer, preparation, and joyful anticipation of the commemoration of when Christ was born, of His coming to us daily through grace and through the Eucharist, and of when Christ comes again.




This morning, as we began celebrating Advent, a baby bottle again took a place on our table as a daily reminder to pray and give alms to the unborn and their families.




For years now, my children have eagerly picked up a baby bottle from a bassinet in the back of our church to take home and fill from Advent through Epiphany.

Doing so, has become a meaningful Advent tradition in our home that we initially enjoyed in conjunction with our family's Count, Pray, and Give initiative, and, now, participate in more simply - just dropping spare change into the bottle through Advent and Christmastide and having the bottle sit on our table as a continual reminder to pray.




This year, I have also made a Prayer for the Child in the Womb copywork set, using the words of a prayer from the Irish Catholic Bishop's Conference.  I share it here in case your children would like to use it for your family or classroom.

Get it here.


The FREE Prayer for the Child in the Womb Copywork Set includes the prayer in print and cursive, as well as lined sheets to copy it on.



We are grateful to the Respect Life Committee at our church for introducing us to the Spare Change-Spare a Life Baby Bottle Campaign and pray that by sharing about it here, you may be inspired to initiate a similar tradition in your home, co-op, church, or community.




May we each choose life 
in every decision we make! 
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Sunday, April 22, 2018

April 22, 2018

Get a FREE Printable Holy Eucharist Game Set!



If you've got children preparing for First Holy Communion this year or ones who are studying the Eucharist, this simple Holy Eucharist Bingo/Game Cards/Copywork set might be a help to you.

{Martianne Stanger/Training Happy Hearts is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.}

I made this free printable to go along with the glossary in a beautiful book called The Little Caterpillar that Finds Jesus: A Parable of the Eucharist,.  However, the game set can be used on its own, too.
The first page of the set contains 16 pictures from Wikipedia Commons which represent different words related to the Eucharist and Mass.  The second page has 16 corresponding words on it, typed in a font that uses primary lines so children can easily use the words as copywork.




To play Bingo with the set, have children cut out the cards and put them into four random rows of four.  Then, call out the words an have the children turn their cards over until someone get a Bingo line of turned over cards.

To play Go Fish or Memory Match have children cut out the picture and word cards and, if desired, affix them to cardstock so they won't be see-through, then play the games as usual.

To play Two Finger Touch lay all picture cards face up and have children race to touch with two fingers whatever card you describe.  For example, if you said, "I see a picture of the sacrament which washes away original sin and makes us children of God and members of His family, the Church,"  children would race to touch the picture of Baptism.

Be aware that some of the pictures could represent more than one word, so it might be good to print out a "key" set of cards that you do not cut apart.

Enjoy this FREE printable, and, if you have an extra copy of The Little Caterpillar that Finds Jesus: A Parable of the Eucharist laying around, please consider selling it or gifting it to me!  I'd love to own my own copy!



Earlier this year, a friend lent me her copy of The Little Caterpillar that Finds Jesus: A Parable of the Eucharist and I have found that the book truly is a treasure - but, unfortunately, one that is no longer in print, and, therefore, not inexpensive enough for my family to purchase at this time.

In The Little Caterpillar that Finds Jesus: A Parable of the Eucharist, a caterpillar named Gloriana is transformed when she is introduced to the wondrous events that surround the Eucharist.  As children hear her story, they are reminded of Baptism, God's love, Adoration, stories of Jesus, and more all while learning about the mystery of love found in the Sacrifice of the Mass and in receiving and adoring the Holy Eucharist.

Expressive illustrations and well-written text (in both English and Spanish) draw readers and listeners into the parable, which, in turn, focuses on the heart of the Mass - the Eucharist!

The book, of course, is perfect for children preparing for First Holy Communion - like my little guy and some of his friend are doing - but it is also wonderful for older children. I shared it with children I am teaching in a co-op class this year, who are ages 3-8, who all enjoyed it.  My 10 and 12 year old like it, too.

We used the free printable I am sharing today to review concepts after reading The Little Caterpillar that Finds Jesus: A Parable of the Eucharist in co-op class I've been teaching.  The children all had a lot of fun with it, and one of the moms from co-op was also psyched I had used a copywork font for the words so she could extend learning at home.  I hope you are just as pleased with this free printable!

Enjoy helping children learn about the Holy Eucharist through play!
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Sunday, March 4, 2018

March 04, 2018

Enjoy FREE PRINTABLES for 2 Easter Nature Walks

Surely, you've heard of the Stations of the Cross.  Have you also heard of their Easter counterpart the Stations of the Resurrection? 



These 14 stations, also known as Via Lucis, Stations of Light, or The Way of Light, assist us in recalling Christ's journey from Easter to Pentecost.  Each of the 14 stations is based on an incident in the life of Christ and his followers after the Resurrection as recorded in the Gospels and Acts.  These stations offer a wonderful way for children and grown ups to journey with Jesus during the Easter season, and, if you like to adventure outside, you can meditate on the Via Lucis while doing some nature study, too.

Today, I am sharing a FREE Via Lucis Nature Notebooking printable, which also includes a bonus simplified Easter Challenge. 

The Via Lucis pages include boxes and prompts for each of the 14 stages plus an additional page with suggestions of nature items you might look for.  The bonus Easter Challenge is a one-sheet challenge where children simply look for eight signs of new life (in honor of Jesus' Resurrection and the eight Sundays during the 50 days of the Easter season.)

Either nature hunt can be used as is with a pencil, colored pencils, or markers.  You could also use it the printables as checklists for a photographic foray into nature.  Or - as I plan to use the Via Lucis one during this Easter season- you can lead children through a prayerful reflection and then let them each decide to sketch, draw, or take photos during a scavenger hunt to follow.

Some free resources for Way of Light artwork and reflections to pair with my Via Lucis Nature Walk printable are offered by:


I pray that you are able to enjoy a meaningful time in nature with children using these resources come Eastertide!

You may also like the Lenten walk I shared last week:




For other faith-based nature printables I have made, just click through the images below.




May your journey with Jesus continue to be blessed and meaningful!
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Saturday, February 24, 2018

February 24, 2018

Get a FREE New Way of the Cross Nature Hunt Printable to Use This Lent!

Sometimes, even when you are busy, the Spirit prompts you to pause and create.

That's exactly what happened to me this weekend. 



I had been praying, then a friend messaged to ask me about doing an Easter-themed nature walk.  As we chatted back and forth about it, I browsed pictures of my children and my Good Friday nature walk last year, for which we used a free printable from The Unlikely Homeschooler.






{Disclosure: Some of the links which follow are affiliate ones. Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}


I also recalled a prior year when our entire family enjoyed a nature outing using a free Easter Nature Walk printable from Inside Outside Michiana.

Then, I spied a copy of The Stations of the Cross for Children from Peanut Butter & Grace Books, which we received the other day and will be sharing a review of soon. 



That is when Spirit prompted me:  This year, lead a New Way of the Cross nature walk.  

So, I got brainstorming descriptions of items in nature that the children might find to help them remember the 14 stations of Jesus' condemnation, crucifixion, and resurrection as told in New Way of the Cross, as well as what happened just before Jesus was condemned and what happened after He rose.  I came up with the following:


  • The largest leaf reminds us of the palms people waved as they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king!” and, thereby, angering leaders who wanted no one in charge but themselves. (John 12:13)
  • Fruit on a vine reminds us of the wine Jesus gave to the apostles along with bread at the Last Supper, saying “This is my body and blood, which I am giving you for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26: 26-29)
  • A winged seed or creature reminds us of the wings of angel, perhaps the angel that came from heaven to give Jesus strength during the Agony in the Garden. (Luke 22:39-48)
  • Something dark reminds us of the darkness in people’s hearts as they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” when Jesus is condemned. (Matthew 27:15-26)
  • Thorns or spiky barbs remind us of the crown of thorns places upon Jesus’ head when Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns. (Matthew 27:27-31)
  • A cross shaped branch or twig reminds us that Jesus carries the cross – a heavy wooden one. (John 19: 16-17)
  • Something too heavy to lift reminds us of the weight of the cross which Jesus carried and how Jesus falls. (Isaiah 53: 4-7)
  • Something paired reminds us of how Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross. (Luke 23:26)
  • Something wet reminds us of how Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem who cry for him. (Luke 23: 27-31).
  • Something spiky reminds us of the nails used when Jesus is nailed to the cross. (Luke 23:32-38)
  • Something you see that makes a turn reminds us of the good thief who turned to Jesus and asked to be taken to heaven with him. (Luke 23:39-43)
  • Something at the foot of something else reminds us of Mary and John at the foot of the cross as Jesus said to his mother, “Here is you son,” and said to John, “Here is your mother.” (John 19:25-27)
  • Something dead reminds us that Jesus dies on the cross. (John 19:28-30)
  • The largest rock reminds us that Jesus is laid in the tomb and a large stone is rolled in front of it to seal it. (John 19:38-42).
  • Something empty reminds us of the empty tomb and that Jesus rises from the dead. (Matthew 28:1-10)
  • New life reminds us that Jesus rose again and that if we allow the Spirit to help us follow Jesus’ way, we will one day have a new life in heaven with Him. (Mark 16:15-20)

I, then, created a simple FREE three-page New Way of the Cross nature notebooking printable to share, much like the St. Francis,  St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Anthony of Padua printables I have shared in the past, but with two pages of boxes to accommodate more descriptive prompts to get the children thinking and sketching. 

If you'd like to use the New Way of the Cross nature hunt printable, feel free to do so!  I'd love to hear how your experience goes.  

I intend to do this walk on Good Friday as follows:


  • Have a chat with the children to see what they already know about Stations of the Cross and explain that we'll be going on a nature scavenger as we recall Jesus' condemnation, crucifixion, and resurrection using  The Stations of the Cross for Children.  
  • Read and reflect upon the first station in the book together and note that it is different from the first Station of the Cross they might already be familiar with.  Explain that the books uses the New Way of the Cross which highlights some of the same moments in Jesus' as the traditional Stations of the Cross do, but swaps out others.
  • Hand out double-sided scavenger hunt sheets and have children look at the descriptors, seeing if they can guess the symbolism behind any of the things they will be asked to find.
  • Ask the children if they'd like to read all of The Stations of the Cross for Children before going on our scavenger hunt or if they would like to read a portion of it, then search for related nature items before reading another portion of it.
  • Offer clipboards and set children loose with colored pencils (and cameras for some) to begin hunting for the items on the printable.  
  • Discover and chat about nature items along with children, capturing sketches or descriptions in the boxes on the scavenger hunt sheet.
  • Close with the Closing Prayer in The Stations of the Cross for Children.

If you'd like a visual of how our nature hunt might unfold, you can take a peak at the pictorial description for our St Anthony of Padua nature adventure, which our New Way of the Cross will be similar to.




You can also enjoy a few more snapshots from last year's walk, which used a different book and printable, but is along the same idea.








And, yes, I know Good Friday is a somber time, but, my children know he end of the story and, sometimes, find great joy in life even during more somber occasions.





I am okay with that.  In fact, I rejoice in it.  We ARE an Easter people, praise God.  Even as we repent and recall the great suffering and sacrifice of our Lord, we have the privilege of knowing His death on the cross was not the end and find hope and happiness in the joy of the Resurrection.

May we never take our Lord's sacrifice for granted, may we always give thanks for His Divine Mercy, and may we live in hope and love.

Other Nature Printables

If you'd like to use other faith-based nature printables I have made, just click through the images below.





May your mind and heart continue to turn toward Jesus as you journey through this Lent.
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Sunday, October 29, 2017

October 29, 2017

Pray for All Souls with FREE Eternal Rest Grant unto Them Copywork Printable in English and Latin



November - the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory - is just a few days away, so I'm readying for our week of praying for all souls at local cemeteries and continuing our tradition of praying daily for the dearly departed during our rosary time and whenever we pass a cemetery while driving.


As part of my preparations, I have created a set of simple copywork pages of the Eternal Rest prayer in both English and Latin, using "him", "her", "them", and their Latin equivalents in printing and in cursive on different sheets, so children can choose the version mot appropriate for themselves.  I've shared this FREE printable Eternal Rest Copywork Set with you here. 


My intent is to have my children copy the prayer early this week and, then, laminate it and put it in our minivan.  That way, we'll have it handy to bring to cemeteries between November 1 and 8, when we make cemetery visits to help gain indulgence for the dead.  


We will likely also recopy and laminate our St. Gertrude Prayer Copywork, since I neglected to pop our copies in our faith binders last year and now cannot find them.  If you'd like this copywork as well, you'll find print and cursive options in English only here.


If you are looking for more ideas for bringing the tradition of praying for the dearly departed to your children, you may also like 5 Ways to Pray for All Souls.



Please join us in praying for the dearly departed this coming month, and, if you have a particular soul you'd like us to pray for, please comment with his or her name, so we add them to our prayer list.  Thank you.

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Sunday, October 8, 2017

October 08, 2017

Get Your FREE Printable Pack of 10 All Saints Day Party Challenge Sheets!



{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  If you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}
 
All Saints Day is less than a month away and, last night, I was inspired with the idea of making a pack of game challenge sheets to match the ten saints introduced in the book Jackie's Special Halloween - a must-have picture book for All Saints Day.



So, today I got my creativity on and did just that, creating a FREE printable pack of 10 All Saints Day party challenge sheets.  I am sharing them with you so you can pick and choose a few to use at home or use the entire pack at a group party!

Each sheet in the pack includes:
  • a game title
  • an image of the saint
  • a short description containing information about the saint that connects to the challenge
  • a brief challenge (the game or activity!) to remind children - and adults - how to play.

The ten challenges are:




    • Be Humble and Willing like St. Martin de Porres, where children will sweep cotton balls (or any other material you decide) around obstacles, remembering how St Martin is often depicted with a broom as a symbol of his humility and willingness to help. 


      For St. Martin de Porres, you could also opt to do the 7-Station Obstacle Course I have previously shared.
    • Honor Our Lady Queen like St. John Paul II, where children will pray to Mary while pinning a crown onto her.
    • Teach with a Stick in the Dirt like St. Teresa of Calcutta, where children will recall how MotherTeresa began her ministry with “poorest of the poor” by walking around the slum, finding some small children and begining to teach them using a stick in the dirt and will try their hands at communicating a message using only a stick in dirt, Pictionary style. 

      My intent is to have either real dirt or sand or homemade "dirt dough" in a tray with a stick and Bible heroes cards (like the ones in this set) next to it.  Then, children can play in pairs, with one child drawing a card and then using the stick in the dirt to get the other child to name the Bible hero, before the other child goes.
    • Send Roses from the Heavens like St. Therese of the Child, where children will toss roses from a chair or ladder (as Heaven) into a basket (Earth).
    • Knock Down Poverty’s Effects like St. Vincent Vincent de Paul, where children will bowl down plastic pins marked hunger, poverty, thirst, loneliness, sickness, and abandonment with a ball marked charity, much like we've done in the past when knocking out sin like St. Rose of Lima.



    • Travel with Tears and Prayers like St. Monica, where children will use a dropper to move "tears" from one cup to another one a distance away while repeatedly praying, “Dear God, I pray for conversion.” (I will likely set up two of these next to each other so kids can race.)
     
    • Make a Church for Our Lady like St. Juan Diego, where children will build a church with a cross and an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as we have before with an instant challenge, or using prayer cards, printed images, or pencil and paper along with recyclables, Duplos, Legos, K'nex, or blocks.


       
    • Create Stick Crosses like St. Kateri Tekawitha, where children will fashion a cross of sticks to remind them to pray no matter where they are. 

    I am excited to use these this year, and hope you enjoy using some of them, too!  I'd love to hear how your celebrations turn out and would also welcome ideas and links to other favorite All Saints Day party recipes, games, activities, and prayers.  Please do take a moment to share yours with me.  Thanks!

    You can find all my All Saints Day posts here.
    Saints in Heaven, pray for us.


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      Tuesday, October 3, 2017

      October 03, 2017

      Super Teacher Worksheets for the Win!

      We are not generally worksheet-type family, but when we saw a chance to review an Individual Membership from Super Teacher Worksheets, we jumped at the opportunity. 

      Why? 



      I knew from past experience with Super Teachers Worksheets that their online subscription library of 10,000+ printables (mainly aimed at kindergarten through fifth grade level children) is an organized and ideal resource for our homeschooling needs.  Seriously, it has a bevy of printables accessible pdf's in all the main subject areas, including:
      • math
      • reading & writing


      • phonics & early literacy
      • handwriting
      • grammar
      • spelling
      • social studies
      • science

      ... and more.  Plus, there printables on:
      • Spanish
      • music
      • holidays

      ... and more, including helps like printable handwriting paper and even a worksheet generator!  


      Puzzles, games, maps, traditional drills and  Q & A...  You search for it on the easy-to-navigate Super Teacher Worksheets page , and your Individual Membership likely has it, and, if it does not now, it may soon.  New materials are regularly added.

      Without question, I find       using Super Teacher Worksheets simple and effective. The huge and well-organized library of resources in our subscription make it easy for me to quickly key into concepts and skills that my children are already exploring, as well as to introduce new ones, review old ones, and fill in "missed ones" (you know, those "holes in education" that sometimes come up).  Thus, even I - a typical non-lover of worksheets - appreciate Super Teacher Worksheets so much and recommend it to others!


      So Many Options

      We use       Super Teacher Worksheets in many ways. For example:




      Before a field trip to a local college to learn about Spectroscopy and, then, view stars, planets and the moon through telescopes at their observatory, we reviewed what we already knew about space using several printables from the Super Teachers library, including a Q & A one that we played a game with (stumping even me a times).



      Reviewing (and "testing") United States geography, we've been adding a new challenge to our Together Time studies, where we set a timer for five minutes and see how many states we an identify from memory.



      As my youngest heads into more multiplication and division studies, he's been working through skip counting sheets as review.  (For good measure, so have his siblings.)

      Also:

      • as a tie-in to a writing class at co-op, we have played "Sentence-No Sentence" quiz games using ELA printables
      • I have bookmarked some music printables for when we have some time, since at our lastAMP (Art-Music-Poetry) club meeting the children liked writing "musical words" by writing notes on the different staff lines to create name and words "songs".
      • We have used quickie math printables to review facts.

      I could go on and one about what we have used from       Super Teacher Worksheets and what we plan to use next, but,instead, I will simply suggest you check out the site yourself, where you'll find samples, and also take a peak at my prior review.
       
       


      Learn More

      Find Super Teacher Worksheets on social media at:
        Super Teacher Worksheets

    • Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/superteacherworksheets 
    • Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SuperTeacherWks   
    • Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/superteacherwks/   
    • Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/superteacherworksheets/  

      • Super Teacher Worksheets


      Seventy Homeschool Review Crew families have been benefiting from this comprehensive library of printable resources.  Get a  peak into more of the resources by clicking through to read all of our reviews as many of us chose different ones to highlight. 

       
      Crew Disclaimer
       

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