Teaching kids about Eucharist.
So this summer we are doing some of our own "Catechism."
My kids call it "Mama school."
Basically right now what we do is when our little one naps the girls (6 and 8) and I do some sort of religious education. After a bit of wrestling we (my partner and I) decided that I would focus our summer religious education on Sacraments.
So this being the first week of the summer, we focused on Eucharist. It was a short week and yesterday I was a grump and our little guy didn't nap so there was no "Mama school." On Tuesday and Wednesday and Today (friday) we did some stuff.
Day 1:
I had a bowl full of "definitions" of sacraments. They were things like:
1. A sign of god's love
2. God making him/herself obvious
3. God's presence in the world.
4. Anything that feels holy.
...and so on.
Then we talked about how the the person who is ALL Of those things is JESUS.
Jesus is the sacrament of God.
Jesus is the way that God is manifest on earth...
Jesus is sacrament....
And then we moved on to talk about how the church has 7 official sacraments. Each of us in our personal lives might have ways that we encounter God that are different than the official ones. But that in the church family these 7 things are particularly meaningful ways to encounter God.
The kids made a poster with these things:
1. Their two favorite definitions
2. What are their "personal" sacraments.
3. And WHO is the sacrament of God-
Then I had them just make a list of the 7 official sacraments with a symbol next to each one.
Done.
Day 2:
We read the last supper stories from the Gospel of Matthew and from their Children's bible.
Then we went and read the Passover story and talked about Jesus' Judaism and how that was part of his and the disciples imaginations.
We looked at a bunch of last supper artwork and then they drew their own "last supper" and made sure to include all kinds of the friends of Jesus.
Day 3:
We made communion bread this morning. I let the kids taste each of the ingredients and we talked about where wheat, oil, salt, honey, and water came from and how important they are. Then they molded them into circles, pressed them out and pushed cross shapes into them with a butter knife.
This afternoon, we set up our dining room table into an altar. 1 chalice style cup, a salad plate, a bread, 2 candles, and a washcloth as a corporal. It was not fancy.
We talked about the things you must have for Eucharist to become a sacrament: people and the word. That is the place God is most manifest and that is why God chooses to become so deeply present in the gathering.
Each of us acted out the role of the priest. Holding our hands in the right place, following the Eucharistic prayer, and distributing communion.
They LOVED it.
They loved that I played with them.
We were silly and also serious.
I have intentions to make some homemade wine, but it might not happen. We might just move on. Next week we start on baptism. We are going to make some Chrism.
My kids call it "Mama school."
Basically right now what we do is when our little one naps the girls (6 and 8) and I do some sort of religious education. After a bit of wrestling we (my partner and I) decided that I would focus our summer religious education on Sacraments.
So this being the first week of the summer, we focused on Eucharist. It was a short week and yesterday I was a grump and our little guy didn't nap so there was no "Mama school." On Tuesday and Wednesday and Today (friday) we did some stuff.
Day 1:
I had a bowl full of "definitions" of sacraments. They were things like:
1. A sign of god's love
2. God making him/herself obvious
3. God's presence in the world.
4. Anything that feels holy.
...and so on.
Then we talked about how the the person who is ALL Of those things is JESUS.
Jesus is the sacrament of God.
Jesus is the way that God is manifest on earth...
Jesus is sacrament....
And then we moved on to talk about how the church has 7 official sacraments. Each of us in our personal lives might have ways that we encounter God that are different than the official ones. But that in the church family these 7 things are particularly meaningful ways to encounter God.
The kids made a poster with these things:
1. Their two favorite definitions
2. What are their "personal" sacraments.
3. And WHO is the sacrament of God-
Then I had them just make a list of the 7 official sacraments with a symbol next to each one.
Done.
Day 2:
We read the last supper stories from the Gospel of Matthew and from their Children's bible.
Then we went and read the Passover story and talked about Jesus' Judaism and how that was part of his and the disciples imaginations.
We looked at a bunch of last supper artwork and then they drew their own "last supper" and made sure to include all kinds of the friends of Jesus.
Day 3:
We made communion bread this morning. I let the kids taste each of the ingredients and we talked about where wheat, oil, salt, honey, and water came from and how important they are. Then they molded them into circles, pressed them out and pushed cross shapes into them with a butter knife.
This afternoon, we set up our dining room table into an altar. 1 chalice style cup, a salad plate, a bread, 2 candles, and a washcloth as a corporal. It was not fancy.
We talked about the things you must have for Eucharist to become a sacrament: people and the word. That is the place God is most manifest and that is why God chooses to become so deeply present in the gathering.
Each of us acted out the role of the priest. Holding our hands in the right place, following the Eucharistic prayer, and distributing communion.
They LOVED it.
They loved that I played with them.
We were silly and also serious.
I have intentions to make some homemade wine, but it might not happen. We might just move on. Next week we start on baptism. We are going to make some Chrism.
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