Lenten Activities - A Compilation

I guess there's a sense in which some would say the title of this post - Lenten Activities - is a contradiction. We should be doing less during Lent, simplifying our activities so we can fast, pray, and give alms. But we do have children to raise and I think it helps to do things with them that emphasize the nature of our lenten journey and Christ's road to the cross.

So here's what I've found:

Links and Resources:

·         Pascha boxes – decoupaged craft boxes with special contents for each day of holy week
Learn about them and how to make your own here and here. Or buy pre-made ones here.

·         Lesson Plans – the OCA has a great entire unit on the Journey to Pascha you can check out here

·         Sundays of Lent: There are coloring and activity pages available for the Sundays of Lent (and other Sundays throughout the year at OrthodoxOnline and Let Us Attend.

·         Calendars to Purchase: similar to advent calendars, these have readings or activities for each day of Lent. Find onewith icons/readings and one with activities.

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      Other activities along the way: this is a nice little blog for all sorts of activities to engage children in the church year. Two posts about Lent are Pre-Lent and Lent.

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     Path to Pascha with Festal Celebrations Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FestalCelebrations/?prop=eupdate – if you have (or create) a yahoo account, you can join this group, which they say is a “ list is for organizing group ornament exchanges for an Orthodox Jesse Tree, 12 Days of Christmas ornaments and Lenten Path to Pascha. Other ideas of conforming our homeschooling life to the liturgical cycle of the Orthodox Church are also discussed.” My family’s Path to Pascha activity is based on their program.