Ash Wednesday Crafts and Activities for Your Children

Ash Wednesday is one of the most important days of the year for Christian people all over the world. Ash Wednesday begins the activities of Lent and provides a time of repentance as well as admiration for the Lord. Ash Wednesday can be a very emotional time for adults but the children might not be able to understand what the religious holiday is all about. In order to help your child better understand the meaning behind Ash Wednesday, you might want to have them do some of these crafts and activities that follow the Ash Wednesday theme.

You could have your child make a cross which is a very important symbol to the Christian religion. A cross can be made out of any materials you have such as wood or putty and it can be a very easy way to help your child better understand Ash Wednesday. You could get some Popsicle sticks and glue and have your child glue four Popsicle sticks together in the middle of a piece of paper to make one part of the cross. Next, have your child take four more Popsicle sticks and glue them going the opposite way on the paper. Then you can have your child write down with a pen some common prayers they think about on this piece of paper. Try to get your child to write three prayers for each side of the cross and have them think about maybe things in the world or environment or have them think about family problems they would like to pray about. This is a very good way to show your child what Ash Wednesday is all about and who the holiday is for. Having your child make a cross with prayers on it will help them better understand the basic concept of praying and religion in their own world.

You can also make a game for them using some bad habits they might have. Have your child write down at least four bad habits they have on a piece of paper and then have them read them aloud. This activity should focus on what the bad habit is and help them come up with ways they can better those bad habits. For example, if your child wrote down to brush their teeth better you could help them come up with a solution such as maybe making a designated time to brush their teeth. If your child writes down a bad habit like not getting homework done until late at night you could offer a solution such as that in order to play outside after dinner, they have to show you their finished homework. Then after you have gone through their list and offered ways to help them better themselves, you can either throw the paper away or hang it on the refrigerator as a reminder of how your child will improve their bad habits. This is a good activity you can all do as a family and it will help teach your child about responsibility and also about repenting for things they might not be doing right. This activity will also teach your child about it is never too late to start over and get better as long as you have faith in yourself and faith in God.

Another great activity you can have your child do for Ash Wednesday is to teach them about giving to others. This activity is designed to help them better understand other people and their needs and to help them be sharing. This activity can be done in many different ways and have many different rules involved but here are a couple of examples of an activity you can have your child do for Ash Wednesday. If your child is old enough to get an allowance, you might give them their allowance and tell them they need to think of a charity they would like to give that allowance money to. You can make a list of different local charities your child could choose from or you can let them pick a charity maybe that they know from watching television. You could explain to your child that it is not about how much you give but the fact you are giving that makes a difference. If you have a local animal shelter you could suggest that the money could go to them to help the shelter with needs they have such as animal food and toys. You could also go to the store and have your child pick out some things for the shelter with their allowance money which will teach them about the value of a dollar while helping a good cause. There are many different ways to make giving an activity, and if you have more than one child you can make this into a contest. You could make a contest saying the child who gives the most from Ash Wednesday until Christmas will get a special Christmas gift this year or maybe they will get a surprise for their birthday. Teaching your child about giving by allowing them to donate their own money to a charity will help them understand about people less fortunate and it will also show them that every little bit helps. You could also have your child make a giving container out of a coffee tin and they can decorate the outside of the container. A giving tin your child could make would be where they would put all their money and loose change at that they do not want or need and then allow them to pick a charity to give that money to after a few months of saving. This is a really great Ash Wednesday activity because it focuses on sharing and helping other people which is a big part of the Christian culture.