Saturday, August 2, 2025

American Eucharistic Witnesses- Cumulative Activity Books (Two FREE 44 page curriculums!)

During the National Eucharistic Revival, I contributed children's activities for their monthly newsletter. (You can find all of the posts on my blog here).

We are currently wrapping up our last project- more about that soon, but I wanted to share a cumulative resources for the awesome American Eucharistic Witnesses series. This collection highlights Americans whose lives have been changed by the gift of the Eucharistic. With a different expert author each month and an original woodcut print by the talented Connor Miller, I was tasked with creating a version of this series for children. Each booklet contains a short bio and the art print on the front and back, and inside has some activities like a quote to color, a timeline to put in order, reflection questions, and short comprehension questions to answer. One booklet is for older children (I'd recommend 5th-8th grade) and another for younger children (I'd recommend 2nd-4th grade), as well as Spanish version for each.


You can find the original posts, which include links to the NER blog with the expert-written articles (for adults) on each person, here:

I knew that teachers or homeschoolers that used this series would value a more comprehensive "final" activity to pull together themes and lessons from these holy men and women. So I'm excited to now share with you a two cumulative activity books! These large pdfs contain all of the above booklets in one spot, as well as multiple options for activities after reading the biographies. Everything in these activity books has been professionally edited and theologically reviewed by the USCCB.

Two quick notes:
1. I know that it might be intimidating to think that you have to use all thirteen biographies in order to use the cumulative activities. That isn't the case! Think creatively based on your situation- you could just base the activities on the biographies that your students read (read five of your choice, cross off other names, etc.). Or you could do this as a group/jigsaw activities where different students are responsible for one biography and then come together as a group or class to complete a final comparison project. Make it work for you! The Trading Cards in the Activity Book for Older Kids would also be helpful to use as a resource when kids are working on the comparison activities- then they'd have facts about each at their fingertips. 
2. While I do have all of the biographical booklets available in both English and Spanish, unfortunately we did not have the cumulative activities translated into Spanish. I'm sorry about that! If you want to use the biographies in Spanish, you can find them individually in the list linked above or under this tab.


American Eucharistic Witnesses Activity Book for Older Kids
I'd recommend this for 5th-8th grade. As you can see from the table of contents, it contains all thirteen biographical booklets, as well as six cumulative activities. Click here or on any image to download the pdf.









American Eucharistic Witnesses Activity Book for YOUNGER Kids
I'd recommend this for 2nd-4th grade. As you can see from the table of contents, it contains all thirteen biographical booklets, as well as five cumulative activities. Click here or on any image to download the pdf.








All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Friday, August 1, 2025

August Books for Catholic Kids

August Catholic Kids Book List
Below are a few favorite titles that fit well with devotions and feast days this month! This list contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means if you click through and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no cost to you. I'd also love to encourage you to shop directly with the publisher or with your local bookshop, or try to request these at your local library! I'm sure I've missed some books that would be great for this month, so feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments! You can find my giant list of Catholic Kid Books by topic here.


Feast Days this Month

8/4- St. John Vianney

8/6- The Transfiguration

8/8- St. Dominic

8/10- St. Lawrence

8/11- St. Clare of Assisi

8/11- St. Philomena

8/14- St. Maximilian Kolbe
 
8/15- Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
8/22- Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

8/15- St. Tarcisius
8/18- St. Helen

8/23- St. Rose of Lima

8/28- St. Moses the Black


Book Lists By Month:
Click on the images below for book lists organized by feast days and devotions for each month:

August Radiant Roundup: Back-to-School, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and August Feast Days!

August: The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary


Marian Medallion Circle Stickers* (print, color, and add to your new back-to-school folders and notebooks! These fit on 3" circle sticker labels, or you can print on full sheet label stickers and cut out, or just print on your favorite paper and glue/tape on!)

The Transfiguration: August 6th

St. Philomena: August 11th

St. Maximilian Kolbe: August 14th
Teaching about St. Maximilian Kolbe* (Cross curricular literature, writing, spelling, art, religion, and research unit) (4th-6th)

Assumption of Mary: August 15th
Queenship of Mary: August 22nd 

This activity incorporates art, quotes from Scripture and the catechism, a couple short videos, and a set of worksheets to show the differences and similarities between the Ascension and the Assumption.

If you missed out on crowing Mary in May (or just love honoring Our Lady!), making a little Marian shine is a perfect way to celebrate her Assumption and Coronation! You also can crown your own statue of Mary with flowers or a homemade crown, and then pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary or sing a Marian Hymn.

St. John Eudes: August 19th
St. Bartholomew: August 24th

Our Lady of Częstochowa: August 26th

And although this isn't until September, you may want to print out and prepare for Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati's Canonizations on September 7th! 
Each of these posts has several resources for each soon-to-be Saint, including coloring pages, crossword puzzles, word searches, and short informational articles with an image to color.


Back to School

Print.Cut.Pray. Prayer Card ebook* (K-8th) Over 100 prayer cards and mini books
Little Prayer Books (K-8th) Storage solution for prayer cards
Favorite Prayers Printable Mini Book*

Bulletin Board Collection

Dozens of ideas for Catholic bulletin boards with solid Catholic identity! Many of them include free printables to make it as easy as possible for you to replicate!

Saint Feast Day Chalk Boards (photos for display or inspiration)

August Books for Catholic Kids
Click here for a list of great books for Catholic kids for the feast days throughout the month of August.


You can find the links to all the monthly posts here: