Teaching Scripture to Children Video Course with the St. Paul Center

I’m excited to share with you a little project I worked on last summer- at the invitation of The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, I wrote an 8 part series about sharing the Bible with kids, and then we filmed it! (Emmaus Road Publishing, where my books Through the Year with Jesus and Through the Year with Mary came from, is under the umbrella of the St. Paul Center).

The study is intended to help parents and teachers feel equipped and inspired to read Sacred Scripture together with their children and students. Episodes include ideas for using the Bible through the Liturgical Year, in connection to the Mass, while praying the Rosary, with journaling and art, through the highs and lows of life, and more. 

Click here to watch a trailer of the course:

You know how much I like to share resources, so each talk also has corresponding handouts to help guide the grownups and printables for the kids. Over twenty pdfs are ready for you to download and use!

You can access all of it through the Emmaus Academy platform, a brand new resource from The St. Paul Center with courses from Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. John Bergsma, Fr. Boniface Hicks, and more.

Here’s the official course description:

“The Bible is wise and powerful and holy, but it is not meant to be reserved for only the wisest scholars, most powerful leaders, or holiest saints. Sacred Scripture is a love letter from our Heavenly Father for each one of us—adult and child alike. Although the Bible can be lengthy and complex, it is still intended to be approached by even the youngest Catholics. With a little preparation and some helpful tools, parents and grandparents, as well as catechists and teachers, can help children encounter the Word of God in prayer and study. Discover how to open the Bible with kids of all ages to pray with Lectio Divina and Visio Divina, meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, bring the Sunday Mass Readings into your week, celebrate the liturgical year, and support the highs and lows of daily life. Learning how to pray with Scripture alongside your children is a gift that can last generations.”

You can click here to give the Academy a try with a 14 day free trial. Watch my Teaching Scripture to Children course, but make sure you check out all of the other resources which are being added to each month.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email at hello (at) looktohimandberadiant (dot) com!

Jesus in the Monstrance Bulletin Board Ideas (and Eucharist Video Playlists!)

Last week I posted a quick tour of my classroom in this video on Instagram. The most common question I got was about the details on this Eucharist bulletin board. Lucky for you I took some process videos and made a shareable version!

This bulletin board is the first thing you see when you come in my classroom door, so I like to take the time to make it something eye catching and meaningful. With the Eucharistic Revival beginning this year, it seemed like a great theme to run with for the beginning of the school year. This bulletin board is good sized at around 45"x45". First I'll give you the steps for this version, and then I have an easy to print one further down in the post.

-Cover bulletin board with black paper. I didn't want a border to distract from the quote/rays, so just trimmed the edges carefully.
-To make the Monstrance, I found a photo of a Monstrance that I liked online and projected it on my smartboard. With the touch sensitivity turned off, I taped a piece of kraft paper to the smartboard and "traced" the Monstrance with a black marker. It really was a rough trace- it doesn't have to be perfect. It will still look quite detailed from a distance, so don't go crazy trying to get every little line!
-I then used some gold acrylic craft paint to add some highlights to the Monstrance. Again, not going for perfection, just some shiny details. Up close it is far from perfect, but on the bulletin board it looks great.
-Cut a host out of white paper and attached to the Monstrance. Hung in the center of the bulletin board.
-Lettered "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name" on white paper and hung at the bottom, kind of like an altar cloth beneath the Monstrance.
-Wrote out a series of Eucharistic quotes from Scripture and the Saints. (List included below). I wrote them with black marker on old adding machine tape, which was way easier than cutting paper. I did a little rough measuring to know how long the lengths of paper needed to be, and then chose the length of quote to fit. 
-Tucked the end of the rays of white paper under the edge of the Monstrance and had the radiate off the sides of the bulletin board. I now wish that I would have made them all about 2" longer so they all hung off the edge, symbolized the effects of the Eucharist in the world... but wasn't crazy enough to redo them. ;)

You might be thinking, "That's nice Katie, but that is a whole lot of work for a bulletin board."

So I also have a printable version for you! :)

I made this one with bright paper just for something different, but you could do the exact same thing in black, white, and gold if you like.

I don't have anything that can print on paper larger than 8.5"x11", so I printed this Monstrance image using the poster feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader. In the print dialogue, click on "Poster" and then change the tile size to something larger like 150% or 200%. It will print on several sheets of paper which you can trim and tape together to make it as large as you like! Here is mine on 4 sheets of regular paper:

I then taped it together and roughly cut out. (No way am I cutting on all of those tiny lines! Just the general shape is enough!) I cut out a small white circle and glued on for the host.

I have the "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name" still at the bottom for balance, but it certainly could go on the top. The Eucharist quotes are printed on 8.5"x11" paper, so those rays are all 11" long. You could also print those on a larger scale if you were decorating a larger bulletin board. 

All together, this printable bulletin board sized in right at 3'x3.' It would look great on a door as well!

Click here for the Monstrance Printable:

8.5"x11" size 

11"x17" size 

Click here for the Eucharist Quotes

4 per page size (used for the rays in the bulletin board design)  (this one also has the "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name" title)

1 quote per page (great to rotate on a bulletin board)

Along with the resources for the Eucharist that are already here on the blog (check under the "Sacraments" tab above) I plan to pull together and organize some new tools during this time of Eucharistic revival. I've saved 100s of videos to YouTube playlists over the years, and those playlists are getting quite long. So I started a few new sets that you might be interested in below. 

I teach 6th-8th grade, so most of these videos are things that I would consider using with them or my high school youth group. There are definitely some things for younger kids mixed in. As always with any video, please watch it first and make sure it is a good fit for your kids. I'll be adding more to these playlists as I continue to curate!

Eucharist Video Playlist

Eucharistic Saints Video Playlist (still working on adding to this one! Feel free to add some links in the comments!)

Eucharistic Procession Playlist

May a renewed love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament change our hearts and our world!

Advent Activities for Home and Classroom

Happy Solemnity of Christ the King! If you'd like some music to celebrate, here's a playlist for your prayer and enjoyment: Christ the King Music Playlist

And that means it's almost time for Advent! The wonder, the hope, the light- and the focus on a newborn King come to save us. Here is a collection of free ideas, activities, and printables to help your family and classroom enter into the Season. 

(Just a reminder- you are always welcome to share these resources with your classroom or parish-  I'm happy to be of help! When possible, I always appreciate a link back to the original blog post or a mention of looktohimandberadiant.com.)

First up, here is a "schedule" of suggested Advent activities for each week, perfect to add to a classroom newsletter or parish bulletin. The links all send the reader to free resources, like videos, printables, and music playlists. Or you are welcome to pull ideas from this and send them individually! 

Or here is an editable version that you can tailor to your students/program:

And now here are some links to individual activities or resources. Some of these are new, and some are old favorites- so sometimes they will just open straight to the resource, and others will send you to the original blog post with all the details. You can also look under the Liturgical Year Tab above for a list of past posts.

Weekly Advent Reflection Slides for Google Classroom (include videos, art, Scripture, Lectio Divina, and prayer)

Sacred Art for Advent and Christmas- This set of Google Slides contains 20 pieces of sacred art for the Season, as well as steps for Visio Divina for older and younger kids. Perfect to pull up on a big tv, smart board, or projector!

Printable Advent Wreath Candles in English:

And in Spanish: (and I forgot, they are in Dutch too!

Booklets for families on praying with the Advent Wreath, celebrating Saint Feast Days in December, and an overview of the new Liturgical Year:

Advent Family Traditions: There are about ten different cards like this highlighting various traditions celebrated during Advent.

Advent Song Playlist:

Advent YouTube Video Playlist- wide range of videos for little ones up to high schoolers.

Advent Jeopardy  and a second Advent Jeopardy game here ( There are a few different games for Advent and December Saints are available if you search "Jeopardy" over in the search bar, but some of them need some reformatting, fyi. They don't always transfer well to Google Slides! Best option is to download and use in PowerPoint.)

What Advent Looks Like Coloring Page

What Christmas Looks Like Coloring Page (or use the whole Liturgical Year Coloring Book)

O Antiphons Bible Study and Creative Project (Google Slides for Google Classroom)

O Antiphon Coloring Book (and mini version for Ornaments or decorating)

Seeking Our Savior Detective Journey in English:

And Spanish:

And there are tons more, especially projects for Christmas and Epiphany in this list of links!

May this Season draw all of us closer and closer to the Light of the World!

Honoring Our Mother Mary

Happy May!  In honor of the month of Mary, I've collected a whole series of posts with tons of ideas for teaching kids about Mary- and through her, modeling Christian life, prayer, generosity, and virtue.

Click on any of the pictures below to take you to a post with more info, ideas, printables, and pictures.  I'll spare you more descriptions...and let the posts do the talking!

And, to every woman reading this, thank you for all of the ways that you mother each soul you meet: the kind word, the smile, the caring touch.  You are what the world needs.  Keep on living that call to be what God has made you to be!

"A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." ~Proverbs 31:30