Alllllll the All about Advent & Christmas Printables- Free for you!

The days left in Advent are dwindling, and I know as a teacher I am looking for activities to use in my classroom during the snippets of time before Christmas break. And I bet that parents will be looking for some tools to keep little hands busy while everyone is together over the Christmas Season.  

Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods and I have worked hard over the past couple of months to make a huge collection of coloring and activities pages. Using the artwork and catechetical content from our book All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children, we hope make the book more interactive this Season and for years to come. We've shared a few printables already and still have more to come... but we want to get them all in your hands NOW so that you can put them to good use- and we're offering them totally FREE!

We've compiled a collection of over thirty pages of printables for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, including simple coloring pages (with snippets of catechetical content to give them meaning), more complex activity pages for older kids, a few resources translated into Spanish, a bulletin board set, and a clickable calendar with activities for each day.

You can access ALL THE RESOURCES IN THIS FOLDER

Or, you can download ONE FILE WITH ALL ACTIVITY PAGES 

Here is a list of the resources included. Many of these activities also have (or will have) their own blog post with additional information and connected resources to help parents and teachers use them well. You can find the links to those posts below:

• Clickable Calendar with activities for everyday in the Advent & Christmas Seasons
• Advent Calendar Coloring Page
• Advent Wreath Coloring Page
• The Advent Wreath- Cards for each week
• Design-an-Advent-Chasuble
• Waiting for Jesus Bulletin Board
• The Threefold Coming of Jesus at Advent Quote Coloring Page (in Spanish & English)
• The Threefold Coming of Jesus at Advent Mini Book (in Spanish & English)
• The Nativity Scene Coloring Page 
• St. Juan Diego's Miraculous Tilma (in Spanish & English, older & younger versions)
• Gaudete Sunday Coloring Page
• Bambinelli Sunday Coloring Page
• Bambinelli Sunday Prayer
• Mary, the First Tabernacle Coloring Page 
• The O Antiphons Activity Page 
• The Nativity Coloring Page 
• Christmas Prayer 
• Celebrating Epiphany
• Challenging Advent Crossword Puzzle

And all of them work perfectly alongside our book All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children, which you can find at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here. 

Gaudete Sunday

Can you believe that this Sunday is already Gaudete Sunday, the start of the third week of Advent?

During Advent we use the color purple to remind ourselves of preparing for Jesus to come at Christmas. But on the third Sunday of Advent, you might have a little surprise when you come to Mass and see the priest wearing pink!

Pink, or rose, is a color of joy. On the third Sunday of Advent we are over halfway through the season and drawing closer to the celebration of Christmas. We rejoice because our waiting is almost over!

The third Sunday of Advent even has a special name; it is called Gaudete (pronounced gow-DAY-tay) Sunday. Gaudete is from Latin and means “to rejoice.” It is the first word of the entrance antiphon for Mass on Gaudete Sunday, and the readings that day are all about joy.

We thought your children might like to color their own rose chasuble for Gaudete Sunday! This coloring page is complete with a little catechesis on Gaudete Sunday as well as the symbolism of the chasuble. You can print it here:

You may also like our design-an-Advent-chasuble page too, which you can find here:

My niece and a couple of my nephews designed a few samples for us, and I think that they did a great job!

And you can read more about Gaudete Sunday and other Advent traditions in All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children. These coloring pages were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

You can find it at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style! 

And you can find all of the free resources linked in this post:

Bambinelli Sunday

Have you ever heard of Bambinelli Sunday?

Bambinelli (Baby Jesus) Sunday in Italy takes place on the third Sunday of Advent. Families bring the Baby Jesus figurine from their Nativity sets to church to have them blessed in preparation for Christmas. Pope St. Paul VI even made it a custom for this event to take place in the Vatican. Pilgrims can have their Baby Jesus statue blessed by the pope himself!

If you've never seen this custom, check in with your priest to see if it is something that can be done at your parish during Advent! 

While doing a little more research into Bambinelli Sunday, I came across the beautiful blessing shared by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. You can read the whole address on the Vatican website here, or we included just the prayer on this coloring page:

You can print either of these coloring pages to share with your children this Advent:

Click here for the coloring page with a description of Bambinelli Sunday:

And click here for the coloring page with the prayer from Pope Benedict included:

And you can read more about Bambinelli Sunday and other Advent traditions in All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children. These coloring pages were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

You can find it at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style! 

And you can find all of the free resources linked in this post:

St. Juan Diego's Miraculous Tilma

You probably know that in 1531 on Tepeyac Hill in Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego. You likely also know that his miraculous vision led him to the bishop, asking for a church to be built on the site. And you've surely heard of the miracle of the roses gathered in his tilma, which when dropped on the floor- revealing an even greater miracle in the image of Our Lady imprinted on the tilma.

But did you know...

• The natural material the tilma was made from would normally last less than 30 years. Juan Diego’s tilma is intact almost 500 years later!
• There are no brushstrokes within the image. No pigment, paint, or other explanation for the image can be detected on the tilma.
• When looked at under a microscope, Mary’s eyes are lifelike and actually show a reflection of the moment Juan Diego opened his tilma to give the roses to the bishop.
• Not only was it miraculous that roses were growing in the winter, but the roses that Juan Diego took to the bishop were native to Castile, Spain- where the bishop was from and an additional sign to him of the miraculous event.
• Acid was accidentally spilled on the tilma in 1785, and a bomb was set off under the tilma in 1921. Both times the tilma remained undamaged.

If you'd like to share the miraculous story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe with your children, I have some incredible new printables for you! They were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

We're excited to offer not only a coloring page, but one that is packed with info. It includes a short bio, a few ways to celebrate the feast days, and a number of facts about the OLG image on the tilma. 

AND we have four versions available! There is a version for older kids with more text, and one for younger kids that is simplified and has a larger image. And we also were blessed to have a volunteer translate them both into Spanish!

Click here for the Tilma info page for older kids in English

And here for Spanish

Click here for the Tilma info page for younger kids in English

And here for Spanish

Other resources for St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Our Lady of Guadalupe Block Print* 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Quote Coloring Page*

Included in the Advent Feast Days Booklet*

And read more about St. Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and other December Saints in All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children.

You can find it at The St. Paul Center here (30% off until 12/31/23!) or on Amazon here. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style! 

St. Juan Diego, pray for us!

Eucharistic Witnesses: Servant of God Charlene Richard

I'm honored to be contributing to the Heart of the Revival, the newsletter and blog for the National Eucharistic Revival. I've written several articles and created activities for kids (like this Eucharistic Procession, Mass Offering Cards, Pilgrimage Passport, Pope Benedict XVI quotes, Art for Holy Week, and Bl. Carlo Acutis Activities). 

I've also been helping with a monthly series called American Eucharistic Witnesses. 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've been tasked with creating a version of this series for children. Each booklet contains a shorter 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). The collection matches in structure and we'll finish the series with a final project to pull all the booklets together. 

Read the original article about Servant of God Charlene Richard here, and find the kids' activities below. (including in Spanish!)

Servant of God Charlene Richard Biography Activity for Older Kids in English

Servant of God Charlene Richard Biography Activity for Older Kids in Spanish

Servant of God Charlene Richard Biography Activity for Younger Kids in English

Servant of God Charlene Richard Biography Activity for Younger Kids in Spanish

Others in the series:

St. Marianne Cope

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Bl. Stanley Rother

Bl. Carlos Manuel Cecilio 

Ven. Augustus Tolton

Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

Servant of God Dorothy Day

Servant of God Charlene Richard

Servant of God Julia Greeley

Servant of God Antonio Inija

Servant of God Michelle Duppong

Flannery O'Connor

Cardinal Francis George

Update: Find all of the biographies, as well as new cumulative activities for the series in these two free ebooks with over 40 pages of content in each!

The Threefold Coming of the Lord this Advent

“We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold… The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power, and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.” ~St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Season of Advent

The word Advent comes from Latin and means “to come.” After many long years of waiting for the Messiah, Jesus came at a specific time and place. We celebrate the Incarnation and remember His birth each year at Christmas. We know that during Advent we look forward with hope to when Jesus will come again at the end of time to create a new heaven and a new earth. But we also see that Jesus comes to us right now in the present moment. He is near to us in prayer, in the people around us, in the world He created, and especially in the Holy Eucharist. Read more in my full article for the Eucharistic Revival blog here.

Help your kids learn more about the threefold coming of Jesus this Advent with the resources below. These were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

• With older kids, read and talk about this St. Bernard of Clairvaux quote using the coloring page. Ask them how they understand Jesus coming in the past, present, and future. Discuss ways to look for Jesus each day and welcome Him as He comes to us in prayer, through the people around us, and especially in the Eucharist at Mass.
• With younger kids, create this Advent accordion storybook. Read it together with them, talking about the meaning of the Season of Advent. Show them that Jesus came at the first Christmas, comes to us each day, and will come again at the end of time.

Click here for the accordion book for younger kids:

(and the matching printable is in Spanish here)

Click here for the coloring page for older kids:

(and the matching printable is in Spanish here)

Read more about the coming of the Lord in All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children soon so that you are ready for Advent!

You can find it at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style!

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

And you can find all of the free resources linked in this post:

Waiting for Jesus Advent Bulletin Board

It's almost Advent! How about an easy bulletin board to help set the tone for the season? I wanted to hang something in my classroom that gave a visual reminder of our waiting for the Lord to come...but was looking for something that wasn't necessarily purple and pink ;).

This bulletin board reminds us of the night sky and the transition from darkness to light we celebrate during Advent. The empty manger represents our waiting and preparation for Jesus to come. I stapled on the "hay" using brown crinkle cut paper, but you could totally make this an interactive bulletin board by providing small strips of paper for your students. On the paper, they could write how they are preparing their hearts during Advent and could list prayers, acts of service, good deeds, etc. Then those strips of paper could be added to the manger to make it a welcoming place for Baby Jesus!

The printables for this bulletin board were made in cooperation with Shari Van Vranken of Catholic Paper Goods using artwork from our new book!

It was particularly inspired by these two pages, one with the empty manger and another explaining the custom of lining a manger with straw for Baby Jesus representing our good deeds, prayers, and sacrifices.

I created several sets of letters (using a font Shari designed for the book!) in several different colors (purple, navy, gold, and black) and two different sizes. To simplify sharing them with you, they are all available in this folder:

FYI, I cut all of the letters out for my bulletin board, but you could definitely save time by just cutting a rectangle around each word. You'll have to trim and tape together "heart" but that modification would really speed up putting this bulletin board together!

And to print the manger click here. It it ready to print on two 11x17" pages, then trim and tape to make it around 20x16." I sent it to be printed at my local office store (cost $1) or you can print it on multiple 8.5x11" sheets at home using the "poster" feature in your pdf print settings. The image is black and white line art to save you ink, so you or a kiddo or two can add some color with crayons, colored pencils, or markers!

Read more about the coming of the Lord in All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Hope & Wonder with Children soon so that you are ready for Advent.

You can find it at The St. Paul Center here or on Amazon here. It's also available as an ebook in both places if that's more your style!

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!