Monday, November 25, 2024

December Books for Catholic Kids


December 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.

All Month- The Season of Advent
The Jesse Tree
Advent Devotionals

New Liturgical Year

December Saints & Feast Days
12/1- St. Edmund Campion

12/3- St. Francis Xavier

12/5- Bl. Nicolas Steno

12/6- St. Nicholas

12/8- The Immaculate Conception
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Tomie de Paola

12/9- Anniversary of the death of Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
12/9- St. Juan Diego
12/12- Our Lady of Guadalupe

12/13- St. Lucy

O Antiphons: December 17th-24th

The Christmas Season 
The First Christmas

Christmas Fiction

The Holy Family: December 31st



Book Lists By Month:
Click on the images below for book lists organized by feast days and devotions for each month:
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Monday, November 18, 2024

Advent Candles Stained Glass Windows

 

What do you do with a plethora of left over tiny tissue paper squares? I cut way too many for a parish project a couple weeks ago, and got the brilliant idea to put them to good use to create “stained glass” windows for my classroom during Advent! 
  • I rolled out a length of clear contact paper sticky side up on our classroom tables.
  • Then gave my students a pile of tissue paper squares and had them go to work. 
  • When they were done, I covered the other side with another piece of clear contact paper (essentially laminating them without the heat) and trimmed the edges. 
  • The only problem is that we have five windows and there are only four Advent candles… so we added the word “hope” as a theme for Advent to the middle. (Another class requested a white candle for Christmas- we’ll see if we make it happen!). 
  • I had several students not happy that I lit all the candles, but to be perfectly honest it was going to be impractical for me to plan to get out the ladder every Monday to add the flame, so all at once it was. 
Our windows overlook the playground, so I love that the whole school gets to enjoy our four foot tall candles from outside! Now we just need some nice sunny days (rather than the overcast sky) to enjoy the sun shining through their artwork! Happy Advent!

(P.S. You could use this technique for so many other Catholic symbols- imagine how good this would look with a Sacred Heart display, or a Nativity silhouette, or Saint for All Saints Day... so many possibilities!)


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Sunday, November 17, 2024

Clickable Advent & Christmas Calendar for 2024

Last year with the release of our book All About Advent & Christmas, Shari and I created a ton of bonus resources to support the book. Those are all still available to your, but I've already gotten requests to update the clickable calendar for 2024. This is the perfect thing to keep on your desktop and click to plan activities for your family each week, or it works great to send out in your parish or classroom newsletters. 

Click here for a pdf of the Clickable Advent & Christmas Calendar for 2024 (note that you have to share this as a pdf, not an image, for the links to work!)


And if you are looking for more free resources to help you learn and pray during the Seasons of Advent and Christmas, check out all of these printables ready for you!

All of those resources were created as companions for my book All About Advent & Christmas, written by me and beautifully illustrated by Shari Van Vranken. You can find more info here:

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Friday, November 1, 2024

November Radiant Roundup

November, the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory
It's the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, a time that the Church Militant here on earth focuses our prayers on the Church Suffering. We also strive to orient our own gazes to Heaven, knowing that this life is only temporary. The days of Hallowtide- Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls- give us a perfect opportunity to teach kids about eternity and the hope that we have in Jesus. Here some activities for Hallowtide, as well as upcoming Saints' Feast Days and looking ahead to planning for Advent!

All Saints: November 1st
12+ Ideas for Celebrating Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls Day*
Saint Scavenger Hunt*
Digital Saint Scavenger Hunt
All Saints Day Art Project
Beatitudes and Modern Saints Card Game*
All Saints Day Info Coloring Page*
Happy All Saints Day Coloring Page*
All Saints Day Litany Prayer Cards*
Saintly Friends Bingo Game (and book recs for Saint Pairs)* (all ages)
Saints Q&A Activity Book (5th-8th)*
Saint Trading Card Classroom Reward System (K-8th)
12+ Ideas for Celebrating All Saints Day* (K-8th)
Saint Pennants* (all ages)
Saint Pennants in more sizes*


Two sets of clickable Saint Jeopardy, ready to play with a group or set up for an individual to test their knowledge. You can also make a copy and edit to add in your own favorite Saints!



All Souls: November 2nd
All Saints and All Souls Day Letters*
All Souls Day Prayer Cards (Eternal Rest Prayer)*
Memento Mori Printables*
All About Relics Activity Book (5th-8th)*
12+ Ideas for Celebrating Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls Day*

Memento Mori Visio Divina & Reflections
This slide show is intended for junior high and high schoolers to start a conversation on living each day with Heaven in mind, as well as praying for the dead. It included a recommended video, a set of art to use with Visio Divina, and a collection of Saint and Scripture quotes to use for discussion or journaling.
And here's a printable guide to the steps for Visio Divina the kids can use to help with discussion or a written reflection of the included art.

Photos to print here and awesome coloring pages from artist Fabiola Garza here.
My students used all of these tools, some books, and online research to create posters about these six holy men and women.


Vocations Awareness Week- First full week in November
Praying for Vocations* Tactile Prayer Stations



St. Frances Xavier Cabrini: November 13th
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Activity Books



Solemnity of Christ the King: November 24th
Christ the King Music Playlist on YouTube
Feast of the Miraculous Medal: November 27th
St. Catherine Laboure: November 28th
Miraculous Medal Embroidery Pattern* and links to free resources

Thanksgiving: November 28th
Psalm 9:2 Coloring Page*
Psalm 9:2-I will give thanks bulletin board*


St. Andrew: November 30th




And in case you'd like to plan ahead, here are some links to help you have a peaceful and prayerful Advent!
Advent: 1st Sunday of Advent- December 1st
What Advent Looks Like* Coloring Page
Advent, Christmas, Epiphany Ideas 2019
Advent Family Calendar (structure & activity ideas, includes an editable version)*
Weekly Advent Reflection Slides (Editable for Google Classroom)
Advent & Christmas Videos
Advent Music Playlist
Sacred Art Visio Divina for Advent (Digital Resources)
New Advent Resources
Printable Advent Wreath Candles*
Printable Advent Wreath Candles (Spanish)*
Printable Advent Wreath Candles (Dutch)*
Advent Traditions for Anyone and Everyone *
Advent Family Traditions*
Decorating for Advent
Advent Today
Favorite Advent Videos
Advent Trivia Jeopardy
Advent Prayer Ring*
Advent Prayer Cards for Each Sunday (Year C)*
Advent Weekly Reflections

New Liturgical Year Resources
The Liturgical Year Coloring Book*
Liturgical Year Calendar
Liturgical Year Printable & Colorable Calendar
Decorating for the Liturgical Year
Liturgical Year Board Game
Monthly Devotion Signs*
Ideas for Living the Liturgical Year in the Classroom*

Books for Advent



And if you haven't checked it out yet, now would be a great time to order my book All about Advent & Christmas: Sharing the Seasons of Wonder and Hope with Children so you have it in plenty of time for Advent! Shari and I also made a giant stack of activity pages that correspond directly with the book that you can get totally free!



You can find the links to the monthly Radiant Roundups here:

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