I realize this is a bit late for Corpus Christi, (I've been keeping busy.) But it's not too late to teach kids the awesome mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist!
This is a simple art project to help kids practice painting straight lines. Practice makes perfect and even young kids can learn to paint straight lines, with a little practice! But the best part of this simple art project is that it's a great reminder that Jesus is truly present in the Host at church during Mass.
All kids have different abilities, so I've added a few different paintings to show you a few different ways to create this. Choose what's best for you based upon your child's age and ability! My 8 year old could make the monstrance, but my 3, 5, and 6 year olds made the simple rays and glued on a paper cross and host.
You will need:
- Stock paper or construction paper (color of your choice - We used black and white)
- paint - we used:
white and yellow on black paper
yellow and red on white paper - brown paint or brown paper for a cross (optional)
- paintbrush
- Host printable (It's free!)
- glue
- newspaper to cover the painting area
Now work the paint out in straight lines. Start at the center and go straight out from the center. Do this all the way around. ALWAYS start in the center and go straight out away form the center. This is the straight line practice.
My kids made a chant,
"Middle, go straight out...Middle, go straight out...Middle, go straight out."
It worked well for them. ;-)
I held my 5 year old's hand and directed her paintbrush. Then she was able to do a second painting on her own.
Now add a second color to the middle and do the same as the first.
You might want to do another "glop" of the first color again and the second color again, too. You can decide how many layers you wish to do.
If you are creating a Monstrance, add the stem and base. The stem goes straight down and the base goes straight across.
If your little one hasn't quite figured out how to create straight lines with paint, cut out a few strips of brown paper and create a cross shape. Now cut out a host from the printable and add your Host in the center of your cross or the center of your monstrance.
There you have it!
I love this idea. They turned out beautiful. I could even use this idea as a prayer experience with my youth group. As they make each brush stoke they can have it be a prayer petition.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will consider linking this on my Our Favorite Things link party. The link is
http://www.mylifesatreasure.blogspot.com/2012/06/introducing-our-favorite-things-sunday.html
Karri
It looks so preaty =)
ReplyDeletecongrats to your kids
greetings from México
I mean Pretty =S
ReplyDeleteI love visiting... I'm getting such great ideas! We have used several already! JMJ
DeleteHi Jennifer, your children's monstrances turned out so pretty! Love the looks of the paint on both the white and black backgrounds. How fun for them!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun craft—with a beautiful and unique end result! When I was growing up, any craft that involved paint was a winner for me, and I think most of my children's ministry students feel the same way. So I'm sure that they're going to fall in love with this craft! Thank you so much for sharing—I can't wait to jump in and try it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited you adding this post to the Our Favorite Things Link Party. I just love this. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try this! Thank you for another wonderful idea.
ReplyDeletePainting Jesus is always a great summer project...We just set up a painting station outside:) Love this, thank you!
ReplyDeletecute. I'll bet the folks at Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival would love to see stuff like this. Our host post is at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2012/06/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival_23.html
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer, we made monstrances in my RE class this past weekend but used chalk instead of paint. We have a short class time and sometimes paint doesn't dry well enough before the end of class. They would have liked using paint but it may have made going home a mess. I posted about it today and linked back to you. Thank you Jennifer! God bless!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Hope to teach 2nd grade again. If so, will use this. Maybe will make the Eucharist of glow-in-the-dark material so it can glow in the bedroom even as lights are out. Jesus is always with us.
ReplyDelete