Hello
Friends,
I thought that I would share a project that we did in religion. Our lesson this
week was on prayer. We discussed why we pray, how we pray, and who hears our
prayers. We talked about different ways of praying such as praying a group
prayer where everyone says the same words or simply talking to Jesus in our own
words.
Each year when I teach the Sign of the Cross, I have little ones who struggle
with what hand to use and what direction to go. There are tons of color sheets
around that show the order of the Sign of the Cross, but color sheets just are
not enough. I have tried attaching a colored dot to the right hand of my
students and that works great for teaching left and right, but some little ones
continue to struggle with crossing their body on the holy part of the
prayer.
So.......
Drumroll, please..... I think I came up with a hands-on project to teach this
tricky prayer. My student made a paper person do the Sign of the Cross! I call
it "My Prayer Buddy." Now, when we practice the Sign of the Cross,
all I have to say is "Remember when we say holy, we go all the way across
our body." I also tell my student that when we say holy, it is like we are
giving ourselves a "holy hug!"
Here are the
directions:
1.
Cut a 12" x 18" piece of construction paper lengthwise to create the
body. Fold in half.
2. Cut paper strips lengthwise from a 12: x 18: piece of construction paper. You will get four strips.
3. Open up the body and glue the arms under the crease. Glue the top flap to the bottom flap.
4.
For the hands, I pre-cut skin colored ovals, but you could also have your
students trace and cut out their own hands. Attach hands to the ends of the
arms.
5.
Use skin colored paper to create a circle head. Attach the head to the folded
part of the body. Add facial features and hair.
6. Attach
the words to the proper places on the paper buddy.
7. Attach
a sticker dot to the right hand of the prayer buddy. This would be the right
hand when they are holding their buddy in front of them.
8. Children hold their prayer buddy in front of them and do the Sign of the Cross. Yay! It works! The little hands also come together for AMEN.
Click HERE to download the words and template for the head.
Blessings,
