Favorite Saint and Me Portrait

To show the children how the lives of our favorite saints can help us to live saintly lives

The children will identify an aspect of themselves that resembles an attribute of their favorite saint.

• Drawing paper
• Crayons or markers
• Books about saints

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• Tell the children that the saints help us get to know God better.
• Point out pictures of various saints in the saint books and talk with the children about the lives of some saints that might be familiar to them.
• To help the children discover ways in which they can live (and already do live) as members of God's family, ask the children to think about their favorite saints and the things they did as followers of Jesus.
• As a group, brainstorm a list of actions or personality traits that the children have in common with their favorite saint. The list may also include things that the children hope to possess or do in the future.
• Invite the children to choose a saint whom they would most like to live as and a trait or action that they like about this saint (perhaps something they share in common).
• Give the children time to draw portraits of their favorite saints. Allow the children to use the books for guidance in their drawings.
• Ask the children to include in the portrait the trait or action that they like most about this saint. Tell the children that this trait will represent them in the portrait (a way in which they have learned to live or something that they can do to live as the saint).
• Encourage the children to share their portraits with the entire group. If possible, hang the portraits around the room as signs of celebration of All Saints Day.

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Art/Space Smart, People Smart, Self Smart, Word Smart

Try creating your own portrait of a saint to use as an example for the children. The younger children may have a difficult time understanding how they might include themselves in the portrait.