Creations to Celebrate the Liturgical Year

To review the meaning of each part of the Liturgical Year by creating a banner for each season in the cycle

The children will learn that just as different psalms are often used during certain parts of the Liturgical Year, banners can be used to remind us of the season of the Church year that we are celebrating

• 12? x 18? felt rectangles?two purple, two white/gold, one green, and one red (at least one rectangle for each liturgical season)
• Construction paper and/or scraps of other colored felt
• Bibles
• Scissors
• Glue
• 12? dowel rods (one for each banner)
• Yarn or string

• Review the Liturgical Year.
• Brainstorm symbols that could be used to represent each of the seasons, such as the following:

Candle with evergreens (Advent)
Star or manger (Christmas)
Crown of thorns, cross, nails (Lent)
Butterfly, empty tomb (Easter)
Fire, dove, wind, or water (Pentecost)
Flowers, loaves and fishes (Ordinary Time)

• Explain to the children that they will be making a set of banners to be used throughout the year in your prayer center, based on the different seasons of the Liturgical Year.
• Divide the children into small groups and decide which liturgical season each group will represent. Distribute one large piece of felt of the appropriate color to each group.
• Ask each group to design a banner by using at least one of the above symbols and some part of a psalm suggested below for each season:

Advent?Psalm 72
Christmas?Psalm 24, Psalm 96, Psalm 98
Lent?Psalm 51, Psalm 130
Easter?Psalm 117, Psalm 118, Psalm 150
Pentecost?Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30
Ordinary Time?Psalm 27, Psalm 34, Psalm 100

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• Assist the children as needed to help them create their designs.
• To allow the banners to hang, fold down the top edges of the banners and glue them in place to make a one inch casing for the dowel rods. After the banners have dried, insert the rods and attach yarn or string to both ends.

Art/Space Smart, People Smart

Suggest that the children create their banner designs on scrap paper first and then work as a group on the large felt rectangles for the final product.

Tacky glue works better than Elmer's glue on felt.

This project could be extended over two sessions in order to give the children more time to complete it.

Hang only one banner at a time in your prayer center, matching it to the current season of the Liturgical Year

If there are children in your group with special needs (physical, visual, hearing, language, or behavioral disabilities), adapt the activity accordingly.