Decorative Palm Holder

To understand that God gives us the strength to keep our Lenten promises

The children will be able to identify the strength God gives us to keep our Lenten promises.

• Purple construction paper
• Crayons, markers
• Scissors
• Glue

• Ask the children to share why we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. (The ashes are a sign to others that we are willing to make sacrifices like Jesus did. They show others that we are beginning the season of Lent.)
• Explain to the children that the ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday come from burning the palms we received on Palm Sunday last year.
• Say to the children: Before Lent begins, we are asked to bring our palms from the last year to church so that they can be burned. The ashes are used on Ash Wednesday.
• Tell the children that they can help their families save the blessed palms for next year's Lenten season by keeping them in a special folder or envelope.
• Provide the children with large sheets of purple construction paper, crayons, markers, glue, and scissors.
• Direct the children to fold the construction paper in half, and then decorate the folders in a way that reflects the importance of Lent. Suggest that they might want to decorate their folders with an illustration of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the desert or of Jesus overcoming temptation.
• Write the following sentence on the board for the children to copy onto their folders: Let us praise God for giving us the strength we need to keep our Lenten promises.
• Remind the children how difficult it can be to save something as delicate as a palm for an entire year. This way, the children can suggest to their families a safe place to keep their palms.

Art/Space Smart, People Smart, Self Smart

Remind the children that purple is the color of the Lenten season.