3rd Grade Religious Ed: Confession and the Mass

 This covers two classes for which I have lost my notes!

The first was the first Sunday of May, so we had a May crowning and sang Immaculate Mary.  Ever since we looked up the Mass in Japanese (when Mxyl was going to Japan) and discovered Japanese Catholics singing Immaculate Mary, I have felt this is the song every Catholic should know!

We also said a decade of the Rosary with the kids putting a flower in for each prayer.  I love that idea of the Rosary as making a bouquet for Mary!


In the last class we had discussed sins, temptations, accidents and mistakes, so this week we  went into Confession.  I found a lovely craft about the treasures of Confession from Catholic Icing which I modified to make faster and easier.

I brought a bunch of little treasure chests ($1.50 each),  jewel stickers, markers, and a print out of the list of "treasures" from Catholic Icing, cut into strips.

I had the kids color the treasure chests with the markers while I discussed the "how to" part of Confession.  I think I had Klenda help me act out a good Confession.

Then we reviewed each "treasure."  I handed them out one at a time and let the kids decorate the strips with the jewels.

They decorated the strips and then packed each one into the chest before we went on to the next.

This went really well, and the kids loved the little treasure chests! 

The following week was Mother's Day and the Ascencion.  We talked a lot about gifts, the gifts we give our moms because we love them, and our moms being reminded of us by our gifts.

Then we talked about the Mass being God's gift to us, particularly Jesus' gift of Himself, and our gift of self when we participate in the Mass.

We did this little coloring sheet and stapled glittery gold lace ribbon to show the graces (God's life) flowing to us from the Mass.

While they were coloring, I read the book,  The Weight of a Mass.

When they were done with that, we made gifts for their moms.

We did tissue paper flowers, and made bath salts, both of which the kids really liked, but the bath salts were the best!

I took a large container of epsom salts, some wide mouth canning jars, and my collection of essential oils.  I let the kids smell each oil, and allowed them to add 3 drops of two fragrances (plus some coloring) to a cup of epsom salts. 

This way each child made a special fragrance and color that was specific for their Mom, and, by limiting it to a combination of two, every batch came out smelling wonderful!

Next time I would take a selection instead of the whole collection, though.  There were really too

Klenda and Oob each made one for me!

many for the kids to smell before their noses wore out!

I also have to say, watching the moms pick up the kids after class, they loved the bath salts, particularly that the child had designed a unique fragrance for them!

There is a core lesson there about God's unique love for each of us, and our gift of self to Him, and to each other.