Our Lenten Lapbook

 In my family I like to have mixture of activities the kids can count on year after year and new activities that may or may not become yearly traditions.  Two years ago I came up with a simple Lenten lapbook, and it has become a welcome family tradition.  The lapbook isn't so much for learning about Lent, like the much more involved one from Lapbooks for Catholics, but rather it is a way for the kids to keep track of their Lenten promises and to make it easier for them to conceptualize the length of Lent.  This lapbook, along with our manzanita branch turned Jesse tree turned Lenten count-down tree and our alms box, form the physical backbone of our family's Lenten practices.

The lapbook is simple.  In the center panel I have the Lenten countdown calendar from Catholic Icing.  One side panel has this file, where children can record their Lenten promises.   The other side panel can be used for attaching a Stations of the Cross book and a little place where they can draw or write about special Lenten activities we do as a family, things like praying the Stations of the Cross or making pretzels.  The cover is a coloring page, cut out and mounted and carefully cut down the center so the folder opens nicely.  We always make these on Ash Wednesday, generally after we come home from the Ash Wednesday Mass.  Then, most mornings during Lent, the children take a couple of minutes to color in the day's square (or maybe more than one, if we forgot for a morning or two!), check off their boxes for their promises, and maybe draw a little something in their drawing space.  Simple to make, simple to use, and meaningful for the kids.  What more could I want?