One of the best ways to celebrate Holy Week is to attend as many Masses as possible. During this week, you can practically live at church: Palm Sunday, with the reading of The Passion, Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, not to mention Stations of the Cross and extra hours for Reconciliation. These liturgies and extra events are beautiful, and I highly recommend attending as many as you possibly can.
But to really help your children (and you!) appreciate all of the nuances of this holiest of weeks, it’s important to supplement the liturgies with lessons geared to their age levels. Here are some ideas for how to do this in your home.
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A Homemade Palm Craft
On Palm Sunday, we start by welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem. First, we made homemade palms by tracing our hands on green paper and gluing them together onto popsicle sticks or clothespins.
- Trace each child’s hands at least 3 times on green paper (6 outlines), and cut them out.
- Arrange them into a palm (we placed them vertically with 3 rows of 2, more or less) and glue them together.
- Secure them to something that can be used as a handle. We didn’t have any popsicle sticks, but we had some leftover round wooden clothespins from an Advent craft, so we used those.
Welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed him were shouting,
Matthew 21:8-9
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
We dressed in red and used the Entrance to Jerusalem scene from Jesus of Nazareth (the 1977 TV mini-series) to show the kids what it was like. They waved their homemade palms to welcome Jesus. This sets the stage for Holy Week and gives us something to refer back to when Jesus is arrested and condemned to death. Seeing Jesus’ Palm Sunday welcome starkly contrasts Holy Thursday and Good Friday, when the same people now shouting “Hosanna!” will begin shouting “Crucify him!” instead.
The Passion
Just as we hear the entire Passion at Mass, on Palm Sunday we watch The Miracle Maker as a family. This movie not only depicts the Passion and Crucifixion in a way that is appropriate for young children, but it also shows much of the public ministry of Jesus. My children love this movie and look forward to watching it at least once per year.
More ideas for Holy Week:
5 Movies to Watch During Holy Week
Spy Wednesday: The Betrayal of Judas and an At-Home Tenebrae Service
Holy Thursday: The Last Supper at Home
Good Friday: Silence and The Crown of Thorns
3 Ways to Meditate on the Stations of the Cross at Home
Vinegar, Salt, and the Gospel: A Holy Saturday Activity
