“You are testing yourself – and allowing God to test you – to see if, by giving up something that maybe you are too focused on in everyday life, you can concentrate more on him.”
-Lenten Survival Guide for Kids

Lent for Children and Families

Five Christian publishing houses offer their latest Lenten resources for children and families keeping a Lenten practice. Whichever you choose, you can be sure that learning about Lent will continue at home, as well as at church.

Love Life Live Lent: Be the Change! (Morehouse Education Resources)
These are complementary booklets (3½ x 6¼) – one for elementary age children, one for adults. From Shrove Tuesday to Easter Day there is an action to do on six days in each week of Lent. The actions are quite simple, helping children to make the world a better place one action at a time. The children’s booklet offers ideas and activities for every day of Lent beginning with Shrove Tuesday and ending on Holy Saturday.

Meet the Saints Family StoryBook (Forward Movement)
Join a journey with the saints and your family, learning about the monks, missionaries, prophets, doctors, evangelists, and more who have guide us in our faith. The Meet the Saints: Family Storybook provides twenty-four stories of saints for families to read together, colorful child-friendly illustrations, thoughtful questions for family conversations, prayers to pray together, and coloring pages for children to enjoy.

The Holy Moly Easter Story (Sparkhouse Family)
Full of engaging storytelling and imaginative illustrations, The Holy Moly Easter Story brings the Bible to awe-inspiring life. From Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey to the women finding the empty tomb, kids will be captivated with this story of hope and new life. Holy Moly Bible Story Books encourage creativity with fun coloring and drawing activities that engage kids with biblical learning. To watch the stories come alive through video, check out The Holy Moly Easter Story Collection DVD.

Lenten Survival Guide for Kids (Paraclete Press)
Written for 7-11 year olds, this playful guide appeals to kids who want to know more about what adults are telling them is a serious time. Without talking down to them, and challenging them to learn and do more, the following topics are explored in detail: What Lent Is, What Lent Definitely Is Not, 40 Days of Survival Tactics, and A Few Prayers and Practices – Only for Kids.

From a Deep Blue Night to a Bright Morning Light: An Easter Story (Cokesbury)
Great for kids and parents to read and watch together! Join the kids from the Deep Blue Kids Bible as they tell the story of Jesus’ Resurrection from the Gospel of John. Includes a maze, a dot-to-dot picture, picture match, and Holy Week calendar. Also included in this hardback edition is a 12-minute DVD of the Easter story taken from the Deep Blue Kids Curriculum!

Make Room (Paraclete Press)
An invitation for children to wonder about the Lenten story. This unique book teaches children to experience Lent with all their senses, and to see it as a special time for creating a welcoming space for God. Simple activities like cleaning a room, making bread and soup, and inviting a neighbor for supper become acts of justice and kindness, part of a life of following Christ, and a way to make room for God in our lives and in the world around us.

“This is a poetic, practical and theologically wise book for children.” — L. Ann Jervis