CCD Teacher Resources

Whether your church calls it CCD (which stands for "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine") or just plain 'ol RE for "Religious Education", educating children about the faith is obviously a big passion of mine! When you sign up to be a CCD teacher, they provide you with a book and probably some outlines of what you should be covering with your class, but sometimes we're still left looking for more. 

My favorite online resource for CCD teachers is a site called The Catholic Toolbox. There are so many free resources for Catholics over on this site that I asked her to round up all the best CCD teacher posts to get us started, and her's what she sent to me:

 

Planning Ahead for CCD- What should be done before CCD starts

 

What Every Catechist Needs to Know- Here are a few things that I think every catechist should know about or do.

 

Teaching Kids About the Rosary 

 

Teaching Kids About the Ten Commandments

 

Resources for teaching the Seven Sacraments to Kids

 

Teaching Catholic Kids about Prayer

Big list of Free, Printable, Catholic games- Fun and Educational!

 

Catholic Lesson Plans for Preschoolers and Kindergartners 

A to Z Bible Story Lesson Plans

 

CCD Lesson Plans for 1^st Grade and Higher

 

Celebrating the Mass Lesson Plans (for the new missal) 

There's so much on her site I could never list it all! Go check out the Catholic Toolbox, and go ahead and subscribe while you're at it. Otherwise, you'll be missing out on tons of  free Catholic resources! ;-)

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Catholic Vacation Bible School- Growing With the Saints

I wanted to feature some Catholic Vacation bible school programs. I know that many protestant VBS programs offer Catholic counterparts, but I'm going to focus on VBS packages actually created by Catholics.  The first one I'm looking at is "Growing with the Saints". I've never seen or participated this program myself, but here's what one of my readers had to say:

"I am the DRE for our parish and have used these programs for 4 years now. Totally Catholic, featured saints, authentic doctrine...I highly recommend them."- Sara (she also says they have now partnered with "Christ Kid's Music" and improved the quality of their music).

Ok, now I'm going to point you in the direction of some extra free resources to help you out with crafts, snacks, and more to match their themes! :-)

Available "Growing with the Saints" VBS Packages:

St. Patrick and the Holy Trinity- "The children will set sail with Saint Patrick, the first Bishop missionary, and travel with him on his quest to spread Christianity to the dangerous and ungodly country of Ireland. They will experience first hand the all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful Holy Trinity who guides and protects Patrick at every turn."

Check out all of my St. Patrick posts here!

You'll find trinity shamrock crafts, St. Patrick spoon dolls,

and St. Patrick games! You'll also find St. Patrick coloring

sheets, and other printables like a St. Patrick paper doll.

Also, find of shamrock snacks and treats! Lots to see :-)

Find this Sign of the Cross coloring page over

at the Catholic Toolbox. (Just scroll down)

Assorted Saints and the Virtues of Faith- "Discover the mystery and the timeless virtues of faith, hope,  love with St. Nicholas, San Juan Diego, St. Brigid, St. Martin de Porres, and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha."

Find St. Nicholas activities for kids!

You'll find crafts, snacks, printables, and more.

Find a free printable Juan Diego paper doll

over at Paper Dali.

Or, craft Juan Diego's tilma with Domestic Church.

Make a St. Brigid's Cross with Family Fun.

For St. Martin de Porres, try any of these 

Mice snacks or crafts from Family Fun!

For Blessed Kateri, try crafting these 

beaded indian rings from That Artist Woman.

Parade Around the Our Father- "Meet St. Joseph of Cupertino, the one and only flying friar! Learn the meaning of the perfect prayer on earth given to us by Jesus, the perfect teacher! Meet our master of Ceremonies, Henry the Hippo who will direct you to fun skits, exciting Bible stories, and amazing music!"

Check out this some amazing "Lord's Prayer" resources

on the Catholic Toolbox! Find a printable puzzle, crossword,

and this Lord's Prayer game! Also, craft and snack ideas.

Also at the Catholic Toolbox, she has a post on the rosary

where you can find an "Our Father" coloring sheet, printable

mini-book, and lots of other great stuff!

For snack, you might try making an edible rosary!

Parachute with the Angels - "God is your pilot- destination heaven! Check in with Saint Catherine Laboure, pick up your flightplan, and meet your Co-Pilot; Your very own Guardian Angel!"

For St. Catherine Laboure, print this coloring page

of her with the miraculous medal.

Check out these Angel crafts to pair with the
Parachute with the Angels package.

Click Here for generic Catholic Vacation Bible School Crafts.

If you have any experience with "Growing with the Saints", please leave your feedback in the comments! :-)
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Ash Wednesday for Kids

Still looking for Ash Wednesday ideas for your kids? Or maybe you need some Ash Wednesday lesson plans for your CCD class? Here are some ideas I've run across.

Here's an Ash Wednesday coloring page from Christian Coloring. I found it over on CatholicMom.com and I love it!

I Blog Therefore I am has and AMAZING round up of Ash Wednesday lesson plans for kids! From vocab words and discussion questions to crafts, games, snacks and printables- she has it all! :-)

Ash Wednesday & Lent Lesson for Pre K-K
Ash Wednesday & Lent Lesson for 1st Grade and Up

I love the directions that ChristianCrafters.com posts for this matchstick cross, and I think that this could be a great craft for Ash Wednesday! Be sure to talk about he symbolism behind the ashes and fire, and as always, use caution with matches.

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