I can hardly believe we are heading towards our second pandemic Lenten season. March 1, 2020, the Sunday after Ash Wednesday,  was the last time my congregation gathered for anything approaching “normal.” Then we commenced lightning-fast learning as COVID-19 spread across the US from the coasts inland, and I tried to compile information for my friends outside Seattle who were asking what we were doing, since Seattle was a couple weeks ahead of everyone else in meeting the challenge of the pandemic. 

This year, I feel (a bit) more prepared at stewarding space for children and youth throughout this Lenten season. 

What is the goal of Lent?

Liturgical seasons originated as ways to mark special times and prepare ourselves, as Godly Play says, “for the great mysteries” of Christmas and Easter. These seasons shook us out of our ordinary day-to-day living and invited us to reflect on our own lives and how we are living into our call to follow Jesus. Y’all probably know this, but I am a Baptist, and Baptists in general are not very liturgical. But I find a lot of meaning in observing the rituals of changing the worship colors from ordinary time’s green to advent’s blue and Lent’s purple and Pentecost’s red. The cycle of the church year reminds me that there are ends and beginnings all tied up in each other, that life and love keep on keepin’ on, that the Divine accompanies us and loves us in all seasons. 

This year, I’ve been thinking about what Lent means, since so many of us are already painfully aware of the fragility of our humanity. Instead of leaning fully into the reserved penitential nature of the season, I am considering more about contemplation, about the disruption from our regular ways of being to focus on something outside ourselves. Of course, the whole world has been jolted from “business as usual” over the last year, and we are still in a Lenten-type of place, almost as if Lent 2020 never ended. At least for me, I have found that my anxiety has led me to over-functioning during this time, so that I established a new way of keeping busy and filling my life with work and projects and Things To Do. Perhaps you, like me, need to slow down during Lent, and refocus yourself on the life-giving gospel of Jesus’ life and ministry. 

I think slowing down will be helpful for the children and youth in my congregation as well. They have adjusted SO MUCH, over and over and over again, in the past year as they have learned how to go to school online, live without playdates and be around their parents/guardians all the time. Kids today are RESILIENT and I hope that Lent can be a time when they can slow down and reflect and process (together with the adults in their lives) all that has happened in the past year. Each child experiences life differently and asks different questions and finds different spiritual practices helpful, so these are not a one-size-fits-all suggestions, but options that you and the children in your life can explore. 

And without further ado, here are some resources that I am loving for Lent this year:

If you’re looking to buy a ready-made kit…

Check out A Sacred Home’s family-friendly Lenten box for thoughtful contemplative tools and activities to observe this season. And, check out their other boxes for more family-friendly fun!

Ideas for “Lent at Home” Kits for Children and Youth

• Does any phrase quite resonate with 2020-2021 more than “Bless This Mess”? I thought not! The Salt Project has a beautiful printable set of devotional cards for observing the Lenten season in your home. The cards have ideas for prayers, Scripture, activities and reflection questions...and are just cute as a button!

• Coloring pages, devotionals and collaborative art posters from Illustrated Ministry

• Recipe cards

  • Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

  • Pretzels for Ash Wednesday

  • Bread for Maundy Thursday

  • Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday

• Nature walk or download this scavenger hunt

• Soap, sponge, or towel for foot-washing

• Seed-paper shapes to plant on Good Friday, symbolizing things that are buried in the ground rise up. I like these large butterflies. 

• Holding crosses

• Tea lights (battery operated for kiddos)

• Makeup containers full of ashes (or glitter ashes!)

• Green chalk for marking your driveway or sidewalk on Palm Sunday 

• Palms (some churches are opting to deliver them or have pick-up days for families before Palm Sunday)

  • Or you can make your own out of craft paper! See this or this tutorial!

• This online calendar was made for Advent but can easily be adapted for Lent! You can decide the length of the calendar, upload seasonal photographs and, most importantly, link to reflections, photos and YouTube videos that you want to share. There’s also an option to embed this calendar in your website for free and/or social media (with a paid subscription).

Let’s Chat!
Are you making take-home kits for this Lenten season? How will your family observe Lent? What other resources are you loving? Comment below!

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