My kids attend public school right now, and so they get less faith formation than I’d hope for. But I still try to integrate our faith into their life with activities outside of school that will help them learn and grow in their faith.
For us Catholic Christians the month of May is full of tradition and activity that is done in remembrance of Our Lord’s mother, Mary. She’s a shining example of how to serve God. During this month we honor her and use her examples of faith and service to help us grow in those areas of our own life as well.
Often times I can’t find crafts activities that I imagine being great teaching tools, so I make my own. This is one I made for my kids this month.
This diorama is really simple to put together and you don’t need much to get it started! There are many things you could add to it to make it as embellished as you like (glitter, ribbon, etc), but I’m going to show you the basics. So here we go!
You have a few options to print out Mary and her flower garden. You can right-click and save this next image. Or you canclick this link and it will take you to a printable PDF. I will suggest printing it on a cardstock type paper if you can. If not, it will work still, but the pieces may be a little more floppy.
Next have your kids color the images and cut them out. You can be as detailed or simple as you’d like both with coloring, and with cutting.
When you are done coloring and cutting, the next thing you are going to want to do is help the kids cut some little strips to fold and tape to the back of their flower garden pieces and to the back of the image of Mary. I simply used some of the scraps of paper that were left after all the pieces were cut out. Cut small strips and fold them in half to form an L shape. Tape one side to the back of the colored images, and fold a small circle of tape so that it can be attached to the underside of the L and stick securely to the shoe box.
For my shoe box, I attached Mary first to some decorative card stock. Cut it to fit the bottom of your box by tracing around the edges of your box onto your paper and cut it out. You could also have your children color or paint the inside of the box, or cover it completely with pretty paper or glitter, or even moss might be pretty!
I attached Mary to the cardstock, and then taped the cardstock with double-sided tape to the inside of the box.
Once Mary is secure, you can start placing your garden pieces. There’s no particular way that you have to place them– whatever appeals to you. You could even print out more copies and add more flowers if you’d like to!
Your finished project will look something like this!
The Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
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My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
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my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
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for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
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From this day all generations will call me blessed:
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the Almighty has done great things for me,
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and holy is his Name.
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He has mercy on those who fear him
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in every generation.
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He has shown the strength of his arm,
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he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
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He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
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and has lifted up the lowly.
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He has filled the hungry with good things,
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and the rich he has sent away empty.
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He has come to the help of his servant Israel
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for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
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the promise he made to our fathers,
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to Abraham and his children for ever.
If you try out this project be sure to come back and let me know how it went for you! I’d love to see your own dioramas!
::Originally from California’s wine country, Celeste Bowen is a military wife, mother of three, artist, blogger and small business owner at Doodle La. Inspired by the world around her, she uses her artistic background to share one of a kind artwork, handmade diapers, clothing and do-it-yourself projects on her blog and via her online store. Trained in the culinary arts and experienced in the restaurant industry, Celeste enjoys coming up with new, resourceful recipes and baked goods to share with her family and readers. You can follow her creative journey by visiting Doodle La’s website, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook page. This post was originally published on the blog Doodle La::