Stations of the Cross Box for Caroline

I found this idea online for making a Stations of the Cross Box for little kids to use during Lent. So, I cannot take any credit for it! It turned out really nicely though, and Caroline is really enjoying it so far.

Inside the box, there are 14 cards - one for each station - that I printed out and covered with clear contact paper. Each one has the number and title of the station which it pictures. Caroline can try to line these up in order, look through the pictures, and just become more familiar with the stations by working with these cards.

There are also 14 items in the box which represent each of the 14 stations. Caroline can match these items up with the corresponding card. She also just likes to do other imaginative things with them! The above picture shows some of the objects: a piece of rope for the first station, Jesus is Condemned to Death, since his hands were probably bound when he was arrested and brought before Pilate. The wooden cross is for the second station in which Jesus takes his cross. The band-aid (of which there are three) represents the third, seventh, and ninth stations, which are the three falls of Jesus as he carried the cross. The red heart symbolizes Simon's help in carrying the cross in the fifth station, and the tissue is for the weeping women whom Jesus meets in the eighth station. The purple fabric represents Jesus's clothing for the tenth station, Jesus is Stripped of His Garments.

Here is Caroline's favorite, and the most time-consuming item I made for the box: a small figure of Mary for the fourth station, when Jesus meets his mother. Also shown are a nail for the eleventh station, Jesus is Nailed to the Cross, and a crucifix for the twelfth station, Jesus Dies of the Cross.

I first saw these wooden figurines of various saints and thought they would be so neat to have. Then I saw these homemade versions and thought, "Hmm, I could do something like that!" Then, a few months later (last week, that is!), I saw the plain wooden figures in the craft store, and I had the idea to make one into a little Mary for the fourth station in Caroline's box. It was funt o make - I will have to do more some time in the future!

For the sixth station, I made this model of Veronica's cloth which she used to wipe the face of Jesus. The laminated Pieta is for the thirteenth station, Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross. Today, while outside, we picked up a small rock for the fourteenth station to symbolize the stone that was rolled in front of the tomb in which Jesus was laid.

Here is Caroline matching up the items with their cards. She also carried the little Mary around with her most of the day, doing various things with her ranging from laying her down next to the crucifix and saying, "She is laying next to jesus and crying," to pretending that this was really a baby Mary and that she was Mary's mother, St. Anne.

My plan is to have the Stations Box out all throughout Lent, and it will be available to Caroline during our afternoon prayer time (and any time she wants it, really). We will also take it in the evenings next week to our parish "mission" in which we have a visiting priest doing talks each evening. She can look through it during the talks. Tonight she commented that she thought she should bring some other things to entertain her, but "I want them to be mostly holy things." :)