3 Ways Into Sunday’s Stories for Children: Pentecost

Day of Pentecost

This Sunday is Pentecost, which is celebrated 50 days after Easter every year. The story of the events of the day is just as dramatic as the accounts of the nativity and the resurrection. When we talk about the body of Christ with young children, it’s sometimes difficult to describe it in a way that doesn’t cause them to dwell on images of a crucified and dead body, or a ghost-like apparition. Pentecost vividly illustrates the incarnation of the living, ongoing body of Christ as us, the Church. This is why we sometimes call Pentecost the birthday of the Church. And each year we can celebrate seeing ourselves and one another as the Church, as one body of Christ.

Print, fold, read, and color the story booklet.

1. Sing and Dance

Sing and dance with Joy, Joy, Joy!

2. Play and Pray

Play: Have a Pentecost Fire Dance Party (as opposed to Freeze Dance). Find songs that have the word “fire” or “wind” in the lyric. When you hear the words, stop the music and change the movement, like jumping, spinning, hopping, etc.

Pray: Dear God of joy and wonder, thank you for giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Church. Help us look for moments of celebration and awe in your wide, beautiful world. Amen.

3. Create

Throw a Pentecost birthday party at home! Decorate with red, make a birthday cake (red velvet?), and have enough birthday candles for each person. When you blow them out, make a wish or say a Prayer of the People!