After a birthday party on Friday and another Good Shepherd’s Garden Party yesterday, I didn’t have any plans whatsoever for today’s feast of St. George. In fact, I was even stalling on reminding my children, since I didn’t want them to try and convince me to bake a cake! However, I made the mistake of leaving my internet browser open, after visiting Waltzing Matilda’s, and guess who happened to see it…
Well, my kids were all very excited and ran to pull our copy of St. George and the Dragon off the bookshelf. My oldest said, “Don’t worry, Mom, we don’t need to make a cake this year.” The others all agreed… And that’s what convinced me to try and find something special for today!
There are all sorts of ways that mothers do special things for their children… One of my favorites is with foods and crafts, finding fun ways to celebrate the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year at home. Even though I know they don’t need these extra activities, it makes me happy to create these wonderful memories with my children, while teaching them about our faith.
Since it was already so late in the day, I wasn’t even going to attempt baking a cake, but I did have some leftover sugar cookie dough in the fridge from one of our birthday party activities (more on that soon) and so we decided to make a “Sugar Cookie Story Quilt” inspired by our much loved picture book.
“A story quilt is an ideal whole-class extension project that works at all grade levels. Quilt squares feature chapters, characters, or significant scenes from the literature circle book. They can include a border with a repeated design or symbol that represents a key idea. Quilt squares can incorporate visual as well as written components (e.g., an important quote or brief summary). Effective adaptations are possible for all grade levels.” ~ Source
Our Supplies:
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
Study Guide from Catholic Mosaic: Living the Liturgical Year with Children
Square Cookie Cutters (I love that these are plain on one side and fluted on the other!)
Green and White Candy Melts
(From Captain’s Medieval Knights, Dragons, and Castles Birthday Party)
Cookie Icing
Gel Decorating Icing
Food Writers
Sprinkles
As an added bonus, we were able to check off “Art Class” for the week! 😉 Here are their completed cookies for our St. George and the Dragon Story Quilt:
The Path traveled by the Young Knight and Princess by Rascal
“In the Days when monsters and giants and fairy folk lived in England, a noble knight was riding across a plain… The Red Cross Knight had never yet faced a foe, and did not even know his name or where he had been born. But now he was bound on a great adventure, sent by the Queen of the Fairies to try his young strength against a deadly enemy, a dragon grim and horrible.”
The Dragon by Rascal
“He was laying waste to her land so that many frightened people had left their homes and run away. Others had shut themselves inside the walls of a castle with Una’s father and mother, the king and queen of the country. ”
The Castle by Captain
“Now we have come to my own country,” said Una. “Be on your guard. See, there is the city and the great brass tower that my parents built strong enough to stand against the brassy-scaled dragon.”
St. George’s Shield by Captain
“He wore heavy armor and carried an ancient silver shield marked with a red cross. It was dented with the blows of many battles fought long ago by other brave knights.”
St. George Pray for Us by Mom
“He called your George, which means ‘Plow of the Earth’ and ‘Fight the Good Fight.’ For you were born to be England’s friend and patron saint, Saint George of Merry England.”
St. George’s Sword by Chiquita
“And the knight’s bright weapon, taking advantage of that open jaw, ran it through with such strength that the dragon fell dead, breathing his last in smoke and cloud.”
The Battle by Chiquita
“Then they heard a hideous roaring that filled the air with terror and seemed to shake the ground. The dreadful dragon lay stretched on the sunny side of a great hill, like a great hill himself, and when he saw the knight’s armor glistening in the sunlight, he came eagerly to do battle.”
Defeating the Dragon by Twinkle Toes
“Like a mountain he fell, and lay still. The knight himself trembled to see that fall, and his dear lady did not dare to come near to thank her faithful knight until she saw that the dragon would stir no more.”
The Victory Celebration by Twinkle Toes
“Trumpets sounded the news that the great beast had fallen… And Una and the Red Cross Knight were married and lived together joyfully.”
Happy Feast of St. George!
Oh. My. Goodness!!! This is SO cool! What a creative and fun way to celebrate the feast day and directly tie in the book. Just wonderful, Jessica!
Sometimes having no plan at all is the best plan after all. 🙂
That is so cute! I was lamenting that I did do anything either. This may be done tomorrow!
that is so cool!! my oldest is not a fan of artsie things and my middle two prob wouldn't get it, but I love the idea and concept!! I need to get the Catholic Mosaic book…I really want to implement the Saints in our daily lives more, but don't even have a set schedule with school work to begin with 🙁
Oh my goodness, I've never seen anything like this. SUPER cute! Our St. George celebration "triumph" was when my daughter finally got a batch of divinity to work. Finally! (You must realize this girl absolutely LOVES divinity.)
"Well, let's see," I told her, looking for a way to tie this treat into the feast day. "St. George killed the dragon and there was an increase of 'divinity' in the world." She grinned.
Next year, though, we're doing a cookie quilt!
What a wonderful idea! Your children did a great job. I will be using this creative idea. Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE this idea! Thank you so very much for sharing this. You all did such a beautiful job. I'm sure my children would have lots of fun with this too.
Blessings,
LOVE the Coookie Quilt idea! Great pictures.
God bless you and your beautiful family!
Teresa In Kansas
These came out beautifully!