While many from around the country participated in the March for Life, I spent the afternoon at home teaching my children about the culture of life and praying for the unborn.
The Culture of Life Studies Program recently shared an awesome and FREE “Ladybug Warriors” mini-lesson for elementary students. This unit study can be easily completed in an afternoon and teaches children about ladybugs, how the ladybug is named after our Blessed Mother, and how we can be warriors for Our Lady and pray for the protection of all preborn babies!
.: Picture Book :.
Last night I stopped at Barnes & Noble and picked up a copy of The Grouchy Ladybug…
Of course, after discovering the book on the table this morning and recognizing the artist, my little guy insisted on wearing his Brown Bear t-shirt and pulling out the rest of his Eric Carle collection including: Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Around the Farm (a favorite birthday gift from his Big Red Barn Birthday)!
.: Craft :.
After reading the story and discussing the book and the meaning of the name ladybug, we moved on to the suggested craft: Ladybug Prayer for Preborn Babies Prayer Cards.
Craft Supplies:
- Red, Black, and Green Construction Paper (we used card stock)
- Ladybug Template & Hail Mary Prayer Card (download here)
- Hole Punch (for punching black spots out of paper/card stock to use as spots)
- Black Crayon
- Glue
- Googly Eyes (2 per child)
This beautiful lesson also includes explanations for each of the Joyful Mysteries to share with the children while praying for the unborn. We also discussed spiritual adoption as suggested:
“As Ladybug Warriors, we can spiritually adopt a preborn baby and his parents as they wait for the baby to be born. Spiritual adoption means that you pray for protection for the baby every day so that he will be born happy, healthy, and holy. You can pray the Hail Mary prayer on your ladybug’s leaf as well as the rosary for the baby you are spiritually adopting.”
.: Coloring Pages :.
In addition to the Pregnant Mom Coloring Sheet (provided in the lesson packet) I also printed out a a couple copies of the Immaculate Conception Coloring Sheet from Catholic Icing.
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| They all said they colored me as the “pregnant mom” (pregnant with them) and, apparently, they all interpret my hair color and highlights differently. lol I’m not quite sure what to think of that huge blond streak in the middle picture! I actually haven’t had my hair cut or highlighted since last June…. It’s time to make an appointment! |
.: Ladybug Snacks :.
The lesson packet included a few snack suggestions including Red Punch or Strawberry Lemonade, Strawberry Slices with Chocolate Chips inserted into them to look like spots, and Ladybug Cupcakes.
Most of our kids are fighting colds at the moment so I opted for healthy snacks today, starting with some “Ladybug Appetizers” we made using cucumber slices, baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, and black olives. We probably should have cut the tomatoes and olives in half to make them a little more stable, but they were quickly eaten so it didn’t really matter. We loved how they turned out!
I wanted to make the strawberry ladybugs, but organic strawberries were way too expensive last night at the store so I opted for raspberries instead. We used my favorite Enjoy Life Mini Chips (melting some to create the faces and adhere the spots) and even I was able to enjoy this treat!
I definitely prefer these snacks to the Ladybug Cake and Ladybug Apples we have made in the past.
.: Prayer :.
We ended the lesson with some words from our Archbishop and a prayer for life. ♥
“Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court, or kill you.” ~ Pope Francis
Love the snacks Jessica – beautiful and tasty 🙂
2016-01-23 13:21:19
Thanks, Mary! And thank you again for sending me a copy of the lesson. All of you over at Culture of Life Studies are doing such a great job pulling together all these resources! I'm looking forward to getting back to the rest of the Life Is Precious study with my little ones soon. God bless!
Beautiful life-affirming lesson Jessica! I hope to do this with my own family (if I can get all the supplies) 🙂
2016-01-23 13:29:50
Thank you, Tracy!
That was a great idea! GOD BLESS You all!
2016-01-23 15:01:21
Thank you, Karen! God bless you too! 🙂
Beautiful! We are doing this today! My husband took two of our older girls to the March for Life and they won't be able to catch a flight home until Monday!
2016-01-23 15:08:35
Thank you, Kim! We've been praying for the safety of all the marchers, and everyone affected by the blizzard. I hope your husband and daughters made it home safely!
Adorable! We loved this unit as well! http://childrenofthechurch.blogspot.com/2016/01/t…
2016-01-23 22:51:47
Awwww, your little guys are adorable! Thanks for sharing the link. 🙂
2016-01-26 04:19:11
So perfect! Love the healthy snack, cute art, inspirational quotes, and beautiful prayers. This reminds me of many posts you used to do that leave a person feeling equipped to bless the world! Thanks for touching our home and hearts with your wonderful faith!! You are a delightful teacher!! Fun fun!!!
2016-01-24 04:50:58
Oh, such a sweet comment… Thank you! ♥ I have been working hard to find the time to incorporate more afternoons like this with my current little ones, despite our full schedule and all the older children's activities, but so much of the time (at least the year or two) I'm not able to get the pictures and details onto the blog! I do have a couple more faith-based crafts we've done recently that I'm hoping to share soon! 🙂
2016-01-26 04:31:10
Great ideas. I'm filing this away for next year. we did one of the Horton Hears a Who lessons from the Culture of Life series you posted previously. AND, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the tomato snacks- I can certainly think of several applications for those, including as a fun snack for my little niece who is affectionately called, "Gracie-bug" by her parents. Thanks!
2016-01-24 15:51:43
Thank you, Beth! I had run across a similar idea using cheese, basil, and maybe balsamic for the spots, but our youngest two were starting to come down with colds (we ended up having to keep them home from Mass yesterday since they were coughing so bad) so I skipped the dairy and went with cucumber and spinach instead. It worked out great! They had fun making them and then eating them too. 🙂
Jessica,
I did end up doing this lesson with my family today: http://www.asliceofsmithlife.com/2016/01/ladybug-…
Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
God bless and thank you for your beautiful witness for the culture of life!
2016-01-25 05:13:09
Yay! I'm so glad that you were able to do it too!
Hi everyone…
This excites me so much to see what God has done!! He gave me the idea for this lesson about a year and half ago. Mary with Culture of Life recently saw it on website and asked if they could share it with others. I am honored that they asked me and that all of you are sharing your awesome experience with it 🙂 For more ideas on building a Culture of Life, please take a peek at my website ChoosetheChild.com.
I love your blog, Jessica and will be sharing it on my Facebook page and website 🙂
God bless, Natasia Kissinger ~ author Ladybug Warriors
Thank you for sharing your idea and for allowing Culture of Life Studies to adapt it into the printable format with pictures to offer on their website! It is a lovely study and the templates (and coloring page!) they created to go along with it were a perfect addition. So helpful for busy moms like myself! May God reward you!
2016-01-26 04:20:55