Mary Cuffy

Hey kids! Imag­ine Lent as a su­per-ex­cit­ing ad­ven­ture, like prepar­ing for the biggest trea­sure hunt ever: East­er! Lent is a spe­cial time when Chris­tians pre­pare for East­er. It starts in Feb­ru­ary or March, de­pend­ing on when East­er falls. The word “Lent” comes from an Old Eng­lish word that means “spring­time.”

Think of Lent like train­ing camp for ath­letes be­fore a big game. Just as play­ers prac­tice hard to win, we prac­tice lov­ing Je­sus more dur­ing Lent. Old­er kids might see it as giv­ing spe­cial gifts—we don’t give up things be­cause they’re bad; we of­fer them as love notes to Je­sus! “Lent is a spe­cial time when we prac­tice lov­ing Je­sus more. We pray more, we give up lit­tle things, and we try to be ex­tra kind, so our hearts are ready for East­er.”

Our friends from St Pe­ter’s RC Pri­ma­ry - Pt Cumana, Care­nage, shared their fun Lenten promis­es with Guardian Kids. Let’s hear what they’re sac­ri­fic­ing for 40 days:

Gen­e­sis Cas­tana­da-Std 2: “Dur­ing the Lent sea­son, I have cho­sen to give up my de­sire for ice cream and gain spir­i­tu­al growth, to learn more about Je­sus Christ, our Sav­iour. For forty days.”

Sky­lar Foun­tain: “I am Sky­lar Foun­tain, and I am 10 years old. This is a list of items I am go­ing to sac­ri­fice for the Lenten sea­son. For forty days, I will sac­ri­fice eat­ing choco­late, cake, and ice cream.”

Ri­ana James-Std 2: “To­day I am go­ing to give up meat and cook­ies; they are my favourite foods.”

Zari­ah Ahye-Std 2: “I have en­tered the sea­son of fast­ing, so I will be giv­ing up meat for forty days.”

Zsi Alexan­der: “My name is Zsi Alexan­der. I have en­tered the sea­son of fast­ing. I will be sac­ri­fic­ing cheese sticks and choco­late.”

Asia Lavende: “I am Asia Lavende. This is a list of things I will give up for the Lenten sea­son. For forty days, I will sac­ri­fice be­ing mean to my friends and eat­ing spicy food.”

Wow, these brave kids are turn­ing Lent in­to a growth ad­ven­ture! Their promis­es show how Lent is all about be­com­ing stronger in faith and love. Fam­i­lies can join in with prayer, fast­ing (like skip­ping treats), or alms­giv­ing (help­ing oth­ers). It’s like build­ing a rain­bow of kind­ness that leads straight to East­er joy!

Ready for some Lent fun? Here are won­der­ful ac­tiv­i­ties to try:

Lenten Sac­ri­fice Jar: Pic­ture a shiny jar on your ta­ble like a trea­sure chest! Drop in beads or to­kens for every sac­ri­fice or kind deed. Watch it grow and fill up as East­er nears—it’s like col­lect­ing stars for good deeds!

Acts of Kind­ness Chain: Craft a colour­ful pa­per chain, each link a cape of kind­ness for a kind act. By Holy Week, your home will be draped in a chain of love, show­ing how kind­ness grows!

Fam­i­ly Sta­tions of the Cross: Once a week, em­bark on a sto­ry­book jour­ney through the Sta­tions. It’s like fol­low­ing a map to Je­sus’ love, in a way that’s just right for your age.

Scrip­ture Mem­o­ry Cards: Pick a Bible verse each week like a se­cret code. Mem­o­rise it to­geth­er, turn it in­to a game with sil­ly voic­es or draw­ings!

Qui­et Prayer Cor­ner: Build a cosy nook with a cross, pur­ple cloth (like a roy­al cape), and prayer books. It’s your spe­cial space to talk to Je­sus and feel the sea­son’s warmth.

As fam­i­lies every­where dive in­to these tra­di­tions, Lent turns from “just giv­ing up stuff” in­to a sparkling path of spir­i­tu­al re­new­al! Schools like St Pe­ter’s are light­ing the way, help­ing kids re­flect and con­nect with faith through fun. This Lent, let’s make it un­for­get­table, blend­ing old tra­di­tions with your own spe­cial touch­es for an East­er full of hugs and hap­pi­ness!

Mary Cuffy is an ed­u­ca­tor and lo­cal chil­dren’s au­thor. Ms Cuffy is the au­thor of the La­dy­bug book se­ries. Ms Cuffy be­lieves the best in­vest­ment we can make in chil­dren is in the ear­ly years. Email: mary.cuffy@ya­hoo.com• IG: marycuffy • FB: mary cuffy/Lo­la and the Danc­ing La­dy­bug