We kicked off a new year of Little Flowers on the First Saturday. We now have 35 Little Flowers! Praise God!
We are on Wreath III and I decided to focus on Mary, Mother of God and Cheerfulness for the first meeting. We had a Marian Birthday Party.
The girls were delighted to come together for such a glorious celebration shared with Mass and friends.
Marian Birthday Menu: inspiration was found at Catholic Cuisine
- Bake Blueberry French Toast
- Cream cheese Lily Rolls
- Marian Snack Mix
- Fruit
- Mary’s Prayer – Blue Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
- Dried Blueberries
- Mary Cookies
- Cheer Sticks – Veggie Straws
- Blue Drinks
I invited the girls to share what they knew about the Blessed Virgin. We honed in on her cheerfulness in all situations.
We spoke of times when the girls have been cheerful and times when their cheerfulness was lacking. Then we identified what a non-cheerful “Yes” sounds like vs. a cheerful “Yes.” The girls enjoyed proclaiming a “Yes” like Mary.
The girls also generated a list of words or phrases that could be said to cheer someone else up.
- Cheer up!
- Be happy!
- I Love You!
- Smile!
- Be Joyful!
- Jesus Loves You!
A friend gave Sparkles this cheer card.
The talk on cheerfulness led us to our crafts. The girls created Cheer Cards, cards that they could give to someone else in need of a smile.
The girls also created a Mary, Mother of God journal. I encouraged them to use their journal to record their cheerfulness, pray intentions, post their holy cards, and other spiritual practices.
We closed the meeting with the Rosary. Unfortunately, we were a bit short on time and could only pray an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. We prayed for an increase in cheerfulness and and the intentions of the Blessed Mother.
The girls brought up their flower for Mary and ate a Hail Mary cupcake.
May we be cheerful like Our Blessed Mother.
~~~
Mary, Mother of God
January 1
~~~
Handouts: (in order)
- Cheerfulness Divider Sheet
- Cheerfulness Activity Sheet
- Mary, Mother of God Coloring Page – Waltzing Matilda
- Holy Name of Mary
- Sorrowful Mother – Sept. 15
- Our Lady of the Rosary – Oct. 7
- Mary, Mother of God Bio for Kids – Holy Spirit Interactive
- Cheerfulness Memory Verse
- Mary Mother of God & Cheerfulness Info – Shower of Roses
Resources:
- Mystery of the Mother of God – AudioSancto
- Meditation on the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Dayton
- Marian Prayers – EWTN
- Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Fish Eaters
- The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – WFF
- Marian Meditations & Reflections – Dayton
- Marian Dishes & Treats – Catholic Cuisine
- Food for Marian Feast Days – Catholic Icing
- Mary Art Project – Catholic Icing
Mater Dei, ora pro nobis.
Pure loveliness, just like Our Lady! We have our Little Flowers/Blue Knights Marian birthday party tomorrow. Ave Maria!
You are a great teacher of the faith. Is the Little Flowers group in place of a Religious Education group? Or in addition to?
LF is an enrichment program that is offered for girls 5-8 at my parish. There are two additional groups for girls in diff. age ranges. The 8-13 year olds join Rosa Mystica Girls Society – designed to develop domestic skills, grow in virtue, and serve the community. The 14+ girls have the wonderful opportunity to joining Sodality – a group of young ladies growing in their devotion to Our Blessed Mother and Catholic Faith. Each group is assigned a priest/spiritual director.
My parish supports parents as the primary educators and leaves Religious ED as the duty of the parents. The priests offer much support and direction. Spiritual talks and direction are given to the youth on a regular basis. The priests also instruct the children prior to receiving their First Communion and Confirmation.
My family is extremely blessed to belong to a faith community that lead by faithful shepherds.
Ad Jesum per Mariam – Lena
I would most definitely agree! Your church must also have a lot of children in the parish with parents willing to volunteer. Do you happen to know if these programs were created by your pastor? Or is there a curriculum and teaching manuals?
Thank you for your time in explaining this program!
What a beautiful post! I have been very unsuccessful the past 2 years in creating a LF group here in South Florida at my parish. We don’t have a homeschool group or a Little Flowers Group or Blue Knights group that our church will allow to take place at the church.
What a blessing you have! Love following your blog and your leadership role with your Little Flowers! The links are definitely a big help for moms thinking of getting into organizing one next year. =) God bless you and your beautiful family.
Beautiful post, as always, Lena! You truly are blessed to have such a wonderful parish!!