UPDATE: This article & freebie were originally written for Today's Catholic Teacher. Today's Catholic Teacher has stopped publishing their magazine and recently shut down their website. I've moved the article and freebies here so that you can still access them. Sorry for the confusion with old links that no longer work. Hopefully we have that all taken care of now.
My latest Catholic craft is live on Today's Catholic Teacher blog! This one is all about celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. It can be adapted for multiple ages depending on their familiarity with finding scripture passages and their ability to write in a small space. This can easily be prepped ahead of time for little learners and they can focus on listening to the Bible passage and painting the picture instead of looking up the scripture passage on their own.
Get your students prepared for the Baptism of the Lord and the Sunday readings with this easy craft. This is easily adaptable and can be done with younger children or older students as well.
Supplies Needed:
- White paper plate (cheap non waxy ones work the best for this)
- Watercolor paints
- Small dish of water
- Paintbrush
- Black marker
- Crayons
- Glue stick
- Hole punch
- Scissors
- Yarn
- Baptism of the Lord printable picture
To Assemble:
Print out the free printable of Jesus and John the Baptist. Cut out around the square and color with crayons. Be sure to color even the white parts such as the dove and the clothes with white crayon. This will help the paint to resist it and paint around the items that are colored. Glue the picture to the middle of the paper plate.
Using a white or black crayon, add clouds to the sky and waves to the water. Again, it is important to use crayons for this step so that the paint will not cover over it.
With marker (preferably permanent marker) write “The Baptism of the Lord” across the top of the plate. On the bottom of the plate write, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. –Mark 1:7-11”
Using the paintbrush, dish of water and watercolor paints, paint the sky and the water. Paint on the printable and right on the paper plate all the way to the edges. The paint will resist sticking to the plate where the crayon is, allowing the clouds, waves and any other details to show through the paint. Allow the paint to dry.
For younger children, you might want to write the words on the plate for them ahead of time so that spacing doesn’t become an issue. For older children, have them look up the readings related to the Baptism of the Lord and copy the words directly from their Bible onto the plate.
