How to Start a First Holy Communion Journal / Notebook

I have seen first communion notebooks all over the internet, and I think they’re a great idea! We happen to do notebooking pages with our homeschooling, so to extend this into First Communion Preparation seemed natural to me. To make it seem a little more personal, we are calling ours a First Holy Communion Journal.

getting started with a First Communion notebook journal

First I want to say whether you are homeschooling First Communion, or whether your child is attending a First Communion class at your church (as most churches require you to do during the Sacramental years anyway,) it is important for parents to be involved in the Faith education of their children. Making a First Holy Communion journal at home is a great way for the family to be involved in the preparation of this amazing Sacrament!

How to Get Started with a First Communion Journal:

  • Get a binder. (We are using a 1 inch white binder with a clear pocket on the front.)
  • Fill it with clear page protectors.
  • Make a cover. (The one I designed is available for free to Catholic Icing subscribers, details below.)
  • Decide what you’re putting inside the journal. You might want to add somewhere around 1 thing to the journal per week. (This can be a mixture of coloring pages, writings, copying prayers, drawing pictures, copying scripture, thoughts about First Communion lessons, pictures, etc… see this post about things to put into a notebook.)
  • Keep watching Catholic Icing for ideas of what to put inside as the year goes on.

My subscribers can all download this “My Very Own First Holy Communion Journal” cover for free! If you’re not already receiving the Subscriber Bonuses, read about how to access these extra Catholic printables here.

freebie- first holy communion journal cover

I want the journal to feel personalized, full of Lydia’s own pictures, handwriting, and thoughts, so although I drew the title and a border, I let her color it herself. I also left a place for kids to draw their own cover picture, and write their name in.

coloring first communion journal cover

Post continues after this brief information about the Catholic Icing Monthly Membership


Monthly Liturgical Membership

Catholic Liturgical Monthly Membership

Perfect for families! Each month you gain access to printable activity pages, crafts, home altar pieces, and more.
 
Never has living the liturgical year been so easy and affordable!
 

first holy communion journal- printable cover

You can draw any picture you want in the blank space. Lydia drew grapes and some wheat. Of course, the first thing she told me was that she couldn’t draw grapes or wheat, so I created a “How to draw grapes and wheat” sheet for her to use. I will share that with all of you later this week as well.

draw your own first communion notebook cover

You can read more about how we’re kicking off this First Holy Communion year here.

Find all of my First Communion Resources for Kids Here.

Related Posts:

Picture Book of the Mass

Comments

  1. Joyce Wilhelmy says

    Lacy, thank you for all the work you put into your sites. I have used them.

    I am a Catechist and am in charge of second grade and love teaching the children and getting them ready for their First Communion.

    I love the idea of a journal, but am having trouble downloading the cover. It keeps printing really big. Even if I change my printer settings. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong?

    Keep up the good work. Blessings, Joyce

  2. Regina Pinglora says

    Hi Lacy, I love your website! I am teaching 2nd grade CCD this year and want the children to make First Communion journals. I cannot find the link to download the Cover sheet.

    God bless you and your wonderful work!

    Regina

  3. I am a 2nd grade catechist. Since I have 15 kids, we are actually using composition books for our journals. I do like your cover page though. I started with printing out the traditional Catholic prayers and having them paste them in their books. We write in them weekly- I ask them questions to answer and work on the terms etc. The kids have taken well to this the past two years.

  4. Love Love Love this idea think I’m going to use it for my class

  5. Cindy Coleman says

    This year I downloaded your prayer copy book and used in with my 3 Parish Religious Education classes and it was very helpful I think in having them learn their basic prayers (which, sadly, few knew even on entering 2nd grade and preparing for First Holy Communion). I think next year I will go further and expand the prayer book into into a FHC journal as you have here 🙂 I use this site all the time…and have since another catechist introduced me to it. When I brought my Lenten Map into be copied this year, there was another catechist already there with the same to be copied for her class and 2 others had copies made for their classes from mine! Blessings to you for helping us so much.

  6. I love this idea! I will be teaching 2nd grade First Communion classes next year. I am definitely going to save this idea for my class. 🙂

  7. new catechist love your ideas

  8. I’ve subscribed however I’m not able to access the First Communion Journal Page. I’m sure I’ve missed something on how to access it. Thanks.
    William

  9. suzie james says

    I have tried to subscribe several times and it looks like my subscription is accepted, but no confirmation e-mail is sent so I don’t know if I have subscribed or not

    Thank you
    suzie James

    • Hi Suzie –

      A confirmation email wouldn’t be sent because it looks like you have been a subscriber since November 7, 2017. If you aren’t receiving the emails, make sure to check your spam or junk folder, since the email system we use shows that emails are being sent to your email address.

      Angie, Catholic Icing Project Manager