We are going to look at celebrating Pentecost with your Catholic kids by breaking down what happened on the first Pentecost. Sometimes looking at a break down of the different parts of the day we are celebrating helps to spark an idea for how to celebrate it. After all, the whole point of doing these fun celebration activities is so that our kids learn the meaning behind the feast day. 🙂 You can find all of my Holy Spirit resources for kids here.
Pentecost Marks The Official End Of The Easter Season
So if you’ve been doing any activities to keep the whole 50 days of Easter going, awesome! But now it’s time to pack it up lol.
The Liturgical Color Of Pentecost Is Red
This is based on the original Pentecost and the Holy Spirit appearing as flames. In my experience as a life long Catholics, Pentecost is the biggest day where Catholics try to actually wear the liturgical color to Mass. Expect to see plenty of people wearing red. Dress your family accordingly.
Also, you may want to update your home altar with a red cloth of some kind, and possibly some Holy Spirit things if you have any.
Teach Your Kids The Pentecost Story
Check the children’s bible that you have at home- it probably includes the story of the first Pentecost for kids! I always love to read a version to kids that is easy for them to understand.
Also, check out this adorable video that does a good job of quickly depicting the events of the first Pentecost for kids.
Pentecost Is The Birthday Of The Church
How fun is that?! For this reason, many Catholic families choose to celebrate Pentecost with a birthday cake! Because the liturgical color of Pentecost is red, I usually make a strawberry cake. You can find my recipe and directions for Pentecost Birthday Cake here.
My strawberry sandwich cupcakes would also be absolutely perfect for Pentecost! I love how these cupcakes are so pretty with absolutely no decorating skills needed.
Pentecost: The First Novena
So Catholics pray novenas, but have you ever stopped to wonder why we pray them for 9 days? It’s because that’s how long the apostles waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit for the first Pentecost! It’s a great idea to pray a novena to the Holy Spirit leading up to Pentecost.
Rushing Winds
Acts 2:1-2
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.”
So the “wind” from Pentecost can spark all kinds of imagination! Think of trying some of these “windy” activities with them:
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- Fly a kite
- Make a wind swirling gifts of the Holy Spirit mobile (pictured below)
- Make a Pentecost wind sock
- Make a Pentecost pin wheel (free to print!)
- Craft some wind chimes
- Speak into a fan in a deep ominous voice “The Holy Spirit is upon you!!!” Kidding! Kinda haha
Tongues Of Fire
Acts 2:3
“Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.”
So this is really fun! This is why fire represents Pentecost. Here are some fun activities you might want to take a look at!
- Tongue of fire flaming hats craft– so fun and cute!
- Serve flaming hot cheetos, doritos, or fire balls!!! 😀
Holy Spirit
Acts 2:4
“And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”
Of course- the Holy Spirit is the big part of Pentecost!
Dove As A Symbol Of The Holy Spirit
The dove is probably the most common symbol of the Holy Spirit, so anything dove related would be absolutely perfect for Pentecost! Here are some ideas:
- Make a paper plate dove craft *this is actually one of my most popular crafts here!
- Handprint dove craft– so cute! I just love handprint crafts for the little ones!
Fruits Of The Holy Spirit
So you may want to teach your kids about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. I’m just going to go ahead and caution you to choose your materials wisely, because while the protestants have a list of only 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, we as Catholics have 12. So make sure you are choosing resources that cover ALL of the fruits. 🙂
Gifts Of The Holy Spirit
This list is a little easier to find resources on since we share the same list as the protestants. Also… there just seems to be a bit more and I’m not sure why.
- Gifts of the Holy Spirit lesson plan and worksheet (The Religion Teacher)
- Gifts of the Spirit printable craft
You can find all my crafts and activities for Pentecost here.
Happy celebrating!
Also, there is a whole string of moving feast days that follow Pentecost! You can find all the movable feasts that follow Pentecost here.
Love it! Learned about the Ascension in class last night and I felt like I had an advantage from reading your blog. I am SO making red velvet cupcakes for my class next week! Happy Monday : )
Great ideas as usual:D
those cakes are marvelous. the opne with the holy apostles and Mary imprinted on the top is amazing! thanks for these great ideas.
planning on making a "beehive" cake! Thanks for all the ideas!
My son's confirmation is Sunday and i love the idea of giving out fireballs at his luncheon!
Wow! I love these ideas for celebrating Pentecost with my children. I’m sure this will make things much more exciting for them.