From preschool to second grade, children are busy learning their
prayers, and their families are busy helping them. Parents,
grandparents, and catechists all know that when children learn the
important Catholic prayers by heart, they feel more closely a part of
the community that begins Mass with the Sign of the Cross and of the
family that says grace before meals.
Linda Price, DRE at
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, has enlisted a group of special teddy
bears—Prayer Bears—to help families with their important task. She
provides each class, from preschool to second grade, with its own teddy
bear, and each week a name is drawn to decide who will take the Prayer
Bear home. Around each bear’s neck is a set of instructions. Most
important of these is that the Prayer Bear should be with the family
whenever they pray—at Mass or at home, at bedtime, meal time, or any
other time the family prays together during the Prayer Bear’s visit.
With the Prayer Bear is a journal in which families are asked to record
in writing and in pictures their experiences with prayer.
At
the end of the week, the child returns the Prayer Bear to class and
receives a small prize. Another child’s name is drawn, and that child
gets the chance to take the Prayer Bear home.
Linda reports
that the Prayer Bears have been successfully helping families for
several years. She has even made up a book with writings and pictures
that families shared in their journals.
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Copyright 2010, Peter Li, Inc. This article may not be reprinted or reproduced in any form without permission, except for
use with your classes or families.
Prayer Bears
