Heart Inspirations Craft

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A craft to remind us to pray for marriages

SARA JONCKHEERE

Teach students about matrimony and the importance of praying for marriages with this stained glass-effect craft. Students can personalize this craft with prayer intentions that are relevant to them specifically. When the sunlight shines through the colors of this heart, it can serve as a reminder that God is at the heart of marriages and calls spouses to witness his love to those they encounter each day.

Supplies Needed

Black cardstock
Scissors
Red and pink tissue paper squares (approximately 1 inch or smaller)
Clear contact paper or transfer tape (two per heart, 8 ½” x 11” or a little bigger)
Small sticky notes
White crayon

To create

1. Fold the black cardstock in half vertically. Put the crease on the left and draw half of a heart and then draw a smaller one inside with the white crayon. Tell young students that they are making a shape like an ear. Cut on those two lines and open the cardstock to reveal the outline of a heart.

2. Cut the contact paper or transfer tape to fit the heart (about 8½” x 11”) and peel off the back. Transfer tape is often thicker and doesn’t get stuck to itself as easily as contact paper. Lay the contact paper or transfer tape sticky side up and place the black heart outline on it.

3. Fill the inside of the heart with the tissue paper squares. Place each piece of tissue paper flat on the sticky surface. You want the pieces to touch so there is no space between them, but avoid overlapping the pieces too much or it will be hard for the light to shine through and give the stained glass look to the heart.

4. Once the inside of the heart is filled with tissue paper, cover over the top with another piece of contact paper or transfer tape. Push down to seal in the tissue paper. Cut the excess contact paper off around the heart.

5. Use the sticky notes for students to write the names of couples that they know whose marriage they want to pray for. It could be family members, friends, a future spouse, and so on. Attach the sticky notes all over the stained glass-effect of the heart.

6. Attach the extra sticky notes right on the heart so the students can add new prayer requests to the heart as they encounter more marriages that could use prayers.

7. Hang the heart in a window so that the light will shine through it, giving it a stained glass look and serving as a reminder for students to pray fervently for the marriages they have listed on the sticky notes.

Let us pray

Dear Father, we ask you to protect those we love and their marriages. Help them to know you and keep you at the center of their marriage. Help them to show the world your love for the Church through what they say and do and the example they set for all those they encounter. Amen.

 

 

Sara Jonckheere, MA, is an elementary-school teacher turned work-at-home mom. Creating digital curriculum and resources, she shares teaching ideas at SaraJCreations.com.

This article was originally published in Catechist magazine, March 2020.

PHOTOS: SARA JONCKHEERE

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