Celebrating Pentecost with Children...

With Pentecost just a few days away, I've been thinking about ways that we can celebrate the feast with our children this year. In the Orthodox Church, the liturgical color for the feast is green (which represents the color of new life) and the symbol of the Holy Spirit that we focus on is the tongues of fire. Many of the ideas that I have come up with are quite simple and can be accomplished with very little preparation and work. In our family, things usually go better if I keep things quick and easy... it is not difficult to get overwhelmed!

• Wear outfits with shades of green to Liturgy.
  
• Bring flowers and greenery to church to hold during Kneeling Vespers.
  
• Decorate family icon corners with greenery.
• Sing the Troparion of the Feast for the prayer before meals.
  
• Read The Feast of Pentecost and the story of Pentecost from a children's Bible with the children.
  
• Display the Pentecost Icon on your feastday shelf. If you don't have one, print a coloring page and color it in!
• Serve green foods for lunch and dinner. I am thinking about Chicken Caesar Salad for lunch and Homemade Pizza with Alfredo Sauce, Broccoli, and Sausage for dinner.
  

If you are looking for some more ideas (especially from the Roman Catholic perspective), head over to Jessica's blog to read about some things that she will be doing with her little ones! I love her suggestions for flying kites and enjoying a cake with strawberries and candles for desert! If you have any traditions for this feast, I would enjoy hearing them!