Resources used by Navan Road Family Mass Group
BOOKS
1-The Complete Children’s Liturgy Book and The Liturgy Of The Word With Children
Both books by Katie Thompson
These two books give the Sunday gospel, a prayer, a reflection, questions and a colouring page, for every Sunday and all the great feast days in the three year liturgical cycle. One of them being a little more suited to slightly older children if you could only buy one we would recommend the first book with the colouring pages, they cost approx. 30 euro each. Some bookshops may be able to order them for you or get them online at www.amazon.co.uk
2-Roots
This magazine is published every two months, it is an ecumenical publication published in England by groups of Christian churches, it gives several prayers, activities, reflections, and ideas suitable for all ages for each Sunday and in each magazine you are given a code to access current and old editions of the magazine online, as the gospels are repeated every three years, this is very helpful.
Occasionally it may focus on the first reading instead of the gospel but we still find it invaluable.
It is available from the Sunday School Society in Rathmines.
It costs 11 euro incl. P+p every two months.
“Listen”
Handy little book which we would use to get first readings from, it also has gospels, all told in child friendly language. Not sure if it’s still available but you may be able to source with the ISBN number.
By A.J. McAllen/Harper Collins. ISBN: 0-00-599528-0
Alive-O Workbooks
These books are used in the schools and there is a matching textbook. They have good black and white pictures suitable for photocopying.
The fifth and sixth class workbooks have some very good activities for Pentecost/Confirmation time. Cost 4.35 euro each. Available from Veritas.
My Bible Colouring Book by Shirley Dobson
An excellent colouring book covering all the major events in the bible with a scripture verse to go with each picture, we occasionally adapt the pictures to go with the gospel that we are doing, by changing the scripture verse. Available from the Scripture Union Shop.
Luke the Book
Luke the book was a joint initiative by The Bible Society and Scripture Union in Northern Ireland. It is the gospel of Luke in colour with child friendly language, its aim is to interest and engage children, it is written as the Bible with the chapters and verses numbered so is very suitable for Bible work.
There is a matching DVD which costs 10 euro. It is available from the National Bible Society.
Look Sheets
A weekly a4 size activity sheet in colour to match the gospel of that week available from the Redemptorists .they come in packs of 50 and cost about 2.40 per pack.
Liturgical Calendar for Ireland 2008.
This book costs about 12 euro it is available from Veritas every October, for the following church year (which begins on first Sunday of advent)giving all the information you need to celebrate the liturgy of the word for every day of the year, including all the feast days and special Sundays.
Layout of book is a bit hard to follow initially.
WEBSITES:
Culham institute: www.culham.ac.uk
A UK charity promoting and supporting religious education
It is a very big website with lots of interesting sections, if a group has access to the web it has interactive sections called “Dottie and Buzz” for young children and a section called “Refuel” for other age groups.
Collective Worship Resource for Schools.
A good site (from the Culham institute) for finding prayers which can be searched for under themes and age groups also has short prepared reflections in a variety of themes.
Puzzle Maker: www.puzzlemakerdiscoveryeducation.com
A great site which allows you to create a variety of word puzzles, such as word search, hidden message, cryptograms, etc. Using your own words. We would use this site regularly using words and phrases from the gospel of the day.
Text this week: www.textweek.com
This site appears a bit complicated when you first open it. Click on date of Sunday you require on box on left of screen, this opens page with lots of links to reflections and summaries and thoughts on the gospel for adults, by scrolling down almost to the end of the page you will see two sections for children, just click on the various headings to find colouring pages and activities etc. for children.
It’s also worth clicking on the “graphics and multimedia” section for interesting images and art.
Dltk‘s bible activities: www.dltk-bible.com
Great site with lots of colouring pages excellent for photocopying also has puzzles, games, ideas and links to other relevant sites.
Bible gateway: www.biblegateway.com
The bible online, just put in the passage or word / phrase you require. We find the contemporary English version the best for reading with children; you can get this by scrolling down list on the right hand side of the screen.
Sermons4kids: www.sermons4kids.com
Open this site click on the sermon index to find the gospel you need and it will give you a short reflection or ideas to reinforce the gospel message and also links to a colouring page and word activities.
Msss Crafts and Resources for Bible Stories: www.mssscrafts.com
On right hand side of the page under heading “bible lessons” click on “new testament”, this opens a list of all the stories available on the site, click on the title you need and this will open another page of links to activities and colouring pages to go with the gospel you require, some of them I have already mentioned on this list.
Childrenschapel.org
Open site, click on bible stories, scroll down page until you come to New Testament, choose the gospel you require and it will give you a children’s version of the gospel with questions and a prayer.
Cafod:
An aid and development sister charity to Trocaire, with an excellent school resource section.
On left hand side of page under the heading “resources”, click on any of the sections for prayers, reflections, readings and practical child friendly ideas on how each of us can make a difference.
Trocaire:
The official overseas aid and development agency of the Irish Catholic Church, they do wonderful Lenten resources -magazines with stories, facts, colouring pages and posters. Children can participate in activities and receive “the better world” award.
At the other times of the year just click on education at the top of the page this will open a page with lots of downloadable resources for all ages.
Kids Sunday School Place;
Activity site, some activities only available to members but most free to all.
Silk net.
Lovely site with links to lots of resources, just click on the blackboard image on left side of screen and explore.
www.catholicmom.com
Click on “enter site”, then under heading, “explore catholicmom.com”
Click on heading you require such as “Catholic Sunday gospel activities” this will continue to lead you to colouring pages and activities for the Sunday gospel.
Catholic Ireland: www.catholicireland.net
A website for Catholics in Ireland, worth exploring, but as far as I could see does not have anything for children expect a little section at the bottom of the screen called “talk 2 god” which guides a child through some simple prayers and a child’s version of the gospel of the day online. You can check mass times at any church in Ireland but it doesn’t indicate if any are child friendly masses. You can also check on the mass readings for the Sunday you require and access a liturgical calendar. A site with lots of sections worth exploring.
lukethebook.com
Website to support the book and DVD of Luke’s gospels, which are available from the national bible society.
Pontifical Mission Society: www.pontificalmissionsociety.ie
This is an official church group whose role is to promote mission awareness and assist missionary activity. They have parish and children’s resources to support Mission Sunday which is on Sunday October 19 this year.
VIDEOS/DVDS
All scenes from any of videos and DVDs should be viewed by the adults preparing the sessions first to make sure they are suited to the age group you intend to show them to.
The Miracle Maker.
An excellent 3d animation film of Jesus life seen through the eyes of Jairus daughter. (There is also a matching book.)It covers many of the important miracles and stories about Jesus such as calling the fishermen, Jesus getting angry in the Temple, the good Samaritan, Easter week and the Resurrection to name but a few. It costs 20 euro. Available in Veritas and HMV.
Give up yer ol sins.
Set in Dublin in the 1960’s, this charmingly animated series dramatises the arrival of a documentary film crew to Rutland street primary school where they are treated to retelling of famous bible stories from the children of Miss Peig Cunningham’s class. Episodes :1.the story of john the Baptist 2.the birth of john the Baptist 3.the birth of Jesus 4.making the blind see 5.the story of Lazarus 6.the death of Jesus 7.the story of saint Jesus .also includes the half hour documentary on the history of the recordings and the making of the animated series. Great fun and the children love it.
The Gospel of Matthew and The Gospel of John
The complete gospels dramatized using full unedited text from the bible with bible reference numbers (on Matthews’ gospel only) filmed on location by the visual bible company. Matthew is a four box set and john a three box set, they cost about 45 euro each set from the National Bible Society. A really worthwhile investment that can be used again and again.
Luke the Book DVD
This DVD combines 22 animated bible stories from Luke’s gospel, each lasting 2/3 minutes covering the nativity narratives, the parables and the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. In addition there are ready-to-use lesson plans with discussion questions and optional resources. A dedicated web site is also available to download information or additional resources as well as full transcript of the stories.
The Nativity Story DVD
This is a PG rated film, it is one and half hours long but it does have scene selection, so it is easy to stop and start at appropriate scenes, Scene 17-herod and the wise men is very well done as is Scene 20- the three gifts. It cost 8 euro in HMV
Storykeepers.com:
The outstanding video/DVD of the gospels, drawn primarily from Mark & Luke (episodes 1 – 9) and from mark’s passion narrative (episodes 10 –13) “the story keepers” is an animated video series created for children that tells the story of Ben the baker, and his wife Helena, who are Christians in Rome at the time of the Neronian persecutions (64 AD.). Ben and Helena have adopted four children whose parents were lost during the fires set by Emperor Nero. The series consists of 13 x half hours of animated television and covers 47 parables and stories of Jesus told in the course of their exciting adventures.
The adults would need to be familiar with the collection in order to pick and choose the exact scene required, as there would not be enough time to show a full episode during a liturgy session.
MUSIC
We have a children’s choir in the parish that sing on the last Sunday of every month, we would use their “alleluia” and several other simple hymns from their collection because we feel the children will hear them again and maybe join in the singing at the family mass.
We have a Folk Group singing at the 11.30 mass so we use their “Our Father” hymn, which the children will hear again, and maybe participate in, when we return for the liturgy of the Eucharist. We would often just play reflective music to create an atmosphere. One particularly good source of music is out of the www.ark.co.uk especially if your group is in a position to do a drama.
We have used songs from the collection “Songs for Every Easter” for years in a variety of ways; there are some really beautiful pieces that we have used throughout Holy Week and Easter at all the children’s ceremonies.
POSTERS
Alive-O Posters
These posters cost 5 euro each from Veritas, they are bright and colourful and child friendly and have the same type of illustrations as the children’s alive-o school books. They are a3 size. There are 98 posters in the collection, obviously not all would be needed, we bought a few individual posters and we found the following very useful and we use them again and again:
St. Brigid, Resurrection, the woman at the well, the good shepherd, calling the fishermen, map of Palestine, Palm Sunday, Lent, Pentecost and Confirmation. They can be used in the room with the children or displayed in the church.
SHOPS AND SOURCES
Veritas
7/8 lower abbey street, Dublin 1. (01) 878 8177
Blanchardstown unit 309, Blanchardstown centre, Dublin 15. (01) 886 4030
Scripture Union Shop
Scripture union, 68-69 Talbot street, Dublin, Dublin 1, co. Dublin 8363764
scripture union, 87 lower George’s street, Dunlaoghaire, co. Dublin 2802300
National Bible Society
41 Dawson Street – Dublin 2 – Ireland. 01 6773272
Sunday school society
Holy Trinity Church,
Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6. Opening hours Monday – Friday 10.00am – 4.00pm, 01 4972821
Twenty Third Publications
A fantastic source of books DVDs and videos online you can order from them directly or contact their Irish distributor Columba, 55a Spruce Avenue, Stillorgan Industrial Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 01 2942556
Evans School Supplies
K & m Evans, 28 Mary’s Abbey, Dublin 7. 01 – 8726855
Evans Educational, Unit 8, Northern Business Park, North Rd, Finglas, Dublin 11.
(For good value card of all sizes and paper crayons and glue etc.)
Amazon.co.uk
An online source for books and DVDs you are unable to source in Irish shops.