Lent with children

We're going to do this. I'll need to get some jelly beans.


On Ash Wednesday set out a glass jar for each child with a small copy of the jellybean prayer taped to it. Determine a behavior to go with each jellybean color (corresponding with the prayer). Each day you can earn a jellybean of any color they followed through on. You cannot eat the jellybeans until Easter.

This is how to interpret each color.

Red is for the blood Christ gave (each morning choose something to sacrifice that day to earn the jellybean. It had to be something you would have had the opportunity to have or do on that day)

Green is for the palm’s cool shade (green jellybeans are earned for good deeds. It was a good deed to provide shade for Jesus with the palm)

Yellow is for God’s light so bright (yellow jellybeans are earned for sharing God’s light through kindness to others)

Orange is for prayers at twilight (orange jellybeans are earned for attentive behavior during bedtime prayer time and night time bible story)

Black is for sweet rest at night (these are earned for going to bed nicely)

White is for the Grace of Christ (these we cannot earn as mentioned below)
You cannot earn white jellybeans, these represented the Grace of Christ, which is a gift not earned by ourselves.

Purple is for His days of sorrow (we earn these through apologizing to anyone with our words or deeds that day)

Pink is for each new tomorrow (pink jellybeans are earned when we forgave those who apologized to us for hurtful behavior)