Pancakes and Crafts on Shrove Tuesday

No tea today, but plenty of flapjacks, with maple syrup and whipped cream and roasted potatoes. YUM! Pancake Day was a big hit in our household! (How could it not be, lol?) The boys ate several pancakes apiece; in fact, they got a little game going - when you finished a pancake, if you wanted another, you had to yell Mardi Gras first! I asked them if they remembered eating pancakes for supper last year and they did. :)

Looking ahead to tomorrow, I made our Lenten Journey chart this afternoon. I made a similar one last year, following an idea I found in yet another lovely British festival book, A Book of Feasts & Seasons by Joanna Bogle. Last year I made the mistake of posting the chart behind the computer corner where we could barely read it and certainly couldn't reach it. This year I'm posting it front and center on our learning room bulletin board.

Here are the materials:

Purple posterboard, small white cards cut into even smaller squares, a package of multicolored star stickers. (Not shown, thin brown cardboard.)

I made a small square for each of the 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday and laid them out in a path leading up to a simple brown cross (made from the cardboard). On each square I wrote the date and one small thing we would do for God each day. (The boys and I brainstormed this together.)

Here's how the chart looks on our bulletin board:

Below you see the square for Ash Wednesday close-up. On this day we will go to Mass and receive ashes, and we will not eat meat. (Children may abstain from meat but do not need to fast; full Lenten regulations can be found here.)

We each chose a star color and when we complete a day's offering, we'll each apply our sticker to the square.

Taking another cue from Ms. Bogle's book, I will make some embellishments to the poster after the boys go to bed on Easter Eve. Come Sunday morning we will wake to a transformed board - golden glitter will line the pathways and a golden Alleluia will hail the new day from above. (I made the Alleluia sign today - I will post about that tomorrow.) There will likely be flowers and joyful phrases around the edges of the chart as well.

(Note ~ for two more Lenten chart ideas please stop by Matilda's here and Theresa's here. Lovely!)

We also read a cute Tomie dePaola book today, Pancakes for Breakfast, and we perused a lovely new Easter book I bought this weekend.

The three wooden frames seen below are tiny, and were a snap to paint. I chose the colors of Mardi Gras and will place a picture of each of my own princes inside. :)

I can't let you go without a peek at the pancakes! 

And the revelers ... with their crowns and masks!

The third little prince simply could not be pursuaded to adorn his Mardi Gras attire. He was all about the pancakes. :)

Well, what a fun day! I hope yours was too. Tomorrow we shift gears dramatically, and will rise extra early to attend morning Mass. For now, I wish you a good night and God bless!