The story of the ascension of Jesus into heaven is such a great Bible story to teach children! I always find that when I reach kids on their own level with fun, hands-on activities, it helps them learn the story and retain it longer. You can find all of my Bible crafts for kids here. Ascension Thursday or Sunday is the perfect time to celebrate the solemnity of the ascension with kids, so let’s take a look at some printables, crafts, songs, and even recipes to help you teach your kids this week.
Durning this time while many of us can’t attend Mass, be sure to check out all of my weekly Mass resources for kids. There are so many great resources in that post including ideas for spiritual communion, sending your angel to Mass for you, and resources that update weekly!
Ascension Thursday / Sunday Cheat Sheet
You can be a better teacher if you make sure you understand the feast day yourself first, so let’s take a look at Ascension Thursday/Sunday in a nutshell.
- In the Catholic faith, Ascension Sunday traditionally falls 40 days after Easter, which is a Thursday. It is a holy day of obligation, but many dioceses now move Ascension Thursday to be celebrated on the seventh Sunday of Easter. Check with your local diocese to see what they do.
- Jesus ascended into heaven. Mary was assumed into heaven. The simple difference here is that Jesus ascended on his own abilities, and Mary was brought up. These happened at different times, this is just explanation of a wording difference.
- When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told the apostles to wait on the Holy Spirit to come upon them. They stayed and prayed for 9 days until Pentecost Sunday, making the first novena. A novena is a prayer prayed for 9 days and the concept is based on this event. You can find my Pentecost resources for kids here.
- The ascension of Jesus is the 2nd glorious mystery of the rosary!
Read The Ascension Story To Kids (Acts 1 :1-11)
- Jesus Returns To Heaven– a picture book about the ascension from Arch Books
- Check your children’s books on the rosary. Because the ascension is the second glorious mystety, it’s going to be in there!
- Check your children’s bibles- we especially love the Jesus Storybook Bible, which has the story of Jesus’ ascension on page 324 (pic below).
Ascension Video For Kids
Sometimes I find it easiest to show my kids a video before starting our activities. Here is a video on the ascension for kids. I just love these little kid videos from Saddleback Kids, and they’re all also available in Spanish!
Free Ascension Of Jesus Printables For Kids
Free printables are my favorites because they are fun, easy, and don’t require any prep or special supplies! Here are some printables listed by type.
- Sermons 4 Kids has a lot of free printables for kids on —– including a word search, maze, crossword puzzle, coloring page, and more. Click here and scroll down to the bottom on the left. They also have the resources available in Spanish!
- Printable ascension coloring sheet from Sermons 4 Kids.
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Ascension Crafts For Kids
We love crafting so much here that I have an entire post that is a round up of Ascension of Jesus crafts for kids here. Be sure to check these out- TONS of fun crafts and free printables!
Ascension Food And Snack Ideas
I made a round up of all dessert ideas that are cloud themed, and they are all easy to make yourself! Check out these cloud dessert ideas for kids here. These would all be perfect for the ascension!
More Ascension Food Ideas
- Drink something carbonated (the bubbles “rise” up like Jesus did)
- Eating fruit is also traditional for the ascension. You can read about it here.
- Eat cotton candy, marshmallows, or popcorn- they look like clouds!
I hope these resources help you celebrate the ascension of Jesus with your family! 🙂
More Mass Resources For Kids!!!
Definitely check out my Mass resources for kids that are good year round! I have links to websites that update each week for the Gospel and weekly readings that include:
- Mass prep videos
- Free printable mass bulletins for each week
- Lesson plans
- Printables
- Powerpoint children’s sermon
- And more!
These ideas are great thanks Lacey,
We seem to always be able to rely on you for something fun to do.
God Bless, Robyn
Those Heavenly Jello Treats are out of this world! 🙂
These are awesome!
great ideas!
I LOVE THESE IDEAS!
I couldn't get blue jello at the commissary, so we made some Ascension Cookies.
Many Blessings,
Melanie
Hello! I just found your blog and I love it. Its so nice to find young mothers (I'm 25 too) who are so passionate about their faith. I'm sorry to say I don't see that a lot around here but hopefully its just because I haven't found the community I'm looking for. God Bless you and your family.
Hi Lacy, I’m having a hard time accessing the jello recipe. It looks wonderful and my kids love blue jello! Love the ideas. I’m looking for Mary paper dolls if you know of any. I’ve found a few that I can order. Should have looked at that ahead of time instead of the day before 🙂
There ARE free Mary paper dolls. I posted about them here: http://www.catholicicing.com/2010/05/free-mary-printables-for-kids/
Hello, I’ve recently discovered your site and love it! What wonderful ideas! I would really love to try the Heavenly jello, but I can not access the recipe. Is it possible you could post the info?
Thank you very much 🙂
Sorry the link is broken. I don’t have my own directions for that right now.:-(
Hi! Just because I noticed someone else was also wondering about the jello, I thought I’d let you know what I found on the net:
Basically make add 1 cup of boiling water to jello and stir to dissolve. Then add about a cup of ice per box of jello used, and stir about 5 minutes until thickened. Layer it in your dish with dollops of whipped topping, pushing the topping against the sides. Then more jello. That seems to be the jist of it. Can’t wait to try it!