Sometime this week you’re going to spend a fair bit of time cutting and assembling all the little pieces for the Vessels and Vestments home lesson, and it seems a shame to just use them for that one hour so we’d like to suggest a few complimentary uses:

1. The model sanctuary you’ll be building is roughly the same scale as your priest paper doll.  We’ve had many parents tell us that even when they’re done with the lesson, their kids love to “play Mass” with all the pieces.  Leave it out on your prayer table or some other accessible place to encourage this.
2. Use the pieces as manipulatives for a review game by laying them all out on the table and giving your student simple challenges like “pick up the cruets,” “point to the corporal,” “find the tabernacle,” etc.
3. You can make this quiz harder by incorporating the uses of each piece in your quiz.  Which of the books contains the instructions and prayers for the priest?  (the Sacramentary)  Which of the dishes holds the consecrated hosts?  (the paten and the ciborium)   Which two of the pieces are really made of cloth? (purificator and corporal, and vestments if you have your priest paper doll there as well)
4. If you have a Family Formation student or an older sibling who is an altar server, you have a built in expert in your home!  I would definitely recommend having him take over and explain all the pieces and their uses to you or to younger siblings.  Have him show you the pieces he uses when serving, and ask him to stage an opening procession and demonstrate what he does to assist during the Mass.  This would also be an outstanding way for any dads who were former altar servers to lead a lesson.

Manipulatives (noun) – any of various objects or materials that students can touch or move around in order to help them learn mathematical and other concepts.