Colors of the Church Year
How the Church Tells Time
By Vicki Wiley

Clear Cross Sand Art Frames for each child (from Oriental Trading company)

Sandy Candy supplies needed: 1 Tube for each child
Colors: White, purple, green, red
(Substitute beads and cord to make bracelet or necklace instead of Sandy Candy)

Do you know how to tell time? How do you tell time? (Give kids plenty of time to share their answers.)

Do you know what season it is now? How do you know when it is winter, summer, spring or fall? What is different in each one?

The church tells time a little differently. The church doesn't use a clock, but it does have seasons. The seasons are different though. The church has seasons called Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time.

The seasons all have colors to go with them. Some churches use these colors in their sanctuaries on the altars. Some pastors wear the colors and some churches also have banners to show the colors.

Does anyone know what these colors are? The colors are purple, green, white and red.
Today we are going to learn how we can remember Jesus' life with the colors of the church.

Advent
The first season of the church is advent.
Does anyone know what happens during advent?
The color of advent is purple. Purple stands for kings and royalty. Since Jesus is the King of all, when we are preparing for Christmas we use purple to show how special Jesus is. This is the season we celebrate Jesus' birth!

It's time to put our first color into our tube. Pass around Purple "sandy candy" and show children how to fill tube about one inch with purple "sand". Be sure to tell them not to shake the tube!

Christmas
The next season is Christmas. What happens at Christmas? Christmas is when we celebrate how special Christ is to us. We celebrate that Christ loves us and knows each of us. For this season we use the color white. White stands for purity, joy, and hope.

It's time to put our second color into our tube. Pass around white "sandy candy" and show children how to fill tube about one inch with white "sand". Be sure to tell them not to shake the tube, we don't want them mixed up!

Epiphany
The next season is Epiphany. Epiphany is when we celebrate the magi and how they worshiped Jesus. We celebrate baptism and what it means to us. This season begins after Christmas and the color is green. We use green because green stands for life and growing and we celebrate growing in Christ!

It's time to put our third color into our tube. Pass around green "sandy candy" and show children how to fill tube about one inch with green "sand". Remind them again not to shake the tube, we don't want them mixed up!

Lent
The next season is Lent. Lent is when we begin to think about Jesus and the sorrow and sadness that he was about to go through. We think about our faith and we know that God is always with us no matter what we are going through. This season begins after epiphany and the color is purple again. This time purple stands for sorrow and prayer.

It's time to put our fourth color into our tube. Pass around purple "sandy candy" again and have children how to fill tube about one inch with purple "sand". Remind them again not to shake the tube!

Easter
The next season is Easter. What is Easter all about? Yes, you're right, Easter is when Jesus came back to life! This is a very important day for Christians! We use white to show that we are joyful and we feel great!

Pass around white "sandy candy" again and have children how to fill tube about one inch with white "sand".

Pentecost
The next season is Pentecost. Do you remember what happened at Pentecost? Yes, you're right, Pentecost is when Peter was preaching and the Holy Spirit came down to the people. Pentecost is very special because the Holy Spirit still lives in us today, when we believe in Jesus Christ. The color is Pentecost is red. Red stands for the power and "fire" of the Holy Spirit.

Pass around red "sandy candy" and have children how to fill tube about ½ inch ( or more if tube is not almost filled up) with red "sand".

Ordinary Time
The last season is ordinary time. Some churches call this "Season after Pentecost." What does that mean? Yes, this means that we learn about the other stories about Jesus during this time and we grow in Christ. This season lasts until Christ the King Sunday, the week before advent begins.

Pass around green "sandy candy" again and have children how to fill tube to the top. Put stopper on the tube.

Closing:
Now look at your tube. The colors are all separate and you can see each one. Each one can remind you of the different parts of the life of Jesus. You can even teach someone else about the church year by showing them this tube. But if the colors get mixed up, that's fine too. When we are Christians and we love Christ, every single bit of his life is important to us, no matter what order we hear the stories!