Ash Wednesday Portrait for Kids

Primary Blog/Ash Wednesday Portrait for Kids

If you are looking for a beautiful and fun art project for your kids that focuses on the season of Lent, then this mixed media portrait is a fantastic option!

Lent is a time for fasting, almsgiving, prayer, and repenting. Sometimes it can be difficult helping children to understand this important (and emotional) time of the liturgical season. I figured if I can help children understand it a little bit better through art, then that is something worth sharing!

Check out the video tutorial for this project below:

VIDEO TUTORIAL:

THE BOOK

Psalms for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval and Arno is a precious picture book that simplifies some of the Psalms so children can more easily understand and pairs them with gorgeous child-friendly illustrations. It's a great book you can use for story time and turn it into family or bedtime prayers.

We focused on Psalm 51:12- A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me since it is commonly the Psalm sung during the Ash Wednesday Mass, and it's such a beautiful prayer for Lent as we focus our hearts on preparing for Christ's Passion, death & resurrection.

PREP

Here is what we used:

11" x 15" watercolor paper

White card stock for templates

Face & praying hands templates

9" x 12" white heavyweight construction paper

Kwik Stix (paint sticks)- optional

Oil pastels (lime green, green, black, pink or red)

Violet liquid watercolor or pan watercolors

White school glue & scissors

Skin-toned washable marker or crayon

Large round paintbrush

Black chalk pastel or oil pastel

GRAB YOUR TEMPLATES & PROJECT GUIDE:

Click below or CLICK HERE to sign up & download the project guide & templates for this Ash Wednesday Self-Portrait!

CREATE

After your templates are printed onto card stock and cut out, This is what you do:

Using lime green and regular green oil pastels, draw palm branches on the watercolor paper (horizontal orientation) for the background. Press down hard. Construction paper crayons work too.

Paint over the oil pastel lines with violet liquid watercolor paint. The lines will show through the watercolor! *Oil pastels show up better than crayons. Set aside to dry.

Trace the oval and praying hands using a crayon.
Add two curved lines at the bottom of the oval for the neck.
Then draw downward curved lines to the bottom of the paper for the shoulders.

Using a skin-toned washable marker or crayon, color the head, neck & hands.

Use Kwik Stix or oil pastels to color the shirt and hair. Then use oil pastels to draw facial features. Using a black chalk pastel (these smudge really well and mimic the feeling of getting ashes) or black oil pastel, draw and smudge a cross on the forehead.

Let us know what you think! If you made this project, please tag us on Instagram @littleholyhearts

We'd love to see what you make!

Click below or CLICK HERE to sign up & download the project guide & templates for this Sparkly Saint Self-Portrait!

Hi, I'm Marisa!

Founder of Little Holy Hearts

And my mission is to help you transform art time with kids into meaningful moments that help their love for Christ and His Church shine in their art and in their hearts!

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