Quiet Busy Bags - Church Edition

I have been finding it more of a challenge lately to keep both kids entertained and engaged without escaping (once Aliyah learned to walk she was all about going on an adventure - anywhere) in church.  I quickly banished my former thoughts and judgments of other parents attempting to keep control of their kids in church when I realized I am "that parent" at moments.  We attend mass on a regular basis together and have been since they have been born, so they should know the expectations.  What happened to "just knowing" (from what I remember of my own childhood) how to behave and keeping still and staying quiet in places like this?!  

I was thinking about how I previously created toddler busy bags with different activities in each for Eli when he was younger - things he could do on his own independently without a lot of guidance that would keep him busy and quiet.  I came across a few ideas of quiet busy bags/activities for church.

For Eli, I created a 2-sided folded sheet using clip art of various pictures of things that can be found in church (I even came across pictures of our priest and deacon I added in).  When you find each item, you are supposed to circle it, like an "I Spy" version of things to be found in church.  The first time I tried this with Eli, he had everything circled before mass even started so that sort of backfired.  

I also came across the website catholicmom.com that is a great resource.  By visiting the site, clicking on the "Kids" link and then "Sunday Gospel Activities" each week there are activities that correlate to that weekend's mass readings including coloring pages, crossword puzzles, word searches, etc.  I have also found the gospel story summarized in kid-friendly language the most useful tool to help point out certain words/phrases to listen for as it is read during mass along with giving some background information about the story in a way kids can relate to and understand.  Eli is at an age where he can start to understand more of what is going on during mass and he is still required to kneel/stand when appropriate and work on his worksheets at other times.  He knows he needs to pray when we first get there and he will always lean over and whisper, "I'm done" afterwards:)  Speaking of prayers, I compiled a template that I hung up by his bed to help him with his bedtime prayers:

Dear God,  

Thank you for __________________.

I'm glad you helped me __________________.

I love you because ______________________.

Please help me______________________.

Watch over ___________________.

Amen

One night when Eli was going to bed, he mentioned he already said his prayers for the day at nap time during school so he wouldn't need to that day at bedtime - he must be taking it seriously:)

With Ian's help with the holes in the top of the container, we created a mini pom-pom shape sorter for Lia to use during church to keep her busy.  It doesn't make any noise, so it keeps her quiet.  I also pulled out an assortment of some of our more interactive books.