Acting out a baptism ceremony is the best way to learn about this Sacrament. This free printable baptism lesson activity is centered around doing a pretend baptism of a stuffed bear. Everyone finds it fun to give the bear a full-blown baptismal ceremony at the actual baptismal font with all the components of the full rite.
The supplies to gather and prep do not take too much effort. Many of us have the candle and white stoll from either our baptism or the baptisms of our children. The script is easy to use. If the template is printed 2 sided, it creates a 4 page booklet by folding. The script It is slightly shortened from the official rite to make it more friendly to use as part of a faith formation class.
This activity is part of my 3rd grade lesson Sacraments of Initiation. For discussion ideas on the Sacrament of Baptism, see that lesson.
Supplies for Baptism Role Play Activity
- Baptism Rite script, (see Figure 1 below) printed with booklet settings from Adobe Reader (see Figure 2 below) and folded (1 per)
- stuffed bear
- white stole or white garment
- baptism candle
- chrism oil (mineral oil can be substituted)
- pitcher for water (optional if just cupping water from font with hands)
Directions for Baptism Role Play Activity
- Assign roles (see below for advice on how to assign roles).
- Pass out 1 copy of the script to everyone.
- Hand the bear to the mother or father.
- Pass out the chrism oil, stoll, and candle to the people who have those roles.
- Gather around the baptism font.
Free Printable Baptism Script for Children
Print the pdf script back to back on 2 sheets to create a small folded booklet.
Roles for Baptism Role Play Activity
Below are some suggestions for giving roles which may need to be adjusted depending on the number of kids you have.
- priest: (tip: make sure this person is a strong reader)
- deacon or priest assistant (to hold chrism oil)
- mother
- father
- godmother
- godfather
- candle holder
- stoll holder
- oil holder