Dramatize the Visitation and Answer Where Babies Come from

This Thursday, May 31, the Church commemorates the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.  Following the Annunciation, Mary discovers that Elizabeth is indeed expecting her first child after many years without a pregnancy.  Upon Mary’s arrival, Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist, leaps for joy in her womb, filling Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit.  She calls Mary “blessed among all women,” recognizing her as the Mother of God.  You can find this story in the gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verses 39 - 45.

We will dramatize the Visitation using our Mary Spoon Puppets.  

They are very easy to make; you just need some wooden spoons, pieces of cloth, painter’s tape, and yarn.  Click on the link above or photo below to go to my post for directions.  

To convert one of our puppets into Elizabeth, we placed a toy ball under her dress and tied it in place with yarn.

For our dramatization, we will read the story from Luke and use our puppets to demonstrate.  The book Mary’s First Christmas by Walter Wangerin, Jr. also contains a version of this story; the book begins with The Annunciation and covers the events through the Holy Family’s return to Nazareth from Egypt.  You can learn more about this book by clicking on the image of Mary and the infant Jesus in the Children’s Book Carousel in the left sidebar.  FYI: when you click on the book image, you will open a window to the Amazon website.

Read about how we used our spoon puppets to dramatize the Annuciation here.

The story of Elizabeth and Zechariah is also a good way to teach children about the role of prayer in family life.  Luke 1:13 reveals that God answered the prayers of Elizabeth and Zechariah that they may have a child after many years without children.

This chapter of Luke also contains a very good answer to the question “where do babies come from?”  For very young children, the answer, “God,” is often the best because it is truthful and uncomplicated.  I am anticipating that my three year old will ask some version of this question and many others because we are expecting an addition to our extended family, a cousin for my two daughters.  My answer, when she asks, will be that her aunt and uncle prayed to God for a baby and He answered their prayers.

I’m linking this post with Equipping Catholic Families.  Monica hosts a Saints Cele-linky organized by month.

This post is also linked to the Catholic Bloggers Network Round up.  Remember to go visit the other links there and vote with your mouse for this month’s Big Clicks Award.

I have attached this post to the Tea with Saint Anne Link up hosted by Jennifer at Crafolic.  This link up is for posts that help to grow the Domestic Church and encourage a faith centered home.

Holly at A Life-Size Catholic Blog hosts a monthly Pay It Forward Link Up, so I am connecting there in June also.  Her link up is a great forum for sharing the ideas you have found on other blogs; click on my links above to find the original inspirations for the spoon puppets and the angel puppet.  I hope you will go see what others are paying forward this month at the link below.

And, I am connecting with the First Friday Link up for June hosted by Lacy at Catholic Icing.   

Martianne, whose own post inspired my Mary spoon puppets, has graciously invited me to join her weekly link up about Faith Formation in Young Children, so you will find me linked to her post about Mealtime Prayers.