Teaching Vocations: A Baptism Kit for under $5

Our Father's House has a baptism kit that is just as beautiful as its Mass Kit. However, it costs $75. I have been wanting to purchase it for sometime, but have never had the money to do so.  It was something that I wanted the children to have, though, especially with Buddy beginning preparation for First Holy Communion.  So, I created a small, simple set for the children. It is not fancy in the least, but cost less than $5, so if anything gets lost or broken, it can easily be replaced. In fact, for $5, I ended up with plenty of spare parts.

We went to Dollar Tree and purchased a set of two clear plastic bowls, a set of pill cases, a spool of wide white ribbon, and a two pack of battery operated candles. At home, we found a sheet of white felt, a large clam shell (leftover from stuffed clams), gold fabric paint, and permanent markers.

The first step was to separate the pill cases and paint two gold for the chrism. I was disappointed that in fact only one of the pill cases had a lid and the rest just screwed into each other, but it will still work.

Next, we cut about five feet of white ribbon and finished the ends with the a little help from the gas stove burner. Quickly pass the ribbon through the fire and it will seal and stop any fraying.

On the two ends of the ribbon, we painted gold crosses.

We then drew an outline on the white felt to cut it for the baptism garment and cut it with sharp scissors.

With permanent markers, we drew symbols of baptism as decoration.  It is really too big to use for a small doll like we will, in hindsight, I should have only used half a sheet of felt.

We then painted the shell gold with the same paint.

Finally, with the permanent markers, we decorated the two candles. The one on the left is the Pascal candle and on the right, the baptism candle for the newly baptized.

I found a pdf file of the Rite of Baptism, here. With that printed out, the baptisms are ready  to begin. Everything fits into the bowl and is sturdy enough for young hands.