Baptism Welcomes Us into the Large Community

To give children a visual image of belonging to the Church

The children are brought to Baptism by their families and are welcomed into the parish, the diocese, and the world-wide Church.

• Large bowl of water
• Marbles or stones (one per child)

• Fill the bowl about three-quarters full.
• Invite the children to sit in a circle on the floor.
• Place the bowl of water in the center of the circle.
• Demonstrate dropping a marble into the bowl and talk about the ripples of water spreading out.
• Tell the children that Baptism made them members of the Church at many levels and that the ripples represent each level.
• Each ripple illustrates the welcoming of children first to their families, then to the parish, the diocese, and the universal Church.
• Let each child drop a marble into the bowl and have them name the ripples: family name, parish name, diocese, and world-wide Catholic Church.

Body Smart, Nature Smart

The bowl must be wide enough and deep enough to create ripples.
Have a towel on hand to wipe up water splashed out of the bowl.