cgscreate: City of Jerusalem: Level I materials and a Level II material for the older children

Level I City of Jerusalem

(Color coded for the 3-6 year olds)

This is the new Level I City of Jerusalem that we now have in our atrium. The last Level I trainer we had, Kim Manville Sisson, taught the catechists how to build this material. What makes this nice for Level I is that each building on the bottom is painted the same color and same shape as its position on the map so the children know where to place it. It is also the making it fun and easy for them. However, overall it was colorless like oatmeal, so I gave it visual appeal and painted very lightly the whole landscape with rivers and paths. It's very pretty now, I think. I glued the tomb to the city's corner as the children didn't seem to know what to do with it. When we present this work we present the path that Jesus took after leaving the Last Supper until he was crucified. So it starts at the Cenacle, then the Garden of Olives, Caiaphas' Palace, to Pilate in the Tower of Antonia, to Herod and back to Pilate, and finally Golgotha. There is a control book for the catechist.

I also painted the buildings and gave them gold accents. We remade the Tower of Antonia using a Drummel as this was missing from the material. Pictured below is how we show the children to put the work away in the box so they don't damage the materials. They take pride in that work also.

I have made a control chart on the top and inside lid of the box below which assists the children and the catechist. Also, there is a booklet inside which tells the story of the Passion and is color coded.

Level II City of Jerusalem

I also decided to paint the Level II City of Jerusalem which I had made from children's building blocks, a jig saw and drummel. Everything is earth colors except for the Temple as that was actually white with gold trim.

The Level II (7-9 year olds) can read from a booklet following the path Jesus took from the Last Supper to His crucifixion. The children are told that they can put the walls of the city on the map after they follow Jesus' path. Some children work in pairs and some just like doing it alone.

There are two large maps with the shapes of the buildings and the walls cut out in yellow poster board which then are glued to the map. The children place each of the buildings on the map and the next child removes the buildings to the map on the table next to it. There are two tables side by side. The last person puts it back in the box as seen below.