Thinkabara

🌱 Lent

The 40 days before Easter (starting on Ash Wednesday) Ages 4–11

Lent is a season of about 40 days before Easter when many Christians pray more, give to others and give up something they enjoy.

Google Classroom

📅 Dates

2026Ash Wednesday: Wed, Feb 18, 2026 · Palm Sunday: Sun, Mar 29, 2026
2027Ash Wednesday: Wed, Feb 10, 2027 · Palm Sunday: Sun, Mar 21, 2027
2028Ash Wednesday: Wed, Mar 1, 2028 · Palm Sunday: Sun, Apr 9, 2028

Dates for Western churches. Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on a different Sunday.

📖 What is Lent?

Lent remembers the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert. It begins on Ash Wednesday, when many Christians receive a cross of ashes on their foreheads as a sign of being sorry for wrongdoing and wanting to grow.

During Lent, people might give up a treat, like candy or video games, or add something good, like helping a neighbor or reading the Bible. Many Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays during Lent, so fish fries are popular in many American towns.

Lent ends with Holy Week: Palm Sunday remembers Jesus entering Jerusalem as crowds waved palm branches; Holy Thursday remembers the Last Supper; and Good Friday remembers his death on the cross.

✨ Traditions

🔤 Words to know

Lent
From an old English word for spring
Ash Wednesday
The first day of Lent
Holy Week
The week before Easter

✂️ Crafts & activities

40-Day Kindness Jar

You need: A jar, 40 small slips of paper, Pen

  1. Write one kind or helpful act on each slip.
  2. Fold them and put them in the jar.
  3. Each day of Lent, pick one and do it!

🖍️ Coloring pages

Dove with an Olive BranchName: ____________ Date: ____________
Dove with an Olive Branch

Lent quiz

  1. About how long is Lent?

  2. On which day does Lent begin?

  3. What did crowds wave on Palm Sunday?

  4. What do many people do during Lent?

💭 Let’s talk

If you gave up one thing for 40 days, what would it be — and what good thing could you add?

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