Jennifer @ Crafolic has created an interactive printable game, Journey’s End, to be used with a range of ages to teach about sin, their consequences, and the need for Confession, while being fun and engaging! She offered this lovely game to our family and we have been having a wonderful time playing.
With only two children though playing at home, the fun was over rather quickly! All games are more fun with friends, so we brought Journey’s End along to our history co-op meeting to share.
Before being able to play the game though, there was some assembly required. The game is a PDF file that must be downloaded and printed. The file itself contains directions for the game; signs for Heaven, Purgatory and Hell; and four sets of playing cards. There are a few pages, (namely the four sets of cards), that must be printed more than once in order to have the correct amount for playing. There is also the need for holding containers for the cards, two 5 pound bags that are able to be carried, and a board/rope/chalk line to serve as the Life Path for the players to walk along.
For our family’s purposes, (and for the co-op meeting), I chose to print all of the e-file pages and, using my Scotch Thermal Laminator, 
(This was just my preference so that the cards would be durable throughout the many times of play. The game can certainly still be played without lamination!)
To store the cards for play, Jennifer suggests using the bottoms of gallon milk jugs. Instead, we opted to use a couple of extra toy bins from the children’s rooms.
Since we were playing with friends away from home, we used a chalk line for our path instead of a 2×4 board as Jenifer suggests. (This made the game very interesting for the children since they had to keep reminding each other to stay on the line!)
And for the two 5 pound bags, we used a couple of bags of potatoes since they were already in our pantry.
Now the playing of the game is quite simple– just draw a card from the deck and complete it’s action down the Life Path. Each card states a sin you have ‘committed’ and the action that you must perform due to your giving in to the temptation. The actions are easily completed and range from walking with one eye covered, walking backwards with eyes closed or carrying a heavy load.
Once the first card’s action is completed, repeated drawings are taken from the second and third sets of cards. Lastly, at the end of the Life Path, a card is drawn from the fourth set, an “At Death Card”, to see just were you end up from your previous actions– Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. Those who land in Purgatory have the opportunity to reach the goal of Heaven once another player is charged with praying for them.
At the co-op meeting, after a brief explanation of the directions to the children, (ranging in ages from not quite 2 to 10 years old), they were all eager to tackle their Life Paths! They all had a lot of fun and ended up playing through the game a few times.
Since we had such fun playing the game, both with family and friends, Jennifer is generously offering the game as a FREE GIVEAWAY to one of you dear readers!
All you have to do to be able to win a FREE copy of Journey’s End is to leave a comment and share how it is you help your children grasp the enormity of sin and it’s consequences.
When you comment, be sure to let us know what works for your family by 11:59 PM EST, Thursday, March 29, 2012, and you will be entered to win your very own copy! The winner will be announced right here on ThreeSidedWheel Friday, March 30, 2012, so be sure to add us to your feed reader, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter so you don’t miss out on the action!
(And if you just can’t wait for the FREE GIVEAWAY of Journey’s End to, well, end, you can pay a visit to Jennifer’s online store and purchase a copy of the PDF e-file for yourself!)
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This is how I explained the effects of sin recently to my VERY small children. We were in the house playing ring-around-the-roses holding hands, laughing and having fun. That was our souls in sanctifying grace in the presence of God. Then I stepped out onto the porch and the children could see me through the glass but could not touch me, they had trouble hearing me. Oh No! Venial sin! Then we closed the curtains, they could not see me, touch me, or hear me. They did not even know if I was there anymore! Just like with mortal sin we will lose our entire friendship with God.
I tend to focus more on the consequences of sin by explaining to my children (and my REP students) that all of our sins affect other people. We discuss that the consequences are not just detrimental to our own holiness but that of others, too.
I also focus on the consequences of sin as well. I teach my children ( and religious ed students) that there are always consequences to our actions. If we hit someone , they cry, if we take something from someone, they are upset. That sin does not just affect us but everyone around them, and it affects our relationship with God because it makes Him sad when we sin.
I would love to win this as my class the 2nd graders (Reconciliation class) and this would be a great game to teach them about sin , and the consequences of it.
What a great idea! I would love to use this game with my kids and their cousins. I guess I don’t haven’t used one particular method of explaining these realities to my kids. We’re always talking and using the challenges and opportunities in life to grow together. The way I most often speak of it to the children is by using the analogy of sickness. Venial sin = sickness. Mortal sin = death. A soul that is battling habitual venial sin is like someone battling a chronic illness. We talk about the way sickness and death affect our lives… and then how the life of the soul is affected by our sin. For real. The hardest thing for them to comprehend is that their private or “little” sins affect the entire Body of Christ. When talked about in terms of sickness in that same body, it starts to make a bit more sense to them. Hope this makes sense… I’m trying to super condense in a hurry. 🙂
I help teach the enormity of sins when we pray for the souls in Purgatory. I explain to my children that your sins determine how long it will take for you to be joined fully with God after we die. This is also helpful when discussing confession also. 🙂
We have been talking about how sins are like stains on our party clothes. We can’t go to the party until the stains have been removed, and if they won’t come out we won’t be allowed to go at all.
I don’t think I do a very through job of explaining sin to my kids… So it’s been helpful to read everyone’s comments! I really love the idea of this game!! Thanks for doing this give away!!