St. Sarkis the General, coloring and activity pages

St. Sarkis the General (Սուրբ Սարգիս Զորավար) the is one of the most loved Saints in the Armenian Church. We commemorate him in February every year (though the date is movable, like most in our church). It usually happens around Valentine’s Day – what a coincidence – because St. Sarkis Day is sometimes known as the Armenian Valentine’s Day, and has some sweet traditions for youth and unmarried folks. (Read the pages linked at the end of this post.)

I made some coloring and activity pages relating to Saint Sarkis. I had so many ideas for more pages, and should copy in the actual stories from his life… but those can be for future iterations… wanted to call this done for now.

St Sarkis activity pages Download

The first coloring page is based on icon by Daniel Varoujan Hejinian at Saints Vartanantz Armenian Orthodox Church in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The second coloring page is based on an Armenian prayer scroll, made in Constantinople in 1655, at the British Library.

If you want to read more about St. Sarkis, here are some links:

St. Sarkis the Warrior

St Sarkis the Warrior (Soorp Sarkis)

AND some recipes… yum!: https://thearmeniankitchen.com/category/holidays/st-sarkis-day/

Nativity and Theophany, activity and coloring pages

I made a ton of these this year. Just about to print them out booklet style, so my kids have something relevant to do/doodle after (or probably during, eep) Badarak tomorrow. Sharing now, in case anyone who gets emails from this site wants to print them too, before Armenian Christmas tomorrow.

I am particularly proud of the “Let’s draw” type pages. And you’ll see a bunch of nativity icons too. For some reason the “Let’s decorate” outlines didn’t format properly when I converted the doc to a PDF, so apologies if the lines are really thick on those… I’ll figure out why later.

Nativity and Theophany, activity pages 2026 Download

Last year’s version was definitely more simplistic and for a younger group, but still good too: Activity and coloring pages for Armenian Christmas / Epiphany

Shnorhavor Surp Dznunt!

Holy Lance relic, coloring page/craft

This Saturday, November 29th (in 2025) is the Commemoration of the Apostles St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew, who are considered the first to bring Christianity to Armenia. Tradition says that St. Thaddeus brought with him the Holy Lance that pierced the side of Jesus during his Crucifixion. A relic of the lance is at Holy Etchmiadzin, and used for sacred ceremonies like the blessing of the muron (holy oil) every seven years. They’re going to bring out and venerate the Holy Lance at Etchmiadzin this weekend. More on the lance here: The Holy Lance in Armenian Tradition & Legend – The Armenian Church

I made a simple coloring page of the Holy Lance a few years ago when they were blessing the muron, so I have it for anyone who wants to use it. We colored it on the page, and pasted one of the pages on top of some cardboard, cut it out, and tried to use it like a “real” spear. Both were fun, but the design is a little too thin/the handle too flimsy to use like a real spear with just cardboard. Maybe if we used two layers? We’ll try again. Anyway, enjoy!

Trying to make the Holy Lance on cardboard.

Here’s the PDF:

Holy Lance of Keghart coloring page craft Download

Armenian American advent calendar paper chain for 2025-2026

Making this year’s paper chain Armenian advent calendar

We’re big fans of paper chains in this house. They’re a fun way for kids to mark the passing of days. We’ve done them for advent in the past, for Lent, for Eastertide.

In the Armenian orthodox church, advent is longer than in other Western churches. Advent begins on the day after the Sunday nearest November 18. It lasts between six and seven weeks, depending each year on the duration of the period between Assumption (Sunday closest to August 15) and Theophany (January 6). Although we call it “hisnag” (“fifty” for the fifty-ish-day period), advent isn’t always exactly 50 days in our church, it varies. Also in the Armenian church we have only a few fixed dates for feast days, the others shift to different dates from year to year. (This is another reason why there are so few resources for Armenian orthodox families… even if you create something one year, it’s not necessarily “evergreen.”) So although I made an advent chain in previous years, the one I’ve posted and used before is inexact.

This year I made one with real dates… the dates/holidays/commemorations we especially celebrate in our family are bolded. On the chain, I alternated odd #s and even #s so you can print these on red & green colored paper and make a chain that alternates colors. Here is is, hope someone other than us uses it & enjoys!

Armenian Advent 2025-2026, countdown paper chain Download

Hand-drawn Armenian dot crosses

Found these in an old binder, totally forgot about them. The designs are based on Armenian crosses I found in various places, but I don’t have the original reference photos anymore. One of them is a handheld processional cross. One of them is also recreated as a coloring page in the awesome classic coloring book, “Picture Book of Armenian Miniatures,” which you can buy from the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)’s bookstore, linked here.

I drew these by hand, then scanned, and attempted to clean up the lines using some editing software. So, they’re not perfect with even line weights, etc. unlike these other Armenian do-a-dot crosses I made entirely with the computer a few months ago (link to the post with those = Armenian cross do-a-dot pages). Still, they’re a new resource! And life isn’t perfect. And I like them anyway. And I don’t have the luxury of time, to edit or redo them. SO. Here you are, world!

Handdrawn Armenian orthodox do-a-dot crosses (PDF)Download

Handdrawn Armenian orthodox do-a-dot crosses (doc)Download

^ Click each image to download a .png file of each cross separately. Feel free to use for anything you want.

Armenian Jerusalem activity pages

Hiyaaaa,
I made these activity pages back in 2022, when the Eastern Diocese was doing a virtual pilgrimage to Jerusalem (you can still find videos from that event online, like this tour of the Holy Sepulcher). We wanted to participate, but thought we’d have to entertain our 4yr old at the time, during the video calls, so I made all of these activity pages to keep them engaged/so they could participate in their own way. Ultimately my parents took the kiddos that day, so we participated in the virtual pilgrimage un-distracted. But the pages remain! Now my kiddos are doing a virtual pilgrimage as part of their summer camp, so I dug these pages out in case they want to use them, and figured I’d share with you all as well. 🙂

Armenian Jerusalem, trace wall outlines Download

Armenian Jerusalem, draw crosses at Holy Sepulchre Download

Armenian Jerusalem, quarters puzzle pages Download

“Find the coin” game for Mijink

Mijink / Michink, or the Median Day of Lent, has passed already for 2025… but I’m sharing a fun little game I made based on a folk tradition for that day. Mijink is recognized on the 24th day or the fourth Wednesday of Lent.

Here are some links where you can read more about the day and traditions: https://armenianchurch.us/michink-the-mid-point-of-great-lent-5/ & https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/the-custom-of-marking-michink/

One tradition is baking a cake (gata / kata, or paghartch), with a coin inside. Whoever gets the slice of the cake with the coin is said to have good luck for the next year. Here are some recipes associated with Mijink from The Armenian Kitchen, and a post about gata / katah / nazook / paghartch / bagharj – because some say they’re interchangeable? others disagree? I’m a terrible cook and don’t bake much, so definitely don’t ask me… but one or more of those is what you’re supposed to cook for Mijink 😉

So I made a little fortune-teller / cootie-catcher paper-foldy game thing, where you have to try and find what flap the coin is under. I made two versions – one where the coin is a pre-printed option, and one where you’d cut out a separate “coin” and could tape it under a different flap any time you play.

Enjoy, and Happy Almost Easter!

gata folding game for mijink Download

How to play:
1. Find a partner.
2. Have them choose one of the Armenian sweetbread types on the first layer/level of options displayed.
3. Open and close the fortune teller as many times as there are letters, in the word they’ve chosen. In other words 4 times – G, A, T, A. Open it horizontally for the first letter, vertically for the second and so on until you’ve counted them all. Keep the fortune teller open on the last letter.
4. Have your partner choose an ingredient from the 4 that are showing. Open and close the fortune teller as many times as that word has letters. (i.e. egg – 3x)
5. Select one of the ingredients that are now showing and open the flap to reveal – did they get a tasty treat, or did they find the coin?

Armenian words on the Mijink fortune-teller game:
anush = an-oosh = sweet
hamov = hām-ov = tasty
hrashali = her-āsh-āli = wonderful

Sunday of the Steward – identifying personal strengths on Armenian dram-inspired pages

The fourth Sunday of Great Lent is known for the parable of the unrighteous steward told by Jesus Christ in Chapter 16 of the Gospel of Luke. We call it the Sunday of the Steward, or Dendesi Giragi, Տնտեսի Կիրակի. TBH this parable is a little complex for me, but I’ll post a link below if you want to learn about/lean into that more.

Anyway… I wanted to share these “coins” that I made with the Sunday of the Steward in mind. The edges of the coins are the same patterns as Armenian dram. In the spirals in the center of the coins are different personal/social/cognitive strengths a person might have. I made different versions for different age groups. I was thinking kids could each have their own coin, but highlight/color the characteristics/strengths they think apply to them, so each coin ends up being a little bit different from the others. Then they could talk about how to use their strengths for the glory of God, etc.

I drew the list of strengths from “hes-extraordinary.com,” which has a ton of free (and not free) social-emotional learning worksheets and guides. My kids are a little young for these worksheets, but I like these: “My Strengths List and Activity Sheet” & this article “Your Words Matter — How Strengths-Based Language Can Change the Way Kids See Themselves“

Enjoy!

Sunday of the Steward Armenian dram, personal strengths Download

Steward or Swindler?

Armenian cross do-a-dot pages

Made these. Especially love “do-a-dot cross 3” because the grapes totally work in the traditional Armenian cross style and with the dotting markers. Kind of in love with the design. These do-a-dot pages are fun especially for the under 4 age group, and we used them during the inaugural “Little Saints” group.

P.S. when I was a kid, my sister and I dyed our hair red with do-a-dot markers, and it stayed in for weeks. They’re still not washable, don’t believe the marketing.

Armenian orthodox do-a-dot cross 3 Download

Armenian orthodox do-a-dot cross 1 Download

Armenian orthodox do-a-dot cross 2 Download

Armenian Orthodox Lenten Calendar for Little Kids

The last few years, we’ve done prayer chains to mark the passing of time and create a little family ritual around Lent. The prayer chains are cute, but they weren’t labeled by DAY/date, so it was easy to lose track of where we were in the 40-day Lenten countdown. So this year, I made a version that has actual numbers on it! And commemorations, and what day is what kind of info! It’s specific to 2025, but I’m uploading the Word doc version instead of a PDF, so if you’re coming across this in some later year and I haven’t made an updated version, feel free to download and edit it yourself. The doc might give you an error about “printable edges” but it should still work.

Lenten prayer chain, calendaring 1 Download

In making this Lenten countdown (count up?) chain, I also made a few doodles copying patterns from Canon Tables in Armenian manuscripts. If anyone has separate need of those, here are the pictures: