October is the month of the Most Holy Rosary, and, as such, I thought it would be a perfect time to delve into how to pray the Rosary with kids.
If you are new to a family Rosary or struggle to say a Rosary on your own, the idea can be a bit overwhelming.
How our family prays the Rosary
I’ll be honest with you.
I don’t normally pray the Rosary in one big bite (with or without kids).
Adoration is the one place where I sit and pray the whole Rosary at one time, but most days, I say a decade here and a decade there throughout my day.
And this is how I do it with my children too.
We pray a decade together as a way to start off our school day. Sometimes we make it two decades and sometimes we work in more decades throughout our day.
Sometimes we don’t.
So, if you are looking for how to pray a full Rosary all at once with children sitting prim and proper the whole time, close this post and look elsewhere.
I know there are families that pray the full shebang daily (and we do it from time to time), but that is just not how we choose to do it on a daily basis.
My goal is a decade a day. I like to say, “A decade a day keeps the devil away.”
Even so, a decade a day can be a challenge in the beginning, so I want to give you some tips for getting started.
How to Pray the Rosary with Kids
Teaching the Kids the Rosary
We need to give some time and thought to actually teaching our children to pray the Rosary.
The prayers
Even a decade a day of the Rosary is going to be difficult if your children don’t know the prayers.
Little children can pick it up as you go along, but it may be helpful to teach your older kids the prayers if they are unfamiliar with them.
Grab a Rosary booklet (like this one) that features all the prayers so they can follow along.
I’ve also created a free Prayers of the Rosary printable that can be found in the Subscriber Printable Library. Hang out till the end of this post and I’ll tell you how to grab one.
Prayers in the Rosary:
- Sign of the Cross
- Apostles’ Creed
- Our Father
- Hail Mary
- Glory Be
- Fatima prayer
- Hail, Holy Queen
Guide them in meditation
The Rosary is not to be just rattled off without thought.
Coming from a Protestant background, I strive to make sure my children know what and why they are praying.
“Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: ‘In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed”
Pope Paul VI
Meditation is a remembering or a calling to mind.
I tell my children to think about the mystery and to let themselves “float” over it or imagine themselves as a bystander.
The “Hail Marys,” I tell them, are the background music and a way of asking Mary to walk the mysteries with us.
To Jesus through Mary.
I often introduce my children to meditation at bedtime. I encourage them to walk along the streets of Nazareth and go visit Mother Mary.
They love it and it helps them relax and fall asleep!
Gather their attention through intentions
Our family Rosary is the time we lift up all our intentions. My children love to rattle off their many, many intentions.
There are usually a few sweet and unintentionally humorous prayer intentions thrown in.
I explain to the children that when we pray our Rosary it is “lifting” these intentions to Jesus through Mary.
This makes them feel like they are actually accomplishing something with their Rosary. They care about their intentions so they try to pray well.
Model
We can help our children pray well by praying well ourselves. Are we slouching? Yawning? Looking around distractedly?
While we need to be helping and watching our children, remember you are setting the tone for your prayer time.
One decade at a time
No matter what your end goal (a daily decade or a full Rosary), I encourage you to just start with one decade.
Our family started with one decade then added the introductory prayers. Sometimes we pray two decades with the introductory prayers, and, very occasionally, we pray the full Rosary.
BUT it all started with one decade.
I like to commit to the daily decade because, even on those crazy days, it seems approachable and undemanding.
Guide their meditations
I like to take a bit of time at the beginning of every mystery to introduce it and explain it to the children. I also remind them to “think” about that mystery during our 10 Hail Marys.
For instance, I might say:
“The first Joyful mystery is the Annunciation. Do you remember what the Annunciation is? That’s right, it’s when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary she was going to be the mother of Jesus Announced sounds like “AnnUNCiation.”
What did Mary say? “Yes!” And this teaches us that we should always say “yes” to God too.
Let’s think about Mary’s “yes” and ask her to help us always say “yes” to God.”
Allow them to lead
My children LOVE to take turns leading the Rosary. It mixes things up and helps make the Rosary theirs.
Preparing for a family Rosary habit
Give each child a special rosary
I try to make sure each child has their own special rosary.
They have gifted rosaries or ones they’ve made at Totus Tuus camp. The important thing is they have a rosary they can call their own.
Having their own rosary seems to draw them as an individual into our prayer time.
A good, sturdy Rosary will serve this purpose well.
There are lots of lovely Rosaries from Catholic makers on Etsy. You can find a ton here.
I also love this kit so your child can make their own Rosary. What a great way to have fun teaching them how to pray this prayer!
Keep your rosaries in plain sight
If your goal is to make praying the Rosary a habit, I encourage you to put your family’s rosaries in plain sight somewhere.
This can be in a basket or on a wall hanger. I especially love the hanger options from the Catholic makers on Etsy.
You are more likely to pray your family Rosary if the beads are out reminding you of your goal.
Grab a Rosary praying aid
Besides booklets that feature the prayers, consider getting something to help you and your children meditate on the mysteries.
Prayer aids we have used:
The Rosary in Art
Created by Seton Home Study, this book offers beautiful classic art with information about the artist and piece. My children often ask me to read about the artwork after our Rosary decade and we manage to squeeze art study into our day as well!
Rosary Flip Book
This is a little something I created because I love the ease of a flipbook that can be placed on a family altar table for display during prayer. We use an old cookbook stand to hold ours.
Printable Rosary Flip Book (can be used as coloring pages too!)
Printable Rosary Ring Cards from Paper Monastery
I love these bright colored cards too!
Light a prayer candle
There is something magical about lighting a candle during prayer time. The oldest loves to light it and then they all gather around watching the flames during our prayers.
It’s quite a treat when it’s a child’s turn to blow out the candle. (If they aren’t well behaved during the Rosary, this privilege is revoked!)
Rosary behavior
Explain the Rosary as a sacramental
Sometimes children are rowdy or careless simply because they do not know the sacredness.
Explain to your children that their rosary is a sacramental and should, therefore, be treated with respect and care.
Their rosaries should be used for prayer and then put in a special place. And there is no swinging or wild playing with them either!
Set (reasonable) expectations beforehand
I find it best to always let the kids know what I expect of them. Then when they misbehave I can’t brush off their behavior as “they didn’t know.”
Our family’s Rosary rules:
- sit somewhat still
- sit up (unless you are a toddler or baby)
- show respect in the way you say prayers
- no playing with your rosary
- do your best with the prayers.
When we give our children instructions, we expect them to be followed. If they aren’t followed there is a consequence.
Figure out what your consequences are going to be and follow through.
This is simple, common sense parenting!
Mass with Littles: Simple Strategies and Reasonable Expectations
Undeniable Laws of Mass Behavior
Don’t stress about perfection but expect good behavior
Even so, it’s not going to be perfect. Make sure the kids are meeting your (reasonable) expectations and just keep rolling!
Free Rosary Prayer Guide Printable
You can now find these two Rosary printables in the Subscriber Printable Library.
If you aren’t already a subscriber you can sign up here!
You’ll also enjoy:
30 Day Rosary Challenge: Create the Rosary habit in one month
Printable Rosary Flipbook (makes great coloring pages)
