Praying the Rosary with Little Kids: 7 Practical Tips

Judging from my Instagram followers, there are a LOT of people who want to pray the rosary every day. How amazing is that?? And what's even more awesome, a ton of people want to pray the rosary with their families! So I gave you tips for praying the rosary on your own and promised family tips later... Here they are!

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1. Car rosary, car rosary, car rosary! When everyone's strapped in, it's the perfect time to either put on a rosary CD or to start praying together. Nobody can get up and run away, and they're relatively contained.

2. Choose your prayer posture! When you're praying at home, you'll want to have specific guidelines - does everyone kneel to pray the rosary? Or is it okay to be a little more relaxed? If you're willing to relax a little, find somewhere cozy to snuggle up - maybe a different part of the house than usual, where everybody can choose a pillow or chair to sit in (but no trading seats!!).

3. Don't make little hands stay idle. Let kids have simple rosary books or religious items that they can look at and hold while praying. I don't like pulling out our religious toys during this time, but rosary roses are great for toddlers to hold, and there are TONS of children's rosary books & pamphlets out there to have on hand. Holy cards, sturdy saint statues, a pocket cross... Holding an actual rosary is nice too, but the novelty wears off pretty quickly with younger kids, so having a variety of tactile things for them to explore is nice, and these should be things that are only available when you're praying.

4. Offer it up! Kids LOVE specific intentions - they're always so much happier to pray for a special friend, a sick baby, someone they know who has died... Let them choose who to offer their rosary for, or choose your rosary intentions as a family.

5. Let them lead, but don't pressure! We try to discuss beforehand who might want to lead which decade. That way there are no screaming matches mid-rosary because three kids all wanted to lead the Second Joyful Mystery and SHE LED IT LAST TIME SO IT'S MY TURN... This has never happened in our perfect, quiet house, of course. (That's sarcasm right there.) Then sometimes nobody wants to lead a decade, and it's just Mom and Dad taking turns. That's fine, too!

6. It's not bribery, it's an incentive! Praying the rosary takes a long time. And even a lot of ADULTS are bored by it! So maaaaybe sometimes a family rosary is followed by everybody getting a cookie on special days... You know your kids - if that would cause more drama than not, skip it!

7. Switch things up! Try a rosary on YouTube every once in a while (this one is FAST and simple, this one is super-popular, but this one is probably our favorite - sacred art and music to accompany) or maybe a musical rosary (this CD is old but I still love it!), or print out rosary coloring pages to help kids focus.

It's okay to start small -  if you do a decade each night together, you'll get through a rosary every five days, which is awesome!! Don't worry about perfect prayer, just keep praying together.