As a parent, one of the most important jobs is to teach kids the skills they need to survive. That job becomes more significant when your kids reach an age where they can learn how to pray.  

But as much as we’d love our kids to sit quietly during prayer, this doesn’t always happen. Imagine the embarrassment your child would give you in Church when they start swinging their rosary like a lasso mid-prayer. 

As such, you may find it necessary to start with a game plan. We understand that teaching young children how to pray the rosary can be overwhelming. Click here to learn a guide to help you teach your kids how to pray with rosary beads confidently.   

1. Create a Rosary Lapbook

Perhaps the most challenging part for kids when it comes to praying the rosary is knowing all the prayers and what order they follow. Even adults struggle with this problem. As such, try and create a rosary lapbook that has all the words to the prayers as well as the order of the prayers in one organized space.  

2. Use Kid-Friendly Rosary Beads

Young kids may not fully understand what praying the rosary is all about and may mistake the beads as a toy. If this is the case with your kids, recite the prayers instead of using the beads during the rosary. 

When they reach an age when they can comprehend a couple of things such as direction, buy a kid-friendly rosary that can withstand being eaten, whipped around, or any sort of abuse. 

3. Teach Them All About the Mysteries and Make Them Short

Also known as a decade, a mystery has 12 prayers recited with ten beads. Each mystery is related to an event that happened in the life of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, such as the birth of Jesus.

Each mystery or decade takes no more than 5 minutes to recite, so teach your kids one mystery at a time and keep them short. This way, you’ll be gradually introducing them to the mysteries and the rhythm of the rosary. 

Make sure you dedicate time to meditate on a mystery each time to take care of the kid’s short attention span of attention.

4. Use Visual Learning Aids

Kids have excellent memory skills, and one way of boosting their memory is by using pictures. You can find pictures illustrating the five individual mysteries of the rosary online or from a bookstore. 

Show your kids the pictures as you explain so they can follow the rosary by simply looking at the pictures. Remember to pray as you do it to communicate the importance of prayer. 
 
Winding It Up

Catholic parents have a responsibility to lead their kids in the ways of God. After all, this is the consent you made when your child was getting baptized. 

When you teach your kids how to pray, you’re setting a good foundation for them to establish a continuous relationship with God. It may seem like a simple act, but the payoff will be beyond measure.