Family Rosary with Littles

While I wouldn't want anyone to mistakenly think that our family has firmly established a routine of a regular family rosary, I do want to share something that has worked well for us.  Very young children, as we all well know, find it impossible to sit still for any length of time.  Additionally, they learn best by doing.  Any kind of learning that can incorporate a manipulative of some sort is useful for them.  Hence, I came up with a way for them to participate in our rosary Montessori-style.

I laminated images of the crucifix and each mystery of the rosary.  Later I also laminated a picture of the Pope (not pictured) to be placed between the first Our Father bead and the three Hail Mary beads.  As each prayer is said, the child places either the appropriate card, or a bead (I used gemstones) to construct the rosary as it is said.  This gave the children something do physically do during the recitation of the prayers, helped them to learn how to say the rosary, and certainly aided them in meditation on the mysteries as well.