Resources to Celebrate the Month of the Holy Rosary

October is the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary.  Although many people pray the rosary throughout the year, October has a special call to explore the rosary even more than we would usually.  If you do not usually pray the rosary, then October is the time to start - even if only temporarily.  Even if only a decade is prayed daily, it is a start and the door to receive extra graces is now open. 


There are a few different aspects to consider when we think about praying the rosary and more especially when we are teaching children and those new to the faith to pray the rosary. 



What Is the Rosary? 
Need help explaining that the rosary is a meditative devotional method of prayer dedicated to exploring the life of Christ and the role the Blessed Virgin Mary had in it?  Then we have a few resources to help you explain the rosary to your kiddos.

Begin with our very popular Rosary Handout sheet that reveals how God shows His love for us when we pray the rosary.  Not only does this sheet give an overview of the mysteries with words and pictures, but it also gives a bit of history of the rosary and introduces the kiddos to St. Dominic.  This sheet is also good to use as a discussion starter.

A good thing to think about when teaching kiddos about the rosary is to explain that it is a sacramental and that it should be treated with reverence. 

A few months ago I was instructed by my pastor on what constitutes an acceptable, tangible rosary.  It must be in a proper bead form (like Our Lady revealed) with a recognizable crucifix, a proper centerpiece, and it must be treated with reverence.  He spoke to me about how we as human beings many times try to trivialize sacramentals especially in the name of making a profit.  His exact example was once seeing, in Italy, a glass ashtray for sale with the image of Pope John Paul II in the bottom of it.  I got his point right away. 

Children must be taught that the rosary is a tool to prayer, which is speaking with our Lord, and that the rosary should never be confused with toys and other trivial things.  To help explain and further explore sacramentals, you may want to complete our F3 Folder lapbook style lesson on Sacramentals



How Do We Pray the Rosary?
Learning to physically pray the rosary can be a challenge for many Catholics young or old.  Praying the rosary involves knowing the prayers to be prayed and the order in which to pray them during the meditations. 

Young children may need to review what prayer actually is and its real purpose.  To help with this you may want to try some of our Resources to Help Learners Develop a Healthy Prayer Life.  Find our F3 Prayer Activity, a mini-book activity for the Apostles' Creed prayer and a handout to introduce four types of prayer to children:  adoration, contrition, thanksgiving and supplication.

Once children have been introduced to the purpose of prayer then they should be taught the basic prayers of the faith Incorporated into the rosary:  Sign of the Cross, Apostles' Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Fatima Prayer, Hail Holy Queen.  Praying prayers daily is a great way to teach children to commit them to memory.  Here are some of our other Resources to Help Children Catholic Learn Prayers.

Once children are comfortable with prayer you can help them learn the order of prayer in the rosary with a simple rosary worksheet that allows them to count, color and interact with the prayer inspired sheet.


What Does the Rosary Mean?
Help children explore the mysteries of the life of Christ as presented in rosary in a true joyful Montessori Spirit, if you are looking to teach about the life of our Lord through joy and play then perhaps our Games to Teach About Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary is just what your homeschool, classroom or CCD class is looking needing to solidify your lessons.

Another way to help children learn about the rosary is through the gentle art of coloring.  See our collection of rosary themed coloring pages or Blessed Virgin Mary coloring pages.

If you prefer to use narration or the retelling of events as a way to help focus on learning, then our notebooking sheets about the Blessed Virgin Mary or Our Lady of the Rosary might be quite useful.   If you are looking for notebooking page sets about the events of the life of Christ, then our New Testament Notebooking Sheet sets will help you meet the needs of any aged writer in your home or classroom who wants to think, write or even draw about the mysteries of the rosary.

If using or writing minibooks is what your kids enjoy, then we have you covered there as well with our simple 8 page minibooks that allow children to show what they know about the rosary.  Explore our Mini-books About the Rosary collection now.

Incorporate the Rosary into other areas of your learning including rosary themed daily assignment sheets, Ten Words About Mary and the Rosary copywork and more.  See more rosary themed printable resources now.

I hope this gives you a good starting point for teaching about the rosary in your little homeschool or classroom.

If you have resources to share or are looking for even more rosary themed goodies in Spanish, head on over to Familia Catolica's Rosary Link-up and join Xhonane and her family as they celebrate the month of the rosary.  She always has neat craft ideas too.

Blessings,
Kalei