Form a Children's Rosary
If there isn’t a Children’s Rosary at your school consider starting one. Our Lady has continued to show us through the apparitions in Lourdes and Fatima that she is calling our children to prayer and in a special way, the Rosary.
Steps to Begin a Children’s Rosary in Your School
1. Choose a location: Usually groups meet in a a school classroom or Church if one is close by. Some groups choose to meet outside. Groups cannot meet in private homes.
2. Choose a regular meeting time: Groups meet monthly or weekly or if interest exists, daily.
3. Method of Implementation: Ideally groups meet during the school day in their respective classrooms. In this way all the children are able to participate and can take turns leading the prayer. It is not a problem to have children of different faiths participating in the Children’s Rosary as it is not a sacrament. Other methods of implementation could include a school-wide implementation before a weekly or monthly Mass where classes take turns leading a Children’s Rosary. It is also possible to have the Children’s Rosary held during lunch break or after school for those children interested in joining.
4. Register your Children’s Rosary by mail at P.O. Box 271743, West Hartford, CT USA or email blythe@childrensrosary.org In this way we will have a central list of all Children’s Rosary groups formed.
Guidelines for Your First Children’s Rosary
1. Begin by Consecrating your new group to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
2. Bring the children together in front of those gathered and have them kneel (pillows are a welcome addition for them to kneel on).
3. In turns have a child stand and lead a decade of the Rosary (if a microphone is present in a Church this is a nice way for their soft voices to be heard).
4. The child should say the first part of each prayer:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
The entire group then responds together:
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
5. An optional addition is the use of flowers (roses or any other flower). This is particularly nice for smaller children not able to lead or children with disabilities preventing them from leading. At the end of each decade a child is asked to place a flower at the foot of a statue of Mary if available (otherwise just place the roses in a small pile on the ground in front of where the children are praying). While the child is placing the flower an adult is saying, “Mary we humbly place this flower at your feet and ask for the gift of… Faith” if one were saying the first glorious mystery. The gifts asked for correspond to the fruits of the mysteries. If purchasing flowers is economically difficult consider having the children make flowers that are placed before an image of Mary.
6. Consider having a prayer book with illustrations of the mysteries of the Rosary for the children to use during prayer. The Children’s Rosary book was designed for this purpose but any visual aid can be used.
7. Consider having a petition box. The children can decorate the box if desired and it can be placed in front of the children while they are saying their Rosary.
Any questions please contact Blythe Kaufman at:
Email: blythe@childrensrosary.org
Address: PO Box 271743
West Hartford, CT 06127 USA
Phone: (860) 785-3340
Testimonial
“My name is Ann Wharton and I am filled with joy this morning as we gather for our weekly rosary.
I am a primary school teacher in a rural school, Aghatubrid N.S., Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, Ireland. I asked my principal for permission and she was very supportive. We started our Children’s Rosary group in March 2025 and meet every Friday morning in our sacred place in school. All pupils and staff gather. I had been thinking about setting it up for many months/years and am so grateful to God that I finally got the confidence. Of all the initiatives and projects that I have been involved in during my teaching career, this is the most beautiful and the most rewarding.
The children really love praying the rosary and singing ‘Children’s Rosary Song’. They say that they love that ‘everyone is in it together’, that they ‘get to pray to Mary’ , that it’s ‘relaxing’, ‘a break from class’ and that they can tell Mary their worries and feel her love. There is an amazing sense of peace as we finish the Rosary and sometimes, nobody gets up to leave. The children just love to sit in the peace and soak up all the graces. Sometimes, I sense pure joy as the children are singing the Children’s Rosary song and have to hold back the tears. The children love to lead each decade and place the roses at Our Lady’s feet.
It was really easy to set up the Children’s Rosary group as the founder, Blythe Kaufman has all the necessary guidelines on her website, all the steps are laid out clearly and she is never more than an email away. Catherine (in Ireland) was amazing. She sent me on all the necessary materials, prayer cards, rosaries and everything else I needed. She was truly wonderful and really encouraging.
I would encourage any teacher who is thinking of setting up a Children’s rosary group, to do so You will be amazed at how straightforward it is and you will never regret it.”
Ann Wharton, Teacher
Aghatubrid N.S., Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, Ireland.