For the past 2 years, I have led an adorable Mommy and Me group at our parish called “Tiny Blessings.” Children ages birth – 5 yo gather with a caretaker (we have had moms, dads, and grandparents bring the kiddos) to sing, pray, and play together. I hold the group once a month after the Saturday morning mass. The session lasts about 30 minutes.

Today, I will share my sample lesson outline with you in case you would like to use it for your own group!

Opening Prayer

I decorate a table with a small cloth that matches the liturgical color. I also have a statue of Mary, crucifix, homemade Paschal candle, Holy Water in a small bowl or bottle, and maybe a book or two displayed related to the liturgical season. I keep it very simple.

We light the candle and sing our prayers starting with the Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. This year, we added the Guardian Angel prayer. I love the Christine in Action versions of these prayers.

When we say The Lord’s Prayer I tell them that this is the prayer Jesus taught us.

Before the Hail Mary, I hold up my statue of Mary and ask who it is.

For the Glory Be, we make a triangle and we count the sides – 3, just like the Holy Trinity.

Liturgical Season and Calendar

Next we discuss the date and liturgical season. I ask the children:

What day of the week is it?
What month is it?
What’s the weather like?
What color is my table cloth?
What liturgical season is it?
Then, we read this liturgical colors book from Holy Heroes. I read it every time, and the children enjoy the repetition and calling out the colors for each page.

 

Saints

Next, I read the 2 saints for the month from this sweet book: Saintly Rhymes Through the Year.

There is a male saint and female saint highlighted each month. The children (and parents!) look forward to hearing from this one.

Counting and ABCs

After our saint poems, we sing the ABCs together while looking at this Catholic ABCs book.

I don’t read every picture, but sometimes the children will call them out or ask questions about the pictures.

Sometimes, I highlight a letter to discuss that day. For example, if we are going to learn about parables I may pick the letter P and say “P is for parable. What else begins with P?”

Then, we read this book and count to 10.

You could also count the 7 sacraments, 10 commandments, 12 Apostles, etc. to go along with a Bible or catechism lesson. Christine in Action has a fun 7 Sacraments song that we also sing at this point to teach the children the 7 Sacraments.

Hands on Bible Lesson/Activity

This is where you can get creative! I also teach Faith Formation at our parish, so I tailor my Tiny Blessings lessons to match what the older children are learning. We have a parish catechesis model at our parish, where children through adults have access to classes where the same topics are being taught at different levels. Here is an example of a Bible lesson for the Parable of the Sower to teach the children about the Theological Virtue of Faith.

You could also tie in a puppet show at this point, a special picture book to illustrate the lesson, or anything that the children will enjoy! I usually also tie in the liturgical season and give helpful advice for the parents to continue the discussion at home.

Final Prayer

We always end with a prayer. Usually, this is something simple such as the Sign of the Cross and a prayer that I make up on the spot thanking God for our time together and saying any other special intentions. Sometimes, we head down the hall to our Adoration chapel to say a quick prayer and sing a song to Jesus in the tabernacle if the chapel is available.