A great way to meditate the Stations of the Cross with Children at home

Since last year Lent, I have been thinking of ways to incorporate Stations of the Cross to our Lenten journey.  I wanted it to be kid friendly so my children can follow along; in fact that was the main intention.  I as an adult can do Way of the Cross in many ways, but it is very important to me that our children understand why we do this and what is the significance of the Way of the Cross.  Besides, it is another way to closely journey with Jesus through his passion and to a child it makes more sense why he is doing all the sacrifices and penance during Lent. 

Last year I had desired to buy the Stations of the Cross audio cd from Holy Heroes, but I was not sure whether it would be worth the money for a 4 year old, who is a very active (hyperactive) boy.  So finally I skipped the idea and continued with the several other Lenten activities.

This year I didn’t think twice, I went ahead and bought the Stations of the Cross audio CD from Holy Heroes.  Last year the only reason I did not buy was because I thought my son wouldn’t follow along and won’t have the patience to sit through the 14 stations.  This year though I knew he was capable of understanding and listening to something so beautifully done by Holy Heroes.  I bought it before Lent started and was ready when the first Friday of lent arrived.  

Instead of me doing it alone with the kids, I thought it would be better to do it as a full family in the evening when dad gets home so that we all follow along and meditate upon each station.  I do have to admit that I was concerned about how it would go, but as always when you put it in the effort to bring Jesus into your family, it never becomes a failure. To my surprise George stayed for the whole 15 to 20 minutes without getting up or getting tired.  The audio CD is not just saying a bunch of prayers but it also consists of a very dramatic explanation of what happened in each station with music which I would say was not only interesting to the kids but was very professionally done that even me and Sony were so touched by it.  After that there is a short mediation which is catered for kids and the prayers continue and end with the song.  

It was also more interesting to the kids since I added the Way of the Cross activity I had done with them last year on Good Friday.  I took this idea from Catholic Icing.  Here the child puts a symbol for each station which helps them to remember and understand what happened in each station more thoroughly.  Also for little minds, it is not very easy to understand the pain and the suffering Jesus had to go through.  So when you put a band aid on the third station when Jesus falls to the ground, the child can relate to a band aid being applied to a wound much better and by understanding that he can also imagine Jesus falling and getting hurt and feel sorry for him. 

We started around 7pm, the time when we normally do our family prayer (rosary).  We first explained to them what we are going to do and what is Stations of the Cross.  Then I put out this activity from last year and the symbols that go with it.  I also had our children's bible written by Fr. Lovasik which also gives a separate description on the passion of Jesus.  The pictures are big and clear and due to that reason I also put out the bible on our little book holder.

Afterwards I started the CD and went through station by station.  At each station I gave them the symbol to put on and they did.  Of course I made sure they took turns so I could avoid fights in between.  This was explained ahead of time so that they would not have any confusion during the prayer time.  Anna feel asleep half way through but we still continued the stations.  We ended with a small prayer.

I got this bible when I ordered the preschool curriculum from Seton two years ago.  

I bought this book holder from Hobby Lobby.  Many have asked me where I got it from so if anyone is interested you can find it there.  I's sure you can find it in other places too.  But I really like this one.  

Anna peacefully sleeping in my arms during the prayer

Even for me and Sony, it was a great experience.  I wanted to write about this and post it as soon as I could so that someone else could take advantage of this idea.  When you do this together as a family there is a special grace we receive from Jesus.  I was able to do it for the past two Fridays and it was a great way to bring ourselves and our children closer to Jesus during this time of Lent.  It is sometimes not possible to take children to church for the Stations of the Cross but this is a better way to experience it at home and make it more kid friendly so that our children can also journey with Jesus through this beautiful season of Lent.  I hope this helps some of you in bringing this new tradition to your family.  Please improvise this to make it most suitable to you and your children.