3 Ways We Prepare for Mass {with a 3 year old}

I am realizing that planning is key to an enjoyable Sunday Mass experience with young children!

Here are a few ways we prepare my daughter for Sunday Mass:

Psstt–if you attend the Extraordinary Form (Latin Mass), click HERE. 

Watch the Sunday Gospel Video

These weekly videos were created by my siblings and are a GREAT way to prepare kids for Sunday Mass! By hearing (and seeing!) the Gospel before Mass, children are better able to understand and pay attention during the reading at Mass. 

We offer these weekly Sunday Gospel videos through our FREE Sunday Mass Prep email. If you aren’t signed up yet, DO IT HERE. In the meantime, watch this week’s video below:

Create a Mass Binder

I filmed a video a few weeks ago about how I created a Mass Binder for my daughter. So many of you have loved the idea so I wanted to link it again here!

This is SUPER simple Mass hack: download Part 1 and Part 2 and put them in a folder! You can let your kids color the pages beforehand or keep them black and white. You can even walk through the Mass and color the pages during the week so kids can excited for Sunday Mass!

Someone also suggested using dry-erase markers to color on top of the protective binder sheets–that way you can wipe off the pages after each Mass to use again!

Not interested in DIY’ing? We also have a printed coloring book option!

Optional: Prayer Card Ring

While I don’t use this for Sunday Mass, I have found my daughter LOVES to have prayer cards during weekday Masses. 

Rather than having loose cards that can be scattered around the pew (or floor…or narthex…), putting the prayer cards on a RING can be a great way to keep them all in one place. 

While we originally created this prayer card ring for car rides (find the complete car ride Family Prayer Kit HERE), I find them very helpful for Mass! Cards are large (5 x 7 inches) so big enough for little hands and little eyes to really see the details in the hi-res classic artwork.

This specific prayer card ring includes:

• 40 full-color classic artwork cards–5″ x 7″
  • 20 Rosary cards (one for each Mystery of the Rosary)
  • 14 Stations of the Cross cards (one for each Station)
  • 6 bonus cards with prayers for safe travel and more!
    • Including prayers of the rosary in English & Latin
• Carabiner to hold all the cards together (YES: they are all hole-punched!)

A few resources and tips I haven’t used, but Catholic parents love:

•  Reviewing Mass Part and Responses on the way to Mass–this download is great for that!
• A straightforward missal for kids–this one has LARGE print so great for new readers!
• Spending Friday or Saturday night watching this “Inside the Mass” DVD so kids can understand WHAT is happening on Sunday!
  • Ditto for this “Inside the Eucharist” DVD, too!
• Reading and discussing this graphic novel–the reviews from Catholic parents are insane!

What are your best tips for Sunday Mass with kids? Share them below!