Lent is far from over, but you might want to start thinking about filling the Easter basket (especially given pandemic shipping delays!). These sweet gifts will nurture your child’s faith, and be lots of fun, too!
Outdoor play and egg hunts
As the weather warms up, Easter is the perfect time for outdoor toys. You can’t go wrong with classic sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and candy.
Decorate the cutest eggs (and make no mess!) with these genius egg wraps. And teach your kids about the saints at the same time!
If you get your kids a puzzle, hide one puzzle piece in each plastic egg, so the kids can put the whole thing together after the egg hunt. They can learn about the Mass with the Order of the Mass floor puzzle, or about the saints with these saint puzzles.
Art and building
What kid doesn’t love stickers? Perfect for the Easter basket, we like these darling saint stickers from Shining Light Dolls.
Kids who love to color can make seriously beautiful art with coloring books for Feasts of Our Lord and Lady, many different saints, Mysteries of the Rosary, and even “stained glass” to hang in your windows with Dover’s Nativity stained glass coloring book. Perfect for family prayer time!
Blocks are a classic toy, and these stunning patron saint blocks help your baby learn about the saints while they build and play.
Keep little hands busy with a Future Saint Water Reveal book.
Pretend play
Honor your child’s patron saint with a plastic or soft plush doll from Shining Light Dolls, or these natural wooden saints from Saintly Heart.
Dozens of beloved saints come as peg dolls, so kids can play with them again and again, getting to know these Heavenly friends. (You can find even more options by searching “saint peg dolls” on Etsy.) Don’t forget the perfect play set for saint peg dolls, a little church in a box just their size.
Raise your hand if you played Mass as a kid! We sure did, and now your kids can too, even using the proper names and materials with this pop-out paper Mass kit.
For an even more durable (and beautiful!) version, check out wooden Mass kits on Etsy, like this one from Almond Rod Toys or Worthy of Agape.
Little ones who attend Catechesis of the Good Shepherd religious formation have a special devotion to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Nurture that relationship with their own Good Shepherd play set, either paper or wooden.
Saint dolls are quick and easy to make at home with these lovely saint paper dolls that come as a printable instant download. Bookmark this page for an easy craft on future feast days!
These plush dolls of Our Lord and Our Lady are almost too cute to be real, and will be a heartwarming snuggle buddy for your little one.
Baby toys, but make ’em Catholic
Anyone who’s prayed the Rosary with a wiggly baby knows they’ll try to grab and chew the beads, so put safety first with gorgeous and baby-safe silicone rosaries.
Give baby his or her first rosary thanks to this wooden teether and rattle shaped like a one-decade Rosary ring.
Keep that pacifier handy with these Miraculous Medal pacifier clips.
Messy little eaters can stay tidy with an easy-to-clean silicone bib featuring the Meal Blessing prayer.
Wrap up your baby in Heavenly love with the coziest muslin quilts and swaddle blankets in saintly themes.
These soft, elegant blankets will remind you of your saintly friends every time you swaddle your baby.
Media
The whole family will be singing along with the delightful music from Making Music, Praying Twice and Roundabout Folk (made by Catholic sisters!).
The Saints and Heroes video series by CCC of America are Catholic kid classics, teaching the next generation all about the lives of the saints.
The Holy Heroes Glory Stories CDs are a great way for kids to get to know the saints and perfect for car rides (got a holiday road trip coming up?). Older kids can’t miss listening to the TAN Books Story of the Bible CDs.
Brother Francis movies are a great way to introduce younger kids to Catholic beliefs.
A subscription to Formed might just be the best media gift you can give. Kids can access movies, TV shows, audiobooks, CDs, and e-books about the faith.
For the Whole Family
A subscription to Catholic Family Crate is the gift that lasts all year, giving lots of opportunities to grow in faith and create special family memories.
Add a fun Catholic twist to family game night with the Alleluia card game, a Catholic card game, Road to Bethlehem game, or FeastDay game that helps kids learn about the liturgical year.
Nurturing Prayer and Faith
Kids will appreciate having their own prayer books, especially these fun superhero and fairy tale themed ones, with traditional Catholic prayers.
Dive deep into Scripture together in a joyful, age-appropriate way with My First Catholic Bible Stories Board Book (for ages 1-3) and My Catholic Picture Bible Stories (for ages 4-7).
Encourage a child’s growing prayer life with the Holy Heroes spiritual journal or a Mass journal designed to help kids engage with Scripture and spend time in prayer.
This Catholic growth mindset journal helps kids face life head-on, while the Be Yourself! journals (one for girls and one for boys) help children understand their identity and purpose as children of God.
Kids can learn about the saints in a hands-on, playful way with these Super Saints Cards.
Made especially for children ages 8-12, the Rise Up devotional is “designed to plant the seeds of a prayer life and guide it to blossom.”
Kids often do their best thinking (and praying!) when their hands are occupied, and this Adoration coloring book can help them enter more fully into prayer and learning about Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Therese was known to use “sacrifice beads” to find little opportunities of serving others. Kids can imitate her example with their own beads set.
These sturdy rosaries and prayer card sets encourage kids to follow the examples of the shepherd children of Fatima in loving Our Lady.
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And today we celebrate...