Having school children make their own Rosary beads can be fun. This was the wonderful experience of the students at CDSJ 2, the English section of Colégio Diocesano de São José.
Mr. Dominic, who teaches religious education, said: “I just love making Rosaries with the kids, though this activity is also being done by the CDSJ students in the Chinese section, and they all seem to get excited when they are involved.”
The activity was supervised by Ms. Lou, who also teaches religious education both in the English and Chinese section at CDSJ. She said that this is the best way of introducing the Holy Rosary to little children and helping them start a devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Ms. Lou explained the procedures they used: “We pre-packed the appropriate number of beads with the cord and small cross. Each student is given a small covered plastic box with their supplies. We put extra beads in separate containers in case they wanted to choose different colors. We have a pre-made example rosary for their reference.” Some kids had trouble with some of the beginning steps using smaller beads. Fortunately, teachers were on hand to help.
The Rosary beads were made using supplies found at any craft store. The school children started with a one-decade bracelet Rosary. The whole activity was supervised by at least three teachers.
When asked what she would do after completing her multicolored bracelet rosary a little girl in grade 2 said: “Maybe I will give this to my mom, so she can use it when she goes shopping. I chose her favorite colors in my Rosary.”
Another boy, who was so absorbed and almost done with his small Rosary said: “I will give this to my big brother, so God will protect him. He goes alone to his school every morning.”
Among other difficulties the students encountered was when the string would get entangled or maybe twisted to some extent, which was very frustrating to the young students, which in turn became very frustrating to the teachers as they walked around and trimmed everyone’s string ever few minutes. After finishing the one-decade bracelet Rosary, the students were given more instructions and proceeded in making the complete five-decade Rosary beads. This involved six “Our Father” beads and fifty-three “Hail Mary” beads and smaller beads called spacers. Ms Lou had previously organized the beads in a portable trolley where the children can replenish their beads. The extra beads are placed in different cups organized by Hail Mary beads, Our Father beads, spacer beads, and Hail, Holy Queen beads, all in different colors.
After the students had made their own Rosaries, Mr Dominic introduced them again to the mysteries they had studied before. He explained to the class that the Blessed Mother gave us the Rosary as a gift. The children learned how to treat the rosary they made with reverence as it serves as a guide to help them to pray.
The class prayed the rosary, though not the entire rosary, praying three Hail Mary’s for each decade. This is a good way of introducing small children to the order of the mysteries and the rhythm of the entire rosary. (Photo CDSJ Facebook page)
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