Ready to share the story of St. Francis of Assisi with kids?
Whether you’re a homeschool parent, a school parent, a catechist, or a Catholic school teacher, you can use this plan to give a quick and memorable lesson to your students about this amazing saint.
Before you begin, you’ll want to assemble some coloring supplies, print a free coloring page of St. Francis (here or here), and decide whether you want to watch a video about St. Francis or read aloud his biography (or both!). You also might want to assemble any craft supplies and get a candle and matches for the prayer time.
St. Francis is such a well-known saint that there are lots of other books, videos, worksheets, coloring pages and crafts about him available online, so you can find plenty of resources if you would like to add more activities.
1
Share who St. Francis was
As the patron saint of animals, St. Francis is a popular saint with kids! Your kids might know something about him already.
Ask, “What do you know about St. Francis of Assisi?”
Listen to what they know and then share a little more. You can read aloud this child-friendly and entertaining biography of St. Francis, complete with discussion questions.
Older kids can read this kids’ encyclopedia entry about his life, with more information about his historical time period and the religious orders he founded.
These biographies are only a little of what we know about St. Francis, so feel free to add your own favorite stories about him. A book about the patron saint of animals and nature would be perfect to read aloud together.
If you want to go into more detail, share with the kids one of the following videos about his life. We like to watch the first one every year on this feast day.
Francis: Knight of Assisi was a favorite in my home when I was a kid:
EWTN’s My Catholic Family series includes this episode about the life of St. Francis:
2
Open the conversation for your kids to share their thoughts
After reading about him or watching a video, talk about his life together.
If your kids like crafts, you can pass out a coloring page (here or here), or check out some of the creative craft ideas on Catholic Icing. You can spend a lot of time on this part if you have a kid who loves crafts!
While they draw or color, open up the conversation. You might ask the following questions:
- What did you hear?
- What do you think God meant when he asked St. Francis to “repair my church”?
- Why did St. Francis want to give away everything he had?
- Why did St. Francis and his father disagree about what he was doing?
- What are some of your favorite things about St. Francis and his story?
- Do you have any questions about St. Francis?
3
End with a time of prayer together
Finally, close with prayer. You might light a candle at this point to set aside this prayer time as something special and sacred. Together, you can pray this prayer:
O God, by whose gift Saint Francis
was conformed to Christ in poverty and humility,
grant that, by walking in Francis’ footsteps,
we may follow your Son,
and, through joyful charity,
come to be united with you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.Amen.
Finally, ask the kids if they want to share their own prayer or song to Jesus before your time of prayer ends.
St. Francis, pray for us!
And today we celebrate...