Creating a Home Prayer Corner

The Younger child (toddler to 6 years of age)

            The center of each Atrium is the Prayer Corner.  This corner is made up of a small table which the children set with prayer objects.  Creating a prayer corner or area for your own home is one way you can nurture your child’s spiritual life. 

            For younger children (toddler to 6 years old) the objects should be simple and beautiful.  Do not overwhelm your child with too many objects to choose from.  Some ideas are:  a Bible; a white cloth; a prayer card with a single word or phrase on it:  Amen, Alleluia, Hail Mary, Our Father, etc.;   a simple wooden cross that a child can easily hold; a candle, and a few pieces of religious art such as pictures or statues.  Keep these items in a basket by the prayer table and invite your child to decorate the table as they would like.  In our Atrium we have a “singing bowl” which the children can ring to summon everyone to the prayer table.  You might want to include a bell with your prayer items so your child can call you to prayer once they have set the prayer table.

            Prayer services for the young child are all about enjoyment and thanks.  You can invite your child to share something they are thankful for, or take time in silence or in song.  Children love simple songs such as “This Little Light of Mine” or songs they have heard in Church (the Alleluia, Gloria, and other response songs we sing at Mass are wonderful). 

The Older Child (6 to 12 year-olds)

            As children get older, they are more interested in planning and leading communal prayer.  Each session in the Level 2 & 3 Atria, two or three children will take on the job of planning that week’s prayer service.  They will choose songs, prayers and readings.   The older child is also developing his/her moral consciousness and is much more interested in the world around them.  As issues come up in our world and society (wars, famines, natural disasters, etc.) and our children hear about hem in the news, the children can take them to prayer in the Atrium or at your home prayer corner.

            Older children are also ready to learn the prayers of our faith.  Prayer cards with the Our Father, Hail Mary, Magnificat, Rosary, etc. are wonderful to add to the prayer area for this age child.