But if, on the other hand, you have NOT already taught your kids everything they need to know about their faith, if you MEAN to teach them stuff, but sometimes don’t get around to it, if you’d LIKE to teach them stuff, but don’t know where to start . . . I’ve got something that might help.
I’ve written before about how we introduced the liturgical year into our family life, little by little, one feast at a time. And it’s worked really well for us. But even that can seem daunting at first. What saints do you choose? How do you find reliable information about them? How do you make them memorable for your kids? Good news, YOU don’t have to do any of that. Because Saint Mail will do it for you.
Seriously. It’s awesome. Saint Mail sends you a box in the mail each month, with information about a saint, plus activities and collectibles. Molly at Saint Mail sent us their starter kit and the January saint to preview and we just loved it.
Here’s why:
1. It is MAIL. Real, no kidding mail. A PACKAGE. That the kids get to open themselves. They love getting stuff in the mail.
2. The big stuff. There’s a sweet and informative letter from the saint, all about his life. This month was Saint Sebastian, who just happens to be a favorite of Gus’s. We thought we knew all about him, but the letter taught us facts we didn’t know, and gave the kids a new way of thinking about him, and a new way to be inspired by him. Also included was an activity to do AND a craft, with everything we needed, right there in the box.
3. The little stuff. Clearly, this was all designed by a real mom, who knows moms AND knows kids. My older daughter absolutely loved that the letter was sealed with sealing wax. She’s still talking about it. Both of the girls loved the saint medal and can’t wait to collect more. The boys loved the St. Sebastian magnet and dog tags. *I* loved that it came with a tote bag, so we can keep the stuff organized and all in one place.
Saint Mail sent us this month free so I would review it, but I’m going to sign us up for the rest of the year with my very own money. That’s how much we liked it. I want to be a mom who has organized crafts and activities around the liturgical year, but usually I’m not. We do a themed dinner for various saints’ days — because I have to cook dinner anyway. But it’s not very often that I’m organized enough to have a craft or activity planned and ready on the correct day. But my kids really love this stuff, and I know that hands on activities like these help them to love the saints and remember and understand them better.
The crafts and activities are easy enough for grade schoolers to do on their own, or for preschoolers to do with help from a grownup or older sibling.
Click HERE to check out their website for pricing and more details.
Really, I can’t recommend them enough.
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Speaking of feast days . . . Happy Epiphany today or tomorrow, depending on how your diocese rolls. We’re usually a wait-for-the-sixth kind of family, but school is starting up for us again on Monday (yikes!) so we’re going to do some extra celebrating on Sunday.
Here’s what we do: We’re Having an Epiphany, Are You?
Happy Sunday!
Ooh I like it! Going to check it out!
My godchild is 11. Is he too old for this? it looks like a great program!
My oldest son is 11 and he liked it. He read the letter aloud to the younger kids and thought the dog tags were really cool.
Wow, how cool is that???? It looks awesome.
That is really neat! I'm tempted to get a few months of this for my Confirmation kids next year. But idk sometimes my students think these cutesy things are lame. I have a really cool activity book with a ton of saints and activities I wish I could teach a class all about saints.
What would you say would be a suggested age range for this? Lucia just turned 2, so I'm guessing she's too young right now but I couldn't really see much on the website about age other than some small parts might be inappropriate for children under 3. Thanks, Kendra!
I think the ideal age range would be 4-10. Kids younger and older than that can enjoy it with their siblings, but I think it's perfect for 4-10.
Thanks for the rave review! We're giving it a try.
Do you still use this? If not, why did you stop?
I think we did it for a year, but we aren't currently getting them. I was really impressed with the packages each month. I still think it's a great product, but I just decided to get less stuff.
I cant find any way to buy a subscription on their website…
You can try emailing them at mailasaint@gmail.com