St. Francis of Assisi for Kids: Inspiring Faith at Home
Some saints feel distant — figures from another world, another time, lives so extraordinary that children struggle to find a foothold. St. Francis of Assisi is not one of those saints. He is the man who talked to birds. Who called the wolf his brother. Who saw God’s fingerprints on every creature he encountered and loved them for it. For children who already feel that same pull toward animals and the living world around them, St. Francis can feel like someone they already understand.
That’s a gift. And this year, there’s never been a better time to lean into it.
A Special Year for St. Francis of Assisi
From January 10, 2026 through January 10, 2027, the Catholic Church is observing a special Jubilee Year of St. Francis — marking the 800th anniversary of his passing. Pope Leo XIV proclaimed this year as an invitation for all the faithful to follow the example of St. Francis more deeply: to seek peace, to care for creation, and to live the Gospel in simple, everyday ways.
That’s not just a call for adults. It’s a beautiful invitation for families. And it starts right where so much good formation happens — at home, in the ordinary moments, with little hands busy and hearts quietly open.
Why Kids Connect with St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis was born into wealth and chose simplicity. He walked away from comfort to follow what he knew God was asking of him. But for children, those big ideas usually come later. What captures them first is the image of a man kneeling in a field surrounded by birds who weren’t afraid of him. A man who saw a wolf terrorizing a village and walked out to meet it — not with a weapon, but with kindness. A man who believed that every creature, every flower, every beam of sunlight was a reason to give thanks.
Children who love animals hear that story and lean in. They don’t need a lecture on Franciscan spirituality. They just need the story, told well, and a little space to sit with it.
That’s exactly what the kitchen table is for.
How St. Francis of Assisi Brings Faith Into the Ordinary
One of the things St. Francis understood deeply was that faith doesn’t live only in churches or formal moments of prayer. It lives in how we move through the world — how we treat the creatures around us, how we notice beauty, how we respond to what God has made. He found the sacred in the everyday, and he made that accessible to everyone around him.
You can do the same thing with your children without making it feel like a lesson. When kids are working on an activity page — tracing a path through a maze, filling in a word search about a saint’s story — their minds are engaged in a different way than when they’re sitting still and listening. Questions come up naturally. Observations surface that wouldn’t come out in a structured conversation. Those moments are small, but they plant seeds that go deep.
You don’t have to be a theologian to have a meaningful conversation about St. Francis at your kitchen table. You just have to be present when your child looks up from their activity page and says, “Did he really talk to animals?”
October 4th: The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Every year on October 4th, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Many parishes hold Blessings of the Animals on this day — a tradition that children absolutely love. But the celebration doesn’t have to stop at the church door.
Bringing the feast day home is one of the simplest and most memorable ways to mark it. An activity page at the kitchen table, a walk outside to notice the animals and creation around you, a simple prayer of thanksgiving for the living world God made — these are the kinds of small, repeated rituals that children carry with them into adulthood without even realizing it.
This year, with the Jubilee Year of St. Francis already underway, October 4th carries a little extra weight. It’s a natural moment to pause, to learn, and to celebrate a saint who still speaks clearly to us 800 years later.
A Simple Way to Bring St. Francis of Assisi to Your Table
The Saint & the Animals is a printable activity pack designed specifically for children ages 7 to 10, with 20+ activities centered on St. Francis of Assisi and his deep love for God’s creation. It’s part of the Saint & Skills Collection — a growing set of saint-focused activity packs that bring the stories of the saints into the everyday moments of home life.
No preparation required on your part. Print the pages, set them out, and let the activities do the quiet work of introducing a saint your children will want to know more about. The conversations that follow are yours to enjoy.
The Moments That Last
Eight hundred years after his death, St. Francis of Assisi is still one of the most recognizable and beloved saints in the world. Not because he wrote complicated theology or led armies. Because he loved creation simply and completely, and that love was contagious.
Your children can catch a little of that same wonder this year — at the kitchen table, on an ordinary evening, with a printed page and a pencil and a story worth telling.
Those are the moments that last.
Explore The Saint & the Animals — 20+ St. Francis of Assisi activities for ages 7–10 — in the shop. Discover more Saint activity packs in the Saints & Skills Collection. And if you’re looking for more on building Catholic faith into your everyday home life, read How Catholic Faith at Home Grows.
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