A Child’s Mary Garden (with free printable statues)

Well, it’s spring here in Kansas. 

I guess it’s actually been spring for a while. 

Last weekend we filled up the sandbox and we’ve already spent so much time swinging in the backyard that Gus has master pumping (yay!).

I’ve been meaning to plant some flowers but our yard here in Kansas is very small and already largely landscaped, which is a bit different from what we had in Minnesota–a gigantic wild lot. 

Monday after grocery shopping the kids and I ventured into the garden section and they instantly started begging for flowers, and I thought, hey, why not? 

As a girl, my mom always had a Mary garden but since space doesn’t really allow for an entire garden, the kids and I set to work creating mini Child Sized Mary Gardens, and I think they turned out pretty great. 

Here’s what we did.

As I said, I let each kid pick out a flower. 

I also bought a big bag of potting soil and a terracotta pot. We took the spoils out in the backyard and got planting.

The kids scooped the dirt and planted a few flowers in their pots.

But what is a Mary Garden without a Mary Statue? The answer, just a garden. 

So, that night after the kids (finally) went to sleep I drew up a simple PRINTABLE MARY STATUE. 

I wanted something that was just an outline that my kids could color and really make their own. 

I’ve uploaded this paper statue coloring sheet here as a PDF. 

It is totally free and ready to print. 

I recommend printing on heavy cardstock, or backing with something stiff once it is printed since it will likely be outside and at a minim near water.

You can find the materials for this project, and MANY other Catholic projects in the Catholic Family Digital Resource Library. To get instant access, and join a thriving community of over 10,000 Catholic Parents, just enter your email address.

Once our statues were colored, we “waterproofed” them by covering them with clear packing tape. 

I guess if you are really fancy you can laminate them ;). 

Then we added some Popsicle sticks to the back so that we could stick them into the soil of our gardens. 

Nothing fancy here folks.  Just use what you’ve got around already.

And, ta-da!  Here are the three Mary gardens out in our backyard. 

They might not be as big as the one I knew as a kid, but when you live in a small city lot, I guess this is how it has to be. 

Plus, I love that they are mobile so I can keep them out of reach of my Dominic the Destructor.

The kids and I love really getting into Mary’s things this time of year. 

If you are looking for creative Marian ideas, make sure to check out my free eBook, A Month of Small Things for Mary.

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather that we have been!

All the best,