Meal times are one of my favorite opportunities for faith-based discussions with our kids. Some of their best questions and aha moments come when we are chatting about Scripture, apologetics, the saints and more at the dinner table. 

The way you live and discuss your faith at home together with your children will have a far greater impact on them and on their spiritual lives and growth than any textbook can. Here are some of my favorite resources to inspire meaningful and memorable “dinner table catechesis.” Some can even be used as tabletop décor (I use wooden place card holders like these to display cards that will serve as conversation starters at mealtimes).

1. Catholic Monthly Devotion Prints: These beautiful, 8x8 prints from Novena Cards feature images of each month’s devotion (The Holy Name of Jesus in January, the Holy Family in February, etc.) and ideas for celebrating as a family on the back. We love displaying these cards in the middle of our table and reading the Scripture verses and Catechism quotes on the back, then selecting ways to live out the devotion as a family that month. A companion item from Novena Cards is the Catholic Monthly Devotional Prayer Card Bundle, with prayer cards that relate to each devotion of the month (a Magnificat prayer card for May, the Anima Christi in July, etc.). Add one of these prayers along with your grace or after your mealtime to celebrate the month’s devotion together! 

2. Bible Basics Collection: We love reviewing these cards from Catholic Family Crate each night, retelling or rereading a Bible story, then discussing connections to the faith and Church teachings, as well as going through the conversation starters and questions on the back of the cards that spark neat discussions. It’s a simple and effective Bible study right at the dinner table! 

3. The Apostles Story Cards: From Into the Deep, these cards are as beautiful as they are catechetical, with beautiful watercolor portraits of the apostles on white cardstock. On the back of each card, you’ll find Scripture-driven short essays on each apostle. We love rotating through these and being inspired by their stories, as well as learning some lesser-known facts along the way.

4. 52 Conversation Starters for Catholic Families: This $3 instant-download resource includes a list of engaging, faith-based questions for adults and kids (I’d say slightly older kiddos, since younger children may not be ready for some of the open-ended style questions) to get families talking about things that matter around the dinner table and having fun while doing it. Also great for use in parish ministry or Catholic schools!

5. Catechetical books: Books like Through the Year with Jesus and Through the Year with Mary by Katherine Bogner have short entries packed with tons of catechesis and great discussion topics, art, and questions for families, making them ideal mealtime learning resources.

6. Saint of the Day: We love to discuss the day’s saint at the table, and my children’s current favorite resource for that is the Shining Light Dolls’ Catholic Saint of the Day app. This is the only time I ever pull my phone out at the table, but it really is a cute resource. You can hold the attention of very young children with the abbreviated stories and cute illustrations, and then launch into a more detailed version of the saint’s life from a saint anthology you have at home.

I hope some of these resources and ideas inspire creative faith formation at mealtimes in your home.