Incorporating inspiration from the Saints into daily life is an important goal for all Catholic classrooms and homes. Holy cards, artwork, statues, and books are a great way to keep the Saints present, but it is also nice to have things that are designed with kids in mind. Little Drops of Water is a family company that started with a dream of their daughter Anna to learn and share the stories of the Saints with other kids. Today the company offers a line of Catholic figurines and keychains with sweet, child friendly style. Little Drops of Water sent me some of their figurines to try in my classroom, and I'm happy to share this great resource with you as well!
***Little Drops of Water, Pauline Books & Media, and TAN Books provided me with free items in exchange for an honest review. I only recommend things I use and love and want to share with you. All opinions are my own. :)
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase something, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
And as you browse, make sure you check out the promos and sales available on their website here!
Each statue comes packaged in a giftable box which includes a great description of the statue, whether symbols on the image or a bio of the Saint or the history of an image. That info is a great tool to add in that important catechetical piece along with each figurine. They average about 3-3.5" in height and are made of a heavy resin material, painted with bright eye catching colors.
These modern Saints are one of my very favorite thing they carry- here you can see Mother Teresa, John Bosco, Padre Pio, and Josephine Bakhita. One of the best advantages of having figures like this around your home and classroom are that you are increasing the children's recognition of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. By helping them see the common symbols, color, and style of simple depictions like these, they are better able to recognize them in other Catholic art.
I love the variety of Marian titles and apparitions they've created, which also have companion Saints- there's a Juan Diego to go with Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bernadette for Lourdes, etc.
They also carry collections that are for special occasions like births, Baptisms, and First Communions. And make sure you check out their Nativities and Last Supper set which are so adorable and would make such special gifts.
The statues have passed required safety testing, and while not completely UNbreakable, are appropriate for gentle play in my opinion. I shared some of these with my three and four year old nephews and niece and they are holding up pretty well. I will be honest and tell you that we have broken one hand from the St. Nicolas figurine from a drop, but the rest look great. They are intended for display as opposed to active play, so you'd have to decide based on your kids how to best use them. The material is not as study as plastic, but certainly stronger than glass or ceramic.
I think that Little Drops of Water Saints pair perfectly with these Catholic books for gifts or Feast Days. (More these books in my next Katie Reads post!) so I thought I'd share some of my favorite combos!
Father Ben Gets Ready for Mass by Katie Warner and little St. John Bosco are a perfect reminder to pray for priests and the youth in their parishes:
The Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary statues (my personal favorite ;) ) look so nice on display with Fulton Sheen's Jesus Son of Mary:
Anna Goes to a Party and Learns About the Mass by Gabriele Kramer-Kost pairs perfectly with the Jesus and First Communicant statue for a special Sacramental gift:
Go check out their site and think about all the possibilities- birthdays, First Communions, teacher gifts, graduations... so many great ways to bring these Saints into the lives of all the little (and big!) people in your life. :)
And helping fulfill their mission to educate Catholic kids, Little Drops of Water also offers some great FREE resources including coloring pages, posters, and printable activity books! Check those out here. The coloring book is full of awesome Marian apparition pages that would pair perfectly to make this activity a multi age unit!
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