Saints Around the World Extension Activities

If you've been paying attention to good Catholic books for kids over the past few years, I bet you know about Meg Hunter-Kilmer's incredible Saints Around the World. It's an amazing treasury of 100 Saints from... you guessed it- all around the world. The one page biographies use an energetic storytelling style and are accompanied by beautiful, detail rich original illustrations by Lindsey Sanders. So, so many of the Saints and Blessed included aren't the "typical" favorites- there is such variety and originality in the holy men and women that are included. When I say that this book is popular and well read in my classroom, that would be an understatement!

SO, have you heard about the new Saints Around the World for Little Ones Collection? Pulled from the same list and using the same lovely illustrations, Meg rewrote the stories to be just right for younger readers/listeners. These books are sorted into sets of 15 Saints that have something in common, like being young, being adventurous, or being talented.

The books are a little smaller and the paper is nice and sturdy, meaning that sticky toddler fingers or eager page flipping isn't going to damage the book. While I really appreciate the full length book for use with my junior high students, the new collection still includes the pertinent details- date, feast, location, illustration, and a shorter biography, so they are actually still perfectly usable in my classroom (and even make for a nice modification for my lower or struggling readers.)

You can see a side by side comparison of the original book on top with the entry about the same person in the book from the new collection on the bottom:

If you'd like to order the Saints Around the World for Little Ones Collection, or any of the books individually, I have a special discount code for you! You can use code BOGNER10 for 10% off any part of the collection. That code is only good until 10/25/24, so go grab a set now (even if you want to stash it away for Christmas!)

You can find them individually here ($8.95 each) or as a whole set here (on sale right now and if you stack my coupon code, that gets the whole set of six down to $40.46!)

And you know me, you better believe I was going to find a way to use these new resources in my classroom. They also have a lovely map and full set of 100 stickers that match the book (for only $9.99! such a great price!) I decided to make an info sheet (we often call it a mini poster to make it sound fancy) where the students could collect all the pertinent biographical info.

Because of some weird scheduling, I had the opportunity to give one of my 7th grade classes a challenge. With the extra time we had together, could they make 100 mini posters of 100 Saints from all over the world? Could they get it done quickly so that we could hang them up for All Saints Day? And could they work together to share books and be willing to learn about Saints that they weren't familiar with?

With a resounding yes, they were able to! Several other teachers in my school have the original Saints Around the World book in their classrooms, so I was able to borrow several copies. I also made this activity so that I could be completed using either the original book or the shorter books. You can see how I made one poster from each version in the photos above and below. (Again, awesome for future planning activities for students with varying reading levels!)

The students worked hard and loved crossing Saints off the list. They had a major incentive because when they completed a mini poster, they got to go and place the sticker on the map. When all the Saints were in the right spot on the map, we knew that all 100 posters were done. Everyone loves stickers! 

For those who are curious, it took a class of 25 7th graders two 50 minute class periods to do all 100 Saints. But you wouldn't have to use them this way! It could be an individual assignment, a weekly project where you read one story and everyone completes a sheet on the same Saint, a book report to work on for your child at home, etc. Lots of options!

Want to have your students do some research on Saints from around the world? Or give your children at home a little project to work on?

Click here for a pdf to download and print

OR click here for an editable Google Slide that students could complete digitally

If you're doing this as a class project, or if your family would like to keep track of the Saints you've studied, here's a list that you can check off. (This was absolutely necessary when I had a whole class making posters- I had the list up on the smartboard and we crossed off each Saint as they chose them. They were so excited to mark off the last of the 100 Saints!)

Click here for a digital slide

Or click here for a pdf:

And don't forget, the code BOGNER10 for 10% off any part of the collection is only good until 10/25/24!