How to Plan a May Crowning for Kids

Planning a Marian Coronation is not as hard as you might think, and a May crowing ceremony is a great way to recognize Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth! I’ll start with the basics. The month of May is dedicated to Mary. It’s traditional to have a May crowning on May 1 (also known as May Day) but you can do it any time during May.

First, figure out what Mary statue you are going to be crowning. You can try calling your parish to arrange a crowning of the Mary statue there. You can also crown your own Mary statue in your garden, or even a little plastic statue inside-  just make sure you have or make a crown that will fit your particular statue. It’s traditional to crown Mary with flowers of some kind. If you’re looking for ideas on crafting a crown, check my May Crowning post from last year. Take the statue’s placement into consideration when planning. If you’re crowning the Mary statue at your church, you may need a step ladder to reach her head. If you’re crowning a Mary statue at home, you may want to put together a simple May Altar.

Usually there is a procession with the crown before it is placed on Mary’s head. You can line up all the kids, and sing a song while you process with the crown. (For song ideas, scroll down). The children can all carry flowers to be placed at Mary’s feet as they reach the statue. You can either provide a vase for these flowers, or just lay them individually at Mary’s feet.

Who doesn’t love to sing a Mary song? There are so many great choices! There’s actually a song called Bring Flowers of the Rarest (Queen of May) and another called Tis the Month of Our Mother. Some other favorites include Hail Holy Queen, Immaculate Mary (Ave Maria), or Hail Mary (Gentle Woman).

Check out these ideas for fun food you can serve for any Marian feast day! You could also try making some cute crown shaped snacks of some kind, like crown shaped cakes or these May Crowning cookies from Family at the Foot of the Cross. You could also make some fun edible rosaries!

If you’re looking to plan a whole May crowning mass, Catholic Teacher Resources has an amazing printable May crowning layout for you! I also found a lovely May Crowning proposal from Little Flowers Girl’s Club that you can send to your priest to have a May crowning during mass, along with plans.

You can find more resources for planning your May Crowning at the Catholic Toolbox, and at Catechist’s Journey.

I attended my first May Crowning last year with our preschool co-op. We’re having another May Crowning with our preschool next week, and I was thinking about having a home May crowning here on Mother’s day!