A workable order for children starts at the Grotto before 9:00 a.m., when it is quietest; let them touch the rock, fill a bottle at the fountains, and light a candle at the stands, which are open all day. Then go to the baths for the water gesture while the morning session is on; it is done as a family with a volunteer, and nothing is required of a child beyond washing hands and face and drinking. The Sanctuary's English-language film plays at 4:00 p.m. in the Salle Leuret.
The Little House of Bernadette, at the entrance to the hemicycle, is the piece most families miss. During the Easter, summer, and All Saints holidays it is open Monday to Saturday 10:00 a.m. to noon and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday afternoons, with shorter hours in February and March and around Ascension; it is free, children must be with an adult, and groups book by email.
For the afternoon, the Prairie Stations of the Cross along the river are flat and stroller-friendly; the Espélugues high Stations, 1,500 m (nearly a mile) with steep climbs, are not. The 5:00 p.m. Eucharistic procession and blessing of the sick starts on the meadow and ends in the underground basilica. After dinner, the torchlight procession gathers at 8:30 p.m. on the Rosary esplanade and sets off at 9:00 p.m.; small children usually manage it on shoulders, and candles with paper shields are sold at the stands. A second day is easier than cramming all this in; the existing page on how many days to spend in Lourdes explains why.