~ Ideas for St. Patrick's Day ~
Books
*Books highlighted in purple are religious books
Activities
Play Dough
I collected lids from bottles to use as cutters for the children to cut gold coins out of play dough. You can buy small black plastic kettles at Halloween to use as the leprechauns' pot of gold.
St. Patrick's Day Parade
Every year our school has a St. Patrick's Day parade, and our class makes noisemakers, flags, and hats. We also wear green leis or necklaces. Most of the children in the school spray their hair green, and the girls wear green nail polish.
Parade Hats
We made the hat using a top hat style shape for the front (cut out of black paper), with a black band around the back. Children glued a yellow paper buckle and green shamrock to the front.
Parade Shakers
I've made different kinds of shakers. The egg shakers are very simple. I buy white plastic Easter eggs. The children scoop rice into it, close it, and decorate it with St. Patrick's Day stickers. We've also made shakers with beans in between 2 thick paper plates, decorated with Shamrocks and rainbow colored streamers.
Parade Flags
The flags are made of half of a piece of kelly green felt, hot-glued to a small dowel rod. I bought a package of dowel rods about 12 inches long at a craft store. The children decorated the flag with a light green felt shamrock and gold glitter.
Shamrock Fabric Collage
I traced an outline of a shamrock on green paper for each child with a black Sharpie. Children cut out the shamrock and glued on small squares of green cloth (stripes, plaids, dots, ginghams, calicos, etc.).
If I Had a Wish
Children think of what they would wish for if they caught a leprechaun and could have one wish. Their dictation is written at the bottom of the paper, "If I had one wish, I would wish for …." They draw a picture of their wish.
Magic Leprechaun Drink
Mix a package of lemonade, add yellow food coloring to make the color brighter. Add a drop of blue food coloring to each child's clear cup, then pour in the lemonade. It will magically turn green! In the past, we've had doughnuts with green icing which were really neat!
Leprechaun Hunt
We read several stories about leprechauns. During the children's nap time, leprechauns leave a note to the children with a green glitter trail leading them to a special treat. I usually buy miniature paint sets and chocolate coins in gold wrappers. I also tell them that a leprechaun house has been spotted in the park, so we go on a leprechaun hunt. There is a large old oak tree in the park with a large hole, and when we come to that tree, I make a big deal about saying "this must be the leprechaun house!" One year, the children found a golf ball and a bottle cap in the hole, and they were sure they belonged to the leprechauns. After that I decided to set up some dollhouse furniture in the hole or beside the tree.
Resources
