How to Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day: Fun Activities for Kids & Parents
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
It’s always important to teach children the history and value behind our celebrated holidays, so why not start with St. Patrick’s Day?
This holiday is not only about wearing green and looking for 4 leaf clovers. In short, this day was created so that we remember the saint who brought Christianity to Ireland. After you share this small history lesson with the kids, have some fun with hands-on activities.
Fun fact:
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade actually took place in the United States, not in Ireland as some might think. On March 17, 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through the streets of New York in an effort to celebrate their Irish roots and connect with each other.
Fun activities to do with the kids to celebrate St. Patrick’s day:
Lucky Crafts
- Shamrock Cards. Get out the construction paper, scissors and glitter because St. Patrick’s is a fun holiday for craft making. Help kids cut out and decorate shamrock cards which they can then give to friends or family.
- Leprechaun Hats. What kid doesn’t like wearing a funny hat? By using the materials from above, help children make their very own leprechaun hats – they can have a good time wearing it all day.
- Pots of Gold. Here’s a craft idea you can start the week before St. Pat’s and make it a weeklong celebration. Have each child cut out their own pot of gold and have all the pots suspended up on the front wall.
During that week, as each child does something that deserves a reward, instead of a gold star, stick a gold coin (a simple circle cut out and taped) onto their pot. At the end of the week, the child with the biggest pot of gold gets a small prize.
St. Patrick’s Day is a wonderful holiday to celebrate with children of all ages, and hopefully these ideas will be a hit with your kids!
Photo: Flickr.com, Photographer cohdraAuthor bio:
Karen Lederer works with the online programs at Dominican University. She is an educator who loves photography and running. Connect with her on Twitter at @Karen_Lederer.