Tag Archives: st patrick’s day
March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in the US since 1737. Traditional icons of the day are the shamrock, leprechaun, the color green and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In Chicago, they city celebrates with a parade and the Chicago River is dyed green.
Fun activities to do with children:
Torn Paper Shamrocks
Draw a shamrock shape on a piece of paper. Have the children tear pieces of green construction paper, and glue them inside the lines for the shamrock shape.
Creating The Color Green
Ask the children what colors you need to make green. Then supply them with blue and yellow paint and white paper. You should start with your yellow and add a little amount of blue. Ask the children to mix the colors to get their favorite shade of green. Discuss how all the colors of green are a little different.
Shamrock Search
Cut out many shamrock shapes and hide them around the room. Have the children search for them like an Easter Egg hunt.
Shamrock Sequencing
Cut out many different sizes of shamrocks. Four or five will be fine. Have your child arrange the shamrocks in order of size, largest to smallest, or smallest to largest.
Treasure Hunt 1
Draw a simple map of your house. Hide a “treasure” somewhere in your house, something like a snack, or maybe a treasured toy. Explain the map to your child. Tell them where each room is. Next say there is a hidden treasure in the house, and the map is going to help them find it. Draw an X on the map where you have hidden the treasure. Help your child look for the treasure
Don’t miss the St Patrick’s Day Parade in DC: http://dc.about.com/cs/familyactivities/a/StPatsParade.htm
Happy St Patrick’s Day!
The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since. St. Patrick is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday. It has been celebrated in the US since 1737. One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day. For fun ideas for celebrating with children see the Kids section on this blog.
Now,for a little bit of trivia,try to answer the following questions:
(answers found in the kids section of this blog)
1. When is St Patrick’s day celebrated?
2. Where is it celebrated? Name five countries.
3. How many colours does the Irish flag have? What do they mean?
4. How can you celebrate St Patrick’s Day?
5. Name some traditional foods and drinks for this day.
6. Name at least three symbols related to St Patrick’s Day.
EXTRA QUESTION:
* Can you name two important Irish rock groups? ( one from the 80s and another one from the 90s)
Trivia found on 4teachers.org website