Celebrated each year on March 17th, Saint
Patrick's Day commemorates the religious feast day of St. Patrick,
a fifth century Christian missionary.
Born under the name
Maewyn Succat in the year 387, the man we now know as St.
Patrick was kidnapped by raiders as a
boy and sold into slavery in Ireland.
There he
became a shepherd and endured many hardships and trials that led him to a
deep and profound spirituality. Following the guidance of an angel he escaped
captivity and traveled back to his homeland where he entered the church
and became a priest.
After his ordination as a bishop he returned, as a missionary, to
Ireland where he impressed the people with his courage, wisdom, and
compassion -- setting off a wave of conversion that eventually engulfed
the entire island. St. Patrick's legacy includes
numerous legends, including his teaching the trinity with a clover leaf
and his driving the snakes out of Ireland.
In America, Saint Patrick's day is celebrated with
great festivity in those cities with a large Irish population.
There it is embraced by Catholics and non-Catholics alike and is often
more a celebration of Irish heritage than a remembrance of good St. Patrick
himself.
Reading
Have You Seen My Pot of Gold?
Printable Mini book
project to cut, color, and read. You might even turn it
into a play. For K-1.
This lighthearted Irish tale of magic,
greed, and revenge from Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator
Gerald McDermott reminds us that a bit of good luck is never
out of reach-as long as you look for the wee folk. When poor
and jobless Tim O'Toole discovers a group of wee folk, he
knows his bad luck has changed forever. But before he can
enjoy the treasures they give him, Tim has to learn an
important lesson.
Writing
Writing Ideas:
How to Catch a Leprechaun.
Click here for great
illustrated story starter to get you going. (Opens a .doc
file from
BogglesWorld)
What I would do with the money from the
pot of gold.
Write a limerick. A limerick is a
five line poem that is usually funny and often quite clever.
The first, second and fifth lines all rhyme with each other,
while the third and fourth lines rhyme together.
Read "Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk" and
write your own short story about a person who finds a fairy or
leprechaun (remember the "wee folk" are tricksters). Does
he learn a lesson, play a crafty trick of his own, amaze his neighbors?
Does he end up wealthier, a little wiser, or really embarrassed?
Draw some pictures to illustrate your story.
5
Little Leprechauns
Running out to play Found a great big rainbow
Blocking their way.
Follow me, cried one Running fast and bold. He slid down the rainbow Toward the pot of gold
(Repeat for next 4 Leprechauns, until all have slid
down the rainbow)
Five Little Leprechauns
By Jean Warren
One day out walking,
I happened to see
Five little leprechauns
Coming toward me.
They ran to a house.
They ran through the door.
I managed to catch one.
Then there were four.
Four little leprechauns
Climbed up a tree.
I caught another.
Then there were three.
Three little leprechauns
Hid in a shoe.
I caught another
Then there were two.
Two little leprechauns
Started to run.
I caught another.
Then there was one.
One little leprechaun
Ran to his gold.
He grabbed some coins—
Then stepped out bold.
“Give back my friends,
And I’ll give you this gold.”
So I set them all free.
Now my story is told!
Play Hot Potato
For school age and older preschool
children you can play this game as you would musical chairs:
keep passing the potato and whoever is holding it when the music
stops is "out". For toddlers, make a silly game of
pretending the potato is hot and seeing who can pass it really fast.
Vary the game by having them gently toss it to one another.
Note that with toddlers it is not age appropriate to have
someone get "out" -- everyone wins by playing. Also, for
preschoolers and young school age, you can also use this as a
teaching opportunity: "What kinds of things are hot? Can
hot things hurt us? What hot things do we never touch?"
and etc.
Have a Shamrock
Hunt
This is an old
favorite for preschoolers. Cut out lots of shamrock shapes
from construction paper or tag board and let the children take
turns, with one child hiding the shamrocks while the others wait
inside. Then the "shamrock hunters" run outside (or in the
next room) to find all the shamrocks. Some of the kids will
want to play this several times.
HINT: It helps
to have an adult hide the shamrocks the first time -- this gets the
game off to an exciting start and models possible/appropriate hiding
places. Don't forget to adjust the difficulty level for the
age group. Toddlers will need the shamrocks placed in plain
sight while older ones enjoy more challenge. You will want to
set the boundaries before the games begins to make sure the children
use gentle behavior and don't hunt/hide in inappropriate places.
Explore such basic physics principles
as force, motion, simple machines, and levers while trying to build
your own leprechaun trap. Adapt this for younger children by
letting imagination run wild -- and by setting actual mechanical
principles aside (i.e. the traps may not work, but they'll still be
fun and inventive).
No Snakes in Ireland?
Talk about the legend that claims
St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and the fact that zoologists say there
were never snakes in Ireland
-- or New Zealand, Iceland, or Greenland. (Read: "Why
Ireland Has No Snakes" to find out why.)
Use this as an opportunity also to talk about snake physiology and
behaviors (adapt for age group). Discuss
different types and show pictures. Ask students if
they've seen any snakes and what they think about them. "Are
they just bad guys, or do they actually have a helping job in
nature? Would it be better if there were no snakes,
any where in the world?"
Point out that many snakes are
nonpoisonous and that they have a necessary role in nature --
keeping down the number of rodents and other small creatures.
This keeps frogs, mice, rabbits from becoming so over populous that
they don't have enough food to go around and end up starving to
death in large numbers. It also helps farmers by cutting down on animals that
eat their crops. If there were no snakes, some other creature
would have to do their job. Snakes are also preyed upon by
other animals, such as the mongoose. Also emphasize the grace of the
snake. Have younger students practice moving like a snake.
Perhaps do a bit of yoga with the "cobra position".
(Further reading: "
Yoga",
from the Children's Health Encyclopedia.)
Potato Science
Introduced to the Irish in 1590,
after European explorers brought them from the New World, potatoes
soon became an important staple food for the Irish. By the
time the potato famine hit, in 1845, the Irish diet consisted
chiefly of potatoes and buttermilk.
Talk about the nutrition of the
potato and what it gives our body, as well as the different ways it is prepared.
Don't forget to mention how harmful fat creeps in -- a 4 ounce
potato has 75 calories, but 4 ounces of fries provide 250 calories!
Let kids get hands on with cooking and eating. Try such
dishes as baked potatoes, boiled red potatoes with butter, hash
brown potatoes (hit Costco for a large bag that can be baked up in
the oven),
cheesy potato soup, mashed
potatoes,
potato bread, potato chips, or
potato fries.
You can also talk about -- and try --
potato growing. After all, in Ireland potatoes were
traditionally planted around the time of St. Patrick's Day!
Don't worry about ordering potato seeds! All you need are some
old, raw potatoes with plenty of eyes.
Click here to learn more.
Two Potato Clock runs on potatoes,
fruit, plants, soft drinks, even beer. Bi-metal probes
convert natural ingredients to low voltage. Just connect
wire to power source. Powers a ˝" high LED clock. 5 ˝" x 9"
x 2 ˝".
Presented by the History Channel,
this free online video provides a brief but informative overview of
the life of St. Patrick and his significance to the Irish people.
Their web page also features a brief text overview as well as
history of the holiday.
All you need is some thick cardstock
paper, your printer, and a willingness to follow directions.
Insert a piece of cardstock paper in your printer,
print the decorative template onto
your paper (you will need to right click on the
image and select "print"), and then
follow the
instructions to fold it into a 3
dimensional box.
Slice the top off a potato, and then
scoop out a hollow out of the to p -- a
bout an inch or two deep.
Fill with moist potting soil. Plant grass seeds, and water
gently. Place in sunshine and water when soil becomes dry.
(To speed things along, cover the top with a small square of plastic
wrap so as to create your own mini green house!) Your head
will sprout a healthy head of "hair" that will thrive as long as it
gets water and light. To create a face, use craft eyes with
back studs, such as
these at BJ's Craft Supplies.
(You can find similar items at your local craft store.)
Other face parts could be cut out of vegetable pieces (carrot
for nose, etc.) and stuck on with toothpicks.
Potato People
Cut out a large potato shape for the
body/head of the little man (think of the Mr. Potato Head doll).
You can use construction paper, but you can get great results
using a piece of sandpaper. (Be sure not to use your best
scissors!)
Cut
two long strips of green construction paper for legs, two
thinner and shorter shapes for arms, plus two little hand shapes
and two little boot shapes. Fold the paper strips
over at the end, then fold again the opposite direction.
Continue until you've made each strip into little accordion
folded shaped "springs".
Glue or tape the paper strips
onto the back bottom of the man. Glue the boots on
the other end. Repeat with arms and hands, joining arms to
sides of the potato. Then let the kids glue on eye, draw a
mouth, etc.
Very cute. A little green bowler hat is a fun addition.
Clover headbands
Cut a 2 inch wide strip of green
construction paper for the headband (you may need to tape to
strips end to end, if using the smaller sized paper). Fit
headband to individual child to fit, and then tape ends
securely. Cut two large shamrocks out of remaining scraps
and tape or staple them onto the headband. Children can
decorate headbands with stickers, markers, glitter, etc.
Be sure to write their names on the inside if this is a group
project!
Choose Beer Potato Soup or
Corned Beef and Cabbage with Horseradish, and then whip up some
Potato Bread, Chocolate Stout Silk Pie, and some
Irish Coffee. From FamilyCorner.com.
If your kids like homemade
biscuits, they'll love this festive holiday version! All you
need is a box of Bisquick baking mix (low fat works great), plus
milk, shamrock shaped cookie cutters, and green food coloring.
Follow the directions on the box -- adding the food coloring to the
milk, for even distribution, before adding the Bisquick.
Then roll out the dough on a floured surface, wax paper, or pastry
paper. Cut with the shamrock cutters and bake according to
Bisquick directions. Bakes up in about 5-9 minutes, and they
look great!
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