St. Patty’s Day Learning Activities with Kids

St. Patty’s Day is a fun holiday with cute images and a traditions of parties, but if you want your children to learn the meaning behind the holiday and not just view it as an excuse to throw a party, then check out these fun learning activities with kids.

The Color Green

Teach your kids about the color green and its meaning to St. Patty’s day by having them paint and color items that are green, like the four-leaf clover. Explain the different colors that make up green and look at various shades of the color. If you have more than one child, ask each of them to pick a different shade when coloring. The color green is significant to this day because Ireland is known for having very green grass and trees, so it is representative of that.

We took a challenge to learn about how green is made by dropping a dab of both yellow and blue washable paints onto a Styrofoam plate. I then instructed my 3 year old to start swirling them together and see what would happen. He was giddy and excited as he saw the colors start to change and create green! When the paint was well mixed, I then let him draw green items in the paint with his fingers.

Leprechauns

Leprechauns are a fairly new concept to the St. Patty’s Day traditions, and some find them offensive to the Irish. Nevertheless, they show up every year and they definitely get children in the spirit of celebrating the holiday. Teach your children about these mythical creatures by having them build their own Leprechaun out of construction paper. You can print faces, hats, and other parts off of online sites and have children color them, then glue it all together and decorate with ribbons, buttons, strings, and any other craft objects you may have lying around. Then, read your children stories about Leprechauns and their mischievous ways as they play with their new friends.

Ireland Trivia

What better way to learn about St. Patty’s Day than to actually learn about how St. Patty’s Day started? The National Geographic has a great piece online that shows the various traditions, how they got started, and the true meaning behind all of them. Ask your children what they think each symbol or theme means and then read the real meanings to them. You can even turn it into a fun game by asking trivia questions and the person with the most points wins a prize.

Four-Leaf Clovers

One of the best ways to learn about four-leaf clovers is to go looking for some! As you’re looking, explain to your children how these are a rarity and actually don’t exist in nature the way people claim they do, which is what makes them so prized. The Discovery Channel and other such sites list great info on these plants.

Clover Handprint Art

To start, or finish off, your learning activities, you can preserve your learning with a cute handprint art of a 4 leaf clover! If you are doing the finger painting activity above, just use the paint on the plate to coat your child’s hand. Then, use their hand as a stamp four times on a sheet of construction paper. You can point their fingers inward or outward, either way works. Then, challenge your child to draw a four leaf clover around the hand prints when they dry.

Which of these St. Patty’s Day learning activities would you love to do with your kids?