I keep things simple for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s not a party day, just a theme day. I’ve already sent a letter home to parents asking them to please have their child wear green. Being able to identify colors is one of our report card standards. Things look really festive when everyone shows up in various shades of green.
Mood Music:
I have Irish harp music playing. It’s soothing and the students enjoy listening to it while they do their morning lessons. In the afternoon I play some livelier Celtic music and teach them how to do the Irish Jig for the gross motor movement part of our day.
St. Patrick’s Day Goodies:
They look for their shamrock nametag and I pin it to them. I also tape on a slap bracelet. At their desk they have a “Happy St. Patrick’s Day from your teacher” note, with a green Skittle that was probably left by the leprechaun. Click on the link to view/print these St. Patrick’s Day Items
I have lots more fun things you could use in the 60-page March Apple Bytes Newsletter packet.
I have a variety of St. Patrick’s Day themed tabletop lessons for them to complete. (I take many of my tabletop lessons from my 79-page Shamrock unit.)
After they’re done with those, they can earn a necklace. I made these from the inexpensive shiny green and gold garland that they put on sale after Christmas for as little as 10 cents. One strand makes 3 necklaces.
I check my students’ work and stamp it with a shamrock. They transition to their centers.
St. Patrick’s Day Centers:
One of their centers is to cut out a leprechaun hat and glue their shamrock to it. I’ve already written their name in gold glitter glue the day before.
Another center is to glue their bookmark to a rectangle of green construction paper and stamp the math equation for the day on the back which is 3 shamrocks + 3 shamrocks = 6 shamrocks. I have a shamrock stamp, black stamp pad and dark green marker that I set up on a TV tray. TV trays make perfect mini center areas.
Another center is to bingo dot their shamrock in an ABAB pattern using orange and green bingo dot markers.
They also lie on their tummies, using a golf tee, they pinch & poke a shamrock, as a fine motor skill activity. Click on the link to view/print these St. Patrick's Day Center Activities.
St. Patrick’s Day Art Activity:
I vary my one-on-one art center activities for St. Patrick’s Day. I enjoy using food to do art with because it’s a double learning experience for my students. For example, a fun art activity you can do for St. Pat’s day involves a large green pepper.
It’s perfect for this holiday because it’s green, and when you slice it in half the inside looks like a shamrock! If you want to reinforce the cylinder shape you can make a windsock.
If you want to keep things simple, have your students just stamp a sheet of white paper three times using 3 different shades of green paint.
Cut the end off the green pepper so that it is about 1 inch thick, then cut 2 more 1- inch pieces.
Eat & Graph:
I dice up the rest of the green pepper so that my students can each taste a tiny square. I find that most of my Y5’s have never eaten green pepper before. I assure them that it is not hot. Some of them like it; most of them do not. We graph our results later. Click on the link to view/print the graph. Our snack that day is also green including green punch.
If you want to make a windsock, use large white construction paper 8 inches wide and the entire length of the sheet. Cut 1-inch strips of 3 shades of green construction paper and glue them to the bottom of the inside of the windsock.
Have students do this before you staple it into the cylinder shape. Each student will need 3 of each color. You could also use green crepe paper; punch holes on either side of the top and hang with yarn.
For more creative and fun art ideas, check out my 133-page Spring Art and Activities book. Click on the photo button to view the pictures.
Leprechaun Lessons:
St. Patrick’s Day is a much-anticipated day, as I’ve used it as a behavior modification concept. Click on the link to read the article about Leprechaun Lessons. Because of that, my afternoon activities are set as we go in search of the pot of gold at the end of our rainbow trail of yarn and then collect gold nuggets.
Games: I plug in a game or two depending on time:
Play Leprechaun-Leprechaun who took your 4-Leaf Clover? Click on the link to view/print a 4-leaf clover. Play this game like you would play Doggy-Doggy Who Took Your Bone. Laminate the 4-leaf clover.
Choose a child to be the leprechaun and have them sit on a chair in the middle of your circle. Place the clover under the chair. The “leprechaun-child” closes their eyes; you point to a child sitting in the circle, they quietly take the clover and hide it behind their back. Everyone puts their hands behind their back; tell the leprechaun child to open their eyes.
Everyone chants: “Leprechaun-Leprechaun who took your 4-Leaf clover?” The leprechaun child points to the child they think has their 4-Leaf clover. Play continues ‘til timer goes off, or until everyone has had a turn to be either the leprechaun or a person who has taken the clover.
Hot Leprechaun: I have a stuffed leprechaun that I’ve been using like Elf on a Shelf all month; I now use him to play Hot Potato. I put on some zippy Celtic music. When it stops, the child holding the leprechaun is out. You could also use a gold coin.
Toss the Leprechaun into his pot of gold: Since catching and tossing a beanbag, is one of my report card standards, I try to have my students toss things every day. I use a cauldron pot that I got on sale after Halloween and the children have 2 tries to toss him into the pot.
Dice Game: Follow the Rainbow Trail and get the leprechaun to his pot of gold. Students roll the dice and color in the appropriate circles on their game sheet. Each number equals a color. This helps reinforce the rainbow color pattern we have been learning. The child who colors in the entire rainbow trail first wins the game. Click on the link to view/print a copy of the Rainbow Trail dice game.
Reading-Writing Block: My students do several booklets that they enjoy making and taking home to share with their families. Lucky Me I Found a 4-Leaf Clover, Let’s Count Leprechauns, and There’s a Pot Of Gold At The End of The Rainbow. Let’s Count Leprechauns is my personal favorite because I can nail lots of standards with this one booklet.
Writing Prompt:
As a writing prompt we pretend we are leprechauns and discuss what we'd do if we had a pot of gold to spend. My students TRACE and then WRITE the sentence filling in the rest with what they've decided they'll do with their gold. I list their ideas on the board for them to copy. Some of them are as typical as "buy toys"; others are as wonderful as "help my mom and dad fix the house" to "buying food for the needy."
I cut their school photo into an oval for them to glue on the leprechaun. They draw a picture of their plans and I collate the pages to make a class book. Click on the link to view/print the Leprechaun Gold Class Book writing prompt.
End of the Day:
We end our day with story time and I read some of my favorite St. Patrick's Day books.
We sing several songs and toss the leprechaun around; whoever holds him gets to share what part of the day was their favorite.
Finally, I pass out certificates of participation. Click on the link to view/print a St. Patty’s Day certificate
With Irish eyes smilin’ and happy hearts brimmin’ over, my little green-clad “leprechauns” head for home.
Whatever you’re planning for March 17th, I hope it’s very merry! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you and yours!
