Have you taught your kids about St. Patrick’s Day and what it all really means?  Honestly I didn’t really know myself until just a few days ago…I decided it was time to learn more about it.

Maybe you already know this, but if you don’t, I’ll share the basics of what I learned.  :-)  St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that Irish people celebrate because St. Patrick, who died on March 17th, was a priest who helped the Irish people.  One of the symbols for St. Patrick’s Day is the shamrock because it is said that he used it to explain the Holy Trinity.  Leprechauns are mischievous fairies from Irish folklore. They are supposed to look like little old men and make wishes come true for humans.  It is said that leprechauns are very rich, and if they are caught by someone, they must tell where their riches are hidden.

After teaching your kids about St. Patrick’s Day it would only be appropriate to do some fun activities to celebrate.  Catch me after the jump for details on the popcorn shamrock, a Leprechaun fingerplay, and more!

Popcorn Shamrock

Supplies:

• green popcorn, recipes here and here
• Elmer’s glue
• shamrock printed on green paper
• paper plate

Prep work – make the green popcorn and cut out the green shamrock.  I poured glue on the plate with the popcorn to make is easier for my girls to dip the popcorn in.

This ended up being a fun craft for my 18 month old all they way up to my 6 1/2 year old.  The littlest thought she was something else sitting up with the the big girls doing a project.  I didn’t intend for it to be for the littlest, but she insisted being apart of it.  :-)  I did have to keep a close eye on her that she wouldn’t stick the popcorn in her mouth after she dipped it in the glue.

Leprechaun Fingerplay

Five Boastful Leprechauns

Five boastful leprechauns making quite a fuss,

The first one said, “They’ll never catch us!”

The second one said, “We’re faster than they know!”

The third one said, “There the slowest of the slow!”

The fourth one said, “They’ll never wish on me!”

The fifth one said, “Whats that up in the tree?”

Then down came the net, and feeling rather blue,

The five boastful leprechauns made every wish come true.

Leprechaun Trap

Then it would only be appropriate to make a Leprechaun trap to catch one of those sneaky Leprechauns.  Here is one that we made a couple years ago.

Here are some other fun ones that I found from other blogs:

• The Idea Room
• Lovely Lovely
• How Does She?
• The Crafting Chicks
• Roots and Wings Co.

Who knew so many people were trying to catch Leprechauns?

I hope you all have a great rest of February!  Is it really March in a few days??  Sheesh! ;)

Aubrey

Tagged as: finger plays, preschool crafts, St. Patrick's Day