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St. Patrick’s Day is one of those small holidays that doesn’t demand much respect. It often comes and goes in the middle of the week and all that occurs are a few green treats at school, lots of green drinks at Happy Hour and some misplaced pinching at both locations. Personally, I have never been a big St. Patty’s Day celebrant but even I believe it does deserve at least some mention to our kids. Though it’s a holiday based on both the history and myths from another land far, far away, it has somehow earned a place in our culture here in the United States. So, it makes sense to allow our kids a little Leprechaun fun alongside their homeschool studies.
Below are THREE WAYS that homeschoolers can have some St. Patrick’s Day fun!
ONE: MAKE yummy cookies or other baked goods!
We love any excuse for MAKING yummy treats and if you are like us, MAKING shaped sugar cookies is a given for practically every holiday. But if you’re burnt out on those, you could try MAKING Lucky Charms treats, green cake balls or mint brownies for St. Patrick’s Day. All of those look and sound delicious but, my all time favorite treat for this holiday is to MAKE some cookies to accompany Leo Lionni’s book, Little Blue and Little Yellow. All it takes is some simple round sugar cookies {you can even use store-bought, ready to eat cookies}, a small bowl of yellow frosting and a small bowl of blue frosting. Read the book, frost the cookies to blend the two colors and MAKE some fun memories while MAKING some yummy treats! {For more details, check out Little Blue and Little Yellow: an easy, fun and tasty St. Patrick’s Day Activity.}
TWO: CREATE a fun craft!
When I taught in the classroom {and also when my son was younger,} I considered the above-mentioned Little Blue, Little Yellow activity to be a sufficient example of CREATING a craft {that was eaten, of course}. But if you are a crafty mama who likes to give her kids more opportunity to CREATE, there are more than a few ideas out there for St. Patrick’s Day. Marshmallow Shamrock Stamping for the littles looks like fun {and educational too!} Shamrock Suncatchers seem like a good choice for all ages and can serve the double purpose of holiday decor. But if you have older kids with more ambition, check out these Leprechaun Traps. It looks like you can CREATE them to be as complicated and fancy as you want or keep them much more simple {which is surely what I would do!} Whichever craft your kids choose, they’ll surely have fun CREATING something memorable!
THREE: LEARN about the holiday!
As mentioned in my Valentine’s Day post, I can’t seem to let any holiday go by without expecting my son to LEARN about it. Doing this doesn’t even need to take away from the rigor of your child’s schooling, as you can easily substitute St. Patrick’s Day-themed reading and writing for your normally-scheduled school programming. I always like to use informational reading text passages and writing prompts {which can be found in my St. Patrick’s Day Holiday Fact Pack….so convenient, right?!?!? But, really, it’s an easy and inexpensive way to capitalize on the holiday without giving up learning!}
So, whether your kids MAKE yummy cookies, CREATE something fun or LEARN about the holiday, there are loads of ways for your homeschoolers to have some St. Patrick’s Day fun!
i love this! There is always a way to integrate a little fun into learning! Well done!
I love these ideas. Even good for the non homeschoolers.
I love this! I can not wait until my grandson is old enough to do this fun stuff! Saving for later!
Looks like fun . Thank you for sharing
So excited to try this with my grandchildren. I love doing things that are fun and educational!
Such a fun holiday! Great day to be Irish!
I used to homeschool for quite a few years. I don’t remember exactly what we did for St. Patty’s day, but even it was just a green smoothie, we did something! Nice ideas in your post!
They are some neat activities for St Patricks day.
You are such a fun homeschool Mom. So creative.
Making and decorating cookies is always a fun time! The learning aspect is awesome too!
These are great ideas! I love to bring fun into learning.
So I take it you are not Irish nor are you from Boston. st Patrick’s day is a big deal some places. Appropriate parades, corn beef dinners, and lots of green beer.
Cute craft ideas.
Great ideas!
Great ideas! My favorite is the cookie decorating….I’d make it a contest between other homeschoolers.
Great ideas! I keep forgetting this holiday is right around the corner. Those cookies look good.
I vote Yes on the cookies! I love cooking and crafting with kids! Great ideas!
Love the decorated cookies! Great suggestions for simple celebrations.
Great ideas. I love all the projects you post about. Very cute.
I love all of these cute ideas.
What cute ideas! We will have to try these!
Great ideas! This St. Pattys is going to be quite different.
I hope you enjoyed St Patrick’s Day!