30 St. Patrick's Day Activities for Kids

St. Patrick's Day is a fun day when everyone wears something green and pretends to be Irish.  If you don't wear something green, even if it's a green clover made from construction paper pinned to your shirt, you get pinched by everyone who notices that you didn't wear green.  Well, at least that was the case when I was growing up.  Today, we have Pinterest to show us all sorts of creative ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day anyway?  Wasn't he some Irish guy?  Who was St. Patrick?

You know what?  St. Patrick wasn't even Irish.  According to Christianity Today, he was from Dumbarton, Scotland, a place just northwest of Glasgow.  (By the way, I have had the privilege of visiting Glasgow.  I'll have to tell you about it sometime.  It is absolutely beautiful!)  Anyway, St. Patrick was Scottish, not Irish . . . or was he?  According to the Irish Geneology Toolkit, he could have been born in England or Wales.  They say no one really knows.   One thing historians agree on is that he is credited for bringing Christianity to the Irish.

When St. Patrick was 16 years old, he was captured and enslaved in Ireland.  Eventually, he returned to Scotland, but when St. Patrick was in his 40s, he returned to Ireland as a missionary in response to a vision.  He was successful in bringing Christianity to Ireland. 

Read more about St. Patrick at DLTK's Growing Together and Franciscan Media.

We can learn more about the character of St. Patrick by reading quotes credited to him.

“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”
― Saint Patrick

“I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.”― Saint Patrick (This Quote is taken from The Confession of St. Patrick (Confessions of St. Patrick):  With the Tripartite Life, and Epistle to the Soldiers of Coroticus

If you'd like to read St. Patrick's book, you can!   You can get it here.

This item is available here.

“Each and all shall render account for even our smallest sins before the judgement seat of Christ the Lord.” ― St. Patrick, The Confession of Saint Patrick

Even if St. Patrick was Scottish or English rather than American, he was obviously a man of wisdom who returned to the land of his slavery to lead the Irish to Christ.  I think that's plenty reason enough to celebrate a day in his honor.

Here's the fun part.

Image Credit:  Collage of Various St. Patrick's Day Images in this Post - Created in Picmonkey

 30 Fun Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Kids.

1.  Color Mixing Shamrock by Crafts on Sea

2.  Enjoy St. Patrick's Day Science Activities by Growing a Jeweled Rose

3.  Beaded Shamrocks by A Little Craft in Your Day

4.  Ice Play by Fun at Home with Kids

5.  Biblical St. Patrick's Day Crafts, Printables, and Activities from Faith and Food for Busy Moms

6.  Printable Word Search from The Typical Mom

7.  Bible Verse Coloring from The Crafty Classroom

8.  Bible Lessons from Growing Kids Ministry

9.  S.T.E.M. Activities from Schooling Active Monkeys

10.  Make a St. Patrick's Day Mini Book by Made by Teachers

 

11.  Coding and Graphics for Preschoolers by Sixth Bloom

12.  Bible Printables from Christian Preschool Printables

13.  St. Patrick's Day song by KBound Blog

14.  Centers and Activities from Pocket of Preschool

15.  St. Patrick's Day Bingo from Drag Drop Learning Games (only $4.00 in this Teachers Pay Teachers store!)

16.  Counting Activity from 123Homeschool4Me

17.  Pre-K Pack from Over the Big Moon

18.  Gross Motor Clover Hop from Pink Oatmeal

19.  7 Verses for a Christ Centered St. Patrick's Day from Awefilled Homemaker

20.   21 St. Patrick's Day Books for Little Learners from Pocket of Preschool

21.  Shaving Cream Sensory Play Coin Hunt from Little Bins for Little Hands

22.  Songs for Kids from PreKinders 

23.  Dot Activity Printables from The Resourceful Mama 

24.  Play-Doh Counting Cards from The Best Ideas for Kids 

25.  Green Glitter Playdough from A Mom's Impression

26.  Craft Stick Leprechan Hats from The Resourceful Mama

27.  Shamrock Suncatcher by There's Just One Mommy

28.  Handprint Rainbow Art by CraftRiver

29.  Marble Painted Shamrocks by Plain Vanilla Mom

30.  Mosaic Paper Shamrocks by Happiness is Homemade 

Since Sping is only a few days away, you might also like this cute coffee filter flower wall hanging planter.