St Patrick’s day is on March 17th. It is a celebration that children may be interested in, especially if there is a local Irish community close to the school – they will certainly be celebrating!
There is an explanation of the origins of the day – who, what, when and where, as well as facts about the day itself and the celebrations one may encounter on the Duckster’s website.
There is a lovely, easy to read booklet that has been produced by HelloKids telling the history of the day. It starts by showing a picture of St Patrick and explaining what little is known from his life. This booklet goes on to explain how St Patrick’s Day became to be such a huge celebration in America!
Kidihouse.com shares a video explaining the story behind St Patrick’s Day.
There are also Irish songs with music, worksheets, craft ideas, recipes and activity ideas on this site.
HoneyNine.com has a great child friendly map of the British Isles to show where Ireland is in relation to them. It is a cartoon map full of tiny drawings such as students wearing mortar caps in University places, a guard in a box showing London, football in Manchester etc. It gives clues about the sorts of activities that can be found in different places and is certainly good for starting discussions! The map shows parts of the United Kingdom in different colours with their flags and outlying islands, that are often barely noticed, clearly marked up in squares. Even if I did not use this map for St Patrick’s day, I think it would be useful for discussions – maybe even about Brexit!! The explanations about St Patrick and his day on that page are suitable for the very young, brief with simple explanations. There are also activities and a great picture of St Patrick.