St Patrick's Day

[908874]

I'm not Irish, not even a little bit. But my mother in law is Irish. She sent the kids some St Patrick's day stickers. She lives on the other side of the country :( and I would love to teach the kids a bit about what it means to be part Irish and so on. I have to because when he saw the stickers he asked if St Patrick was the guy on the box of Lucky Charms lol

Of course, I've googled... So far I'm thinking that even though we are not religious, I used to be Catholic, and so I will explain what a saint is and read the story of St Patrick. Find Ireland on the map...

I was wondering if you guys did something interesting with the kids or had ideas other than just making a craft with the stickers?

My son is K5 and my DD turns 4 the day before St Patrick's day and I'd like to include her in whatever we do/read if she will stay lol.

 

Edit to add that I just found a movie and other items about St Patrick's day on BrainPop. Just in case someone is also looking...

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Edited March 11, 2016 by 908874

[wintermom]

My dh's grandfather was born in Ireland, so I've done my best to introduce some Irish history into their childhood education. St. Patrick's Day is a good starting place. The story of St. Patrick is really quite fascinating. There is a really fun little animation about St. Patrick done on one of the VeggieTales episodes. You may be able to find it on youtube. Maybe you can find a nice, short travel video of Ireland to show the kids, so they can picture the landscape with its vivid green fields, and hear an Irish accent. 

 

As far as activities go, we've done crafty things with stickers, coloured food and drinks green (pancakes made with white flour work good), cupcakes/cookies with green icing is fun. You could try making a traditional Irish meal. The book series by Patrick Taylor, Irish Country Doctor, has different recipes in the back of each book of typical Irish food. There is also a glossary of Irish and Gaelic expressions used in Northern and Southern Ireland today, and what they mean in American/Canadian English. He is currently living in Canada, so he writes this glossary for North American audiences. You can find these books in the library.

 

Irish music is also really fun to listen to. There is a Canadian group called The Rovers (used to be The Irish Rovers), who have a bunch of their old TV episodes on youtube. The show was geared for families and children. They play traditional instruments and talk about the little people - leprechauns and such.

 

Have fun!

Edited March 11, 2016 by wintermom

[ikslo]

I immediately thought VeggieTales as well.

[Alessandra]

When my kids were that age, we went to an Irish pub that had bagpipes, Irish dancing, Irish food, and lines out the door. We went as soon as it opened, about 5 pm. A picture book would be nice too.

 

Now that kids are older, we read about St Patrick in the Episcopalian service book, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, which I believe is online for free. We have corned beef, cabbage, soda bread, and Irish whisky cake. I know corned beef is American. We are not Irish, btw.

 

Oh, I almost forgot parades!!!

Edited March 11, 2016 by Alessandra

[Loowit]

We have Irish ancestor on both sides of the family, but especially on DH's who's grandfather is first generation American from Ireland.  DH's dad has kept in contact with relatives in Ireland, so the kids have met them via skype and such.

 

For St. Patrick's day when they were younger we read the story of St. Patrick.  Every year I cook both traditional Irish recipes and Irish-American ones.  We listen to Irish music also.

[Alessandra]

We have Irish ancestor on both sides of the family, but especially on DH's who's grandfather is first generation American from Ireland. DH's dad has kept in contact with relatives in Ireland, so the kids have met them via skype and such.

 

For St. Patrick's day when they were younger we read the story of St. Patrick. Every year I cook both traditional Irish recipes and Irish-American ones. We listen to Irish music also.

Oh, yes. My kids loved Irish music. Nothing sophisticated. The cd was called St Patrick's day music or something like that. Edited March 11, 2016 by Alessandra

[Rachel]

Our library has a cute picture book titled something along the lines of The Last Snake in Ireland (not sure the exact title).  We are not (very much) Irish or Catholic, but it was a cute story.  You may want to see if your library has any books about St. Patrick.

[fdrinca]

DH's family is Irish, so I feel an obligation to celebrate. What has been fun in the past:

Having kids pop lots of long balloons (snakes) to rid Ireland of snakes. This gets a little mixed up with the pied piper and whacking day from The Simpsons, but it is fun and kinesthetic.

 

I spray painted a bunch of pennies gold, and the kids have to find them.

 

We study rainbows and make rainbow art.

 

We are Catholic, so we study Patrick as a holy person of God.

 

I tried making corned beef and cabbage one year...nope. We go with lots of potatoes and soda bread. I'm going to introduce the ideas of monocrops and Giffin goods this year.

 

But the think my kids love the most (even the one who is almost 9) is the fact that leprechauns visit our house. We know they have come because they make mischief and a mess, they use our toilet (green food coloring, hugely impressive), and they leave their special cereal behind.

 

I'll add the caveat that we do not follow secular traditions for Easter or Christmas, so St Patrick's Day is a fun time for us to get that sort of magical silliness inot our family life.

[908874]

Wow that does sound fun (the green toilet) which is a bit like the Christmas elf. I also like the ballon idea. Now I need to know why Ireland needs to rid itself of snakes. And the music! Got to talk about that and the tap dancers.

 

Will try the library for books on St Patrick and Google for the veggie tales

Video.

 

You all have great ideas! I think we are going to have some fun. My husband already made a face when I asked if it would be fine if I made corn beef, potatoes and cabbage. We'll stick with fun green foods like green cookies and kale chips. Baked potatoes topped with green pesto! Yum lol Not Irish but green.

 

 

 

 

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[tm919]

My daughters (about the same age as your two) attend a Montessori part-time and St. Patrick's day is almost their favorite holiday at school. Things I know they talk about include: legends of how it came to be,the potato famine (at home this led to an interesting discussion of genetic clones / lack of genetic diversity in crops-- like bananas -- and how this can lead to problems, there's a good video on bananas out there), and Aran family sweaters & county tartans. They do some  knitting and can identify different stitches. One of their teachers was a competitive step dancer in the past so she gives a lesson on step dancing.

Edited March 11, 2016 by tm919

[Rachel]

Wow that does sound fun (the green toilet) which is a bit like the Christmas elf. I also like the ballon idea. Now I need to know why Ireland needs to rid itself of snakes. And the music! Got to talk about that and the tap dancers.

 

Will try the library for books on St Patrick and Google for the veggie tales

Video.

 

You all have great ideas! I think we are going to have some fun. My husband already made a face when I asked if it would be fine if I made corn beef, potatoes and cabbage. We'll stick with fun green foods like green cookies and kale chips. Baked potatoes topped with green pesto! Yum lol Not Irish but green.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Soda bread is easy to make too if you want do do something traditionally Irish. There are tons of recipes out there.

[Sahamamama]

I'm not Irish, not even a little bit. But my mother in law is Irish. She sent the kids some St Patrick's day stickers. She lives on the other side of the country :( and I would love to teach the kids a bit about what it means to be part Irish and so on. I have to because when he saw the stickers he asked if St Patrick was the guy on the box of Lucky Charms lol

 

Of course, I've googled... So far I'm thinking that even though we are not religious, I used to be Catholic, and so I will explain what a saint is and read the story of St Patrick. Find Ireland on the map...

 

I was wondering if you guys did something interesting with the kids or had ideas other than just making a craft with the stickers?

 

My son is K5 and my DD turns 4 the day before St Patrick's day and I'd like to include her in whatever we do/read if she will stay lol.

 

Edit to add that I just found a movie and other items about St Patrick's day on BrainPop. Just in case someone is also looking...

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Could you Skype your mother in law? Ask her beforehand to explain some of what "being Irish" means to her?

 

Things I might do with 4 and 5 year olds:

• Read Tomie Depaola's book, Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland -- you might want to pre-read this book; Saint Patrick's early life was difficult (he was kidnapped and made a slave). But this book is well-written and I think just right for those ages, if you know ahead of time what you want to read and how/if you will edit it.
• You might want to read a story about leprechauns and explain the concept of the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." We made a cute craft a few years back -- we put stickers on the outside of green party cups, then filled the cups with Hershey kisses (the kind wrapped in gold foil). Then we stuck colored pipe cleaners (in rainbow order) from one side of the cup to the other, so they made a rainbow arc. Easy and adorable. And you could put goldfish crackers or another snack in there, instead of candy.
• Possibly wear green, white, and orange (flag colors of the Republic of Ireland); but check with your mother in law on this (I think it's an Irish-American thing, and I'm not sure of the etiquette surrounding which color or colors to wear). You might mention to your kids that "Ireland" usually refers to the Republic of Ireland (5/6ths of the island), while Northern Ireland is politically separate and part of the UK. Locate on a map where your MIL is from.
• Check your library for books about Ireland and ask the children's librarian for recommendations for Saint Patrick's Day. There might even be a story time already planned, along with a craft.
• See if your library has CDs of Irish music, and listen to some. Dance a jig. ;) You could do an internet search and bookmark some Irish dancing videos (e.g., Riverdance).
• Ask your husband or mother in law for some recipes and meal ideas, and see if there are any you feel you would be interested in making. An Irish supper on Saint Patrick's Day could be fun!
• Some cities have parades; perhaps you could watch part of one on the Internet or television
• If you don't already have Irish names, choose some for the day
• Eat Lucky Charms for breakfast! :)

[maize]

Watch some Irish dancing!

 

Google irish dance schools in your area, call them up, and ask if they are doing any performances you can come to. Most schools have lots going on around St. Patrick's day.

 

My kids will be in the local St. Patrick's day parade and siamsa tomorrow.

[Starr]

Make Irish Soda Bread!

 

[bolt.]

We have green shamrock pancakes. Just food colouring in the batter and poured as 3 slightly touching circles with a teaspoon.

[GailV]

Wow that does sound fun (the green toilet) which is a bit like the Christmas elf. I also like the ballon idea. Now I need to know why Ireland needs to rid itself of snakes. And the music! Got to talk about that and the tap dancers.

 

 

Not to be a stickler, but they aren't tap dancers.  Both tap dancers and Irish Dancers would be appalled.  The shoes are quite different, and the moves are different. (My daughters have been heavily involved in both.)  Irish Dance also has quite a bit of soft shoe which is more akin to ballet.

[FloridaLisa]

For a long time, we missed the significance of St. Patrick's Day. We just kind of defaulted to the cultural wearin o the green, corned beef and cabbage. But a few years ago, I was cleaning out some bookshelves and found a book on St. Patrick I'd shelved and we'd never read. I got curious and started leafing through it and read the whole thing right then and there. :) B/c that's one of the effects of book shelf cleaning. 

 

Here's a post with some You Tube videos that we've watched and some books we've read, as well as a website with some of St. Patrick's original writing and art through the ages that depicts him. 

 

St Patrick's Day resources

 

We're Irish and Christian so I've tried to be more intentional about recognizing the real St. Patrick. 

[Chris in VA]

Wow that does sound fun (the green toilet) which is a bit like the Christmas elf. I also like the ballon idea. Now I need to know why Ireland needs to rid itself of snakes. And the music! Got to talk about that and the tap dancers.

 

Will try the library for books on St Patrick and Google for the veggie tales

Video.

 

You all have great ideas! I think we are going to have some fun. My husband already made a face when I asked if it would be fine if I made corn beef, potatoes and cabbage. We'll stick with fun green foods like green cookies and kale chips. Baked potatoes topped with green pesto! Yum lol Not Irish but green.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have heard that there are no snakes native to Ireland. What the legend says about ridding the island of snakes is really a metaphor--St. Paddy brought the Gospel to Ireland, and the "snake" refers to Satan.

Don't know if that holds water, but it's one explanation out there!

 

[El...]

If you want something neat and enriching for yourself, you might check out this poem, Deer's Cry, which is attributed to St. Patrick.  The second poem on this page is funny.  http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Poetry/StPatrick.html

[tm919]

I have heard that there are no snakes native to Ireland. What the legend says about ridding the island of snakes is really a metaphor--St. Paddy brought the Gospel to Ireland, and the "snake" refers to Satan.

Don't know if that holds water, but it's one explanation out there!

 

I'd heard for many years that the snakes were  druids... there's hardly a less likely place to do battle with a horde of non-metaphorical snakes than in Ireland. But the story of the snakes didn't appear until much later than most other stories -- if it is about the druids then it was a later reconstruction. For my kids, I'd probably put this in the category of the George Washington + the Cherry tree story... it was a later invention that was literally false but was used to communicate something that earlier generations thought worthwhile (less generously, we could call those "lies"... Personally I don't think of them as lies.).

Edited March 13, 2016 by tm919

[Chris in VA]

Oh--THere's also the hymn, St. Patrick's Breastplate. It's attributed (the lyrics) to St. P. We sing it from time to time at my Episcopal church, and it's frequently used in ordination.

Here's a long but pretty version.

[908874]

Not to be a stickler, but they aren't tap dancers.  Both tap dancers and Irish Dancers would be appalled.  The shoes are quite different, and the moves are different. (My daughters have been heavily involved in both.)  Irish Dance also has quite a bit of soft shoe which is more akin to ballet.

 

 

Sorry! Good to know :) I am certainly learning.

 

People always say crazy ignorant things about my heritage. My gaffe is certainly a good one for me to remember the next time someone asks me something silly.

 

I just asked my husband - he didn't know this either. 

Edited March 13, 2016 by 908874

[maize]

This year is the 100 year anniversary of the Easter Rising if you want to add in some history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Rising

[wintermom]

Not to be a stickler, but they aren't tap dancers.  Both tap dancers and Irish Dancers would be appalled.  The shoes are quite different, and the moves are different. (My daughters have been heavily involved in both.)  Irish Dance also has quite a bit of soft shoe which is more akin to ballet.

 

Here's an example of Celtic fiddle music and dancing. Very popular on the East Coast of Canada. This is Natalie MacMaster and family.

 

Edited March 13, 2016 by wintermom

[maize]

Here's an example of Celtic fiddle music and dancing. Very popular on the East Coast of Canada. This is Natalie MacMaster and family.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXqKsbRV_eE

Very cute kids.

 

The dancing looks more like clogging to me than irish step dancing. They share the same roots but have developed differently.

Edited March 13, 2016 by maize

[maize]

Here's an irish hard shoe sample: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2-0B4eZkzf4

[wintermom]

Very cute kids.

 

The dancing looks more like clogging to me than irish step dancing. They share the same roots but have developed differently.

 

Leaving Ireland to live in Canada a few hundred years ago would be a good reason for a dance style to develop differently. ;)

[Tsuga]

We aren't even Irish but we listen to old and current Irish music, talk about the history, and make Irish soda bread if we have time. At this point I really want my kids to appreciate all the cultures that have come into modern American culture and Irish is a big one.

 

If I showed my kids the dancing they'd want to do it and there would be no end to the begging. Pleeeease mom I promise I'll still have time for music!

[wintermom]

We aren't even Irish but we listen to old and current Irish music, talk about the history, and make Irish soda bread if we have time. At this point I really want my kids to appreciate all the cultures that have come into modern American culture and Irish is a big one.

 

If I showed my kids the dancing they'd want to do it and there would be no end to the begging. Pleeeease mom I promise I'll still have time for music!

 

It's not just kids that get into this style of dancing. At a Canadian Maritime celtic music and dance party everyone gets into the step dancing, and the more you drink the more confident you get! ;)

Edited March 15, 2016 by wintermom

[Tsuga]

Hah! Tell me about it. We see it every year live.

 

Speaking of music: the Pogues' thousands are sailing:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYkKpii1kc

 

Did you work on the railroads? Did you rid the streets of crime?

[Incognito]

We've memorized some Irish blessings I've found online.  

 

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, 

and my trouble avoid you wherever you go!

 

:)