A Few More Fun Ideas for St. Patrick’s Day

There’s something about St. Patrick’s Day that makes it so fun to plan activities and projects around. I don’t know if it’s the green at the time of year in the Northern Hemisphere that we really need to start seeing some green. Or it could be the fun shapes and silly characters.

Whatever the reason there are so many fun ideas for St. Patrick’s Day activities that you can do with your kids, whether at home or at school. Here are just a few more ideas (and a recap of some of the other St. Patrick’s Day posts I’ve shared recently in case you missed anything!).

Need some fun printables with a St. Patrick’s Day theme? Homemade Heather has a couple of cut mazes, a connect the dot, matching game, an art project and a silly little shamrock character that you can print and use with kids are home or at school to fill time.

Speaking of funny characters, Artsy Mama has collected a bunch of fun leprechaun projects for kids. There’s a whole range of great projects here, from printable puppets you put together to cardboard roll crafts, painting projects, handprint art and more. One of my favorites is the leprechaun finger puppet shown above from I Heart Crafty Things.

If you’re looking for more fun ideas for St. Patrick’s Day for younger kids, Little Bins for Little Hands has a great roundup of activities, projects and printables with preschoolers in mind.

Need more St. Patrick’s Day ideas? Here are some posts I’ve shared recently full of fun ideas for St. Patrick’s Day:

Games for the classroom and beyond
St. Patrick’s Day STEM and science experiments
Easy shamrock craft projects
St. Patrick’s Day printables
Shamrock themed math games
Ideas for making your own leprechaun traps

[Photo: I Heart Crafty Things.]

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Northern Lights Pastel Art Activity

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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