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

If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.

The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.

The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.

The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).

Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.

The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.

Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.

This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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