St. Patrick's Day

Every St. Patrick's Day, I have a snack of green vegetables and green dip. The kids all send in a cut vegetable for dipping or pickles. It is a nice change to eat healthy during a party!
Chris Gulotta
Tallahassee, FL

St. Pat's Party Idea
Materials: green bagels, cupcakes, icing, milk, cream cheese, green food coloring, plastic knives, napkins, plates, straws(green),drink mix
Every year we celebrate St. Pat's day by having as many green foods starting with small green bagels with green cream cheese and a lemon-lime drink or green milk. For afternoon snack we put green icing on homemade cupcakes.
Sadie Wilson-Carty
Queens Village, N.Y.

St. Pats Party Idea
Materials: Green Construction paper, white poster board, glue glitter
Each St. Patrick's Day we remind the children of the origin of the holiday. They each make a shamrock with green paper, use glue glitter to write their names and then we post them on the white poster board for all of the parents to see. We remind them that the Shamrock represents the Trinity and how comforting to know that their name is surrounded by love.
Rhonda Lowther
Ridgeland, S.C.

ST.PAT'S DAY ACTIVITIES
Materials: GREEN GLITTER, PENNIES, SHAMROCK CONFETTI, GOLD COINS (CHOCOLATE)
THE WEEK BEFORE ST. PAT'S DAY, I TEACH A THEMATIC UNIT ON IRELAND AND THE HOLIDAY TRADITION. WHEN THE CHILDREN ARRIVE AT SCHOOL ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY, LEPRECHAUNS HAVE VISITED OUR CLASSROOM AND LEFT GOLD COINS AND GLITTER ON ALL THE CHILDREN'S DESKS. THEY HAVE ALSO LEFT SOMETHING IN A MESS!!! THE CLASS IS COMPLETELY DELIGHTED IN THINKING THAT THEY HAVE BE VISITED BY A "REAL" CHARACTER FROM IRELAND. LOTS OF FUN FOR K-1.
DANA CHAPPELL
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK

Get a black pot of gold and fill with gold Kisses, Rolos, or cookies. Leftover witches' cauldrons from Halloween work well.

Two weeks before St. Patrick's Day, our Kindergarteners are sent home with a letter claiming that "A Leprechaun" has been spotted running through the school. We all get excited and tell the kids to make a Leprechaun-size trap, (along with parent's helping hands) to be set up the night before St. Pat's Day. The kids then share their traps, how they work, and how they expect to "catch" the Leprechaun with the 1st grade students who come into our classroom for a special visit. We take pictures and are very interested in their traps' workings!! The first graders never ruin this idea, as they too tried to catch the Leprechaun the previous year! We then have the kids set their traps and we go home in anticipation of "who will get the Leprechaun?" The kids are so excited to see the little bits of glitter and coins that are left or coins that were taken by the Leprechaun, while he waltzed all over the traps. We paint little green footprints all over each trap, along the desks, on the floor, on the classroom glass doors and up and down the white boards! The kids go wild for a day, but it is a lot of fun. We have not had any poo-pooing from the parents either, about our little tale of the runaway Leprechaun!!