Did you know that 3/17 is St. Patrick's Day? Maybe you are looking for a few simple St. Patrick's Day activities to incorporate into your classroom that day. I have the perfect ideas for you! Each of the St. Patrick's Day ideas below are easy to incorporate and include free printable St. Patrick's Day activity sheets. Scroll down to read about the activities for Saint Patrick's Day and access the free printables!
1. St. Patrick's Day Reading Activities
Use the read-alouds below to engage your students in thinking about St. Patrick's Day. May of these books can be found as a read-aloud on YouTube if you do not have access to a print copy of the book. You can ask student's to make predictions and draw conclusions about the stories. Also, have students make any personal connections or text-to-text/text-to-media connections that they can with the read-alouds.
Possible Questions to Ask:
Looking at the cover, what predictions do you have about the story? What do you think will happen?
What connections can you make to the text, or another book or movie you have seen?
What conclusions can you draw about the story?
Was there a central theme or main idea of the story? What lessons can we learn from the text?
How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace (Grades K-5)
Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman (Grades 3-5)
Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne (Grades 4-6)
2. St. Patrick's Day Writing Activities
A fun writing activity for all students, no matter which grade, is to think about how lucky they are. Have students think about things they are thankful for, whether big or small. Use the activity page below to have students answer the writing prompt "I am lucky because...".
3. St. Patrick's Day Craft
A follow-up to the writing activity is to have students cut out and decorate a paper shamrock with a few words and pictures that represent the things they are lucky to have. Shamrocks can be used to display on lockers or around your classroom to remind students of things they can be thankful for at this time of year. Click the image below for a free shamrock template.
4. St. Patrick's Day Classroom Activities
One of my favorite classroom activities takes place throughout the entire day! We call this the "Gold Coin Scavenger Hunt." I hide gold paper coins throughout the classroom and hallways that my students will walk during the day. As a student finds a coin, they collect it and keep their coins in an envelope at their desk. At the end of the day, students earn a special treat for each gold coin they find.
This is a great classroom management activity, as students need to be focused and quiet in the hallways to find coins. We set clear expectations for how to get a coin without disrupting the class. I have provided teacher directions, free gold coin printables, and an envelope template for you to easily print out and copy for each of your students. Click the image below for access!
All of the above activities for writing, the craft, and Gold Coin Scavenger Hunt can be found in this free St. Patrick's Day activity printable packet. Click HERE or the image below to access the free download now!
