Saint Patrick’s day, celebrated on March 17th, is a celebration of Irish food, Irish Music, Leprechauns, shamrocks, Saint Patrick and all things GREEN! In this article I’m going to be sharing some fun ideas for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day outdoors with your kids so that you can enjoy a GREEN St. Patrick’s day. I’ll start with sharing a little about where St. Patrick’s Day comes from and who Saint Patrick was and then jump into my family’s favourite ways of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day outdoors and in nature.
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Who was Saint Patrick?
Saint Patrick is one of the best known saints of all time. Born in Roman Britain around the beginning of the fifth century, Saint Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery at age of sixteen. He was forced to work as a shepherd under terrible conditions for six years until his daring escape off the Irish coast. Patrick was forever changed by his time as a slave. However, instead of returning to a life of leisure as a Roman citizen he studied and became a priest. His mission was simple. He wanted to return Ireland and share his love for God with the Irish people. Saint Patrick is known to this day for his great courage and deep humility.
Miracles and Tales
There are many miracles and tales that surround Saint Patrick. One of the most popular tales is that Saint Patrick commanded snakes to leave the island by drowning themselves in the sea. Another story is that Saint Patrick used a three-leafed clover or shamrock to teach the people of Ireland about the Holy Trinity, the Christian belief that there is one God but three divine persons (Father, Son and Holy Sprit). And one unique story tells that St. Patrick and his companion transformed into wild deer to avoid being ambushed on their way to preach.
Here are a few of our favourites books about St. Patrick:
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola (ages 5-8)
St. Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons (ages 4-8)
The Story of Saint Patrick’s Day by Patricia A. Pingry (ages 3-6)
For a full list of St. Patrick’s Day and Irish themed picture books check out:
Nature-Inspired Saint Patrick’s Day Activities
Between the beauty of Ireland and the legends of Saint Patrick, there are plenty of fun nature-inspired ways to celebrate this day with kids. Here are some ideas:
Go on a St. Patrick’s Day nature scavenger hunt
Saint Patrick’s Day falls a few days before the spring equinox, the first day of spring, which make it a prefect opportunity to head outside for a nature walk. Use the scavenger hunt printable to search for early signs of spring and while keeping your eye out for a Leprechaun home and a rainbow!
Make a cardboard shamrock nature viewer
This simple idea helps children to focus on colours and textures in nature making it a fun sensory play activity. To make a cardboard nature viewer get a piece of sturdy cardboard, scissors or precision blade and a marker. Trace or draw a shamrock on your piece of cardboard and cut it out. Here’s a shamrock template. Check out my short video for step by step instructions.
Learn about snakes
According to legend, Saint Patrick banished snakes from the Emerald Isle by commanding them to slither into the sea. Interestingly, snakes never lived in Ireland after the ice age! Unfortunately, that would have left no snakes to cast away; however, it does make for an interesting tale and a fun reason to learn more about snakes.
Snakes are an important part of ecosystems. As middle-order predators, they keep natural environments and food webs working.
Nature Conservancy of Canada
Learn about snakes by visiting your local science center or nature museum. If that isn’t an option, how about taking out snake themed books from your local library. Here are a few of our favourites:
The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley and Eric Carle (age 4-6)
Snakes, Salamanders & Lizards by Diane Burns (age 7-10)
Verdi by Janell Cannon (age 4-7)
Play St. Patrick’s Day nature bingo outdoors
Similar to a scavenger hunt, play St. Patrick’s Day Nature Bingo with your friends and family while exploring nearby nature.
Grow shamrocks or three-leaf clovers
Honeybees love clover! If you have a yard try planting some clover this spring for the honeybees. Most seed suppliers sell clover but if you are located in Canada this Bees in Clover seed blend looks lovely. If you don’t have a yard, how about growing clover or shamrocks indoors. You can grow clover as a house plant! If neither of those ideas interests you, many garden centers sell potted clover around St. Patrick’s Day which is what works best for us some years.
Design a Celtic maze outside
Use sticks, pinecones, rocks, shells or anything other nature bits available make a maze outdoors in your yard or a park. This is a fun and simple activity but if you are needed inspiration check out this helpful video from Mothered Nature:
Make rainbow chalk art
St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect excuse to bring out the sidewalk chalk! Play with color by making a rainbow or if you’re feeling creative make your own liquid sidewalk chalk.
Make shamrock window transparencies
While not an outdoor activity, this is a nature-inspired activity is a fun way to decorate windows with colourful shamrock. To make these shamrock transparencies you will need six square pieces of green kite paper measuring 4 by 4 inches (10 cm), a strip for the stem and some glue. Kite paper is richly coloured wax paper and was traditionally is used to make kites. This video will show you the steps to make your own lovely shamrock window transparency.
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