St Patrick's Day Ideas

Simply put St Patrick was famous for bringing Christianity to Ireland and using the shamrock to explain the Trinity.  Have fun with shamrocks, leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold and anything Irish associated with this holiday.

Here are some ideas:

Play set to print out from Family Fun--This is SUPER CUTE!  Here's the template.
Hunt for the Gold clues to print out for St Patrick's Day


Have some fun learning about leprechauns and then make up a story using this St Patrick's Day Writing paper."

A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief...The leprechauns spend all their time busily making shoes, and store away all their coins in a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If ever captured by a human, the leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their release." --From Wikipedia

More St Paddy's Day Ideas
Even more

Labor Day Kindergarten History Activities

So this week will be our second learning record meeting with the E.S. (educational specialist).  I can't believe it is that soon already.  To read about why we are meeting with an E.S. go here.  This time the focus is on math and history.  I have to provide an example of each for the E.S. to put in her portfolio.  Math is simple but to be honest I haven't really thought that much about kindergarten history. So I decided to check out my trusty What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know book.  Here the author says that, "For young children we need to emphasize the "story" in history." and that "The goal in kindergarten...is to orient the child to the past and plant the seeds of knowledge that will grow in later years." 

One thing that is usually done in kindergarten classrooms is to talk a lot about holidays that take place throughout the year.  Labor Day is the first holiday in September.  According to Fun Social Studies "Labor Day is a day of celebration to pay tribute to the working people."


I think we'll talk about when it was first celebrated, 1882, 129 years ago.  I'll write the number so Katie can see it and then I'll write how old she is and maybe how old Daddy and Grandpa are.  Then we'll see if she can say who or what is oldest.  (This should be easy for her.)  As suggested by other kindergarten teachers and bloggers I think I will take this opportunity to talk about some of the different jobs people in our community have.

We read most of a biography about George Washington and later watched/ sang this song about coins on youtube. 

Next I think we'll do a listen and read activity on scholastic.  She can learn about 8 different occupations but I'll maybe just choose a few or have her choose.  There are also 10 American history listen and read books on the same site.  I think I may have her listen and read about what a president does and then tie in Teddy Bear Day, September 9. (Who knew there was an actual Teddy Bear day?)  Where is the tie in?  Well you probably already know that Teddy Bears were named after our president Theodore Roosevelt. The story goes that in 1902 President Roosevelt went on bear hunt and refused to shoot a small bear.  A toymaker saw a cartoonist's depiction of the event and created “Teddy’s Bear.”




Finally I think I'll have my kids go on their own "bear hunt" by having them find 10-20 teddy grahams, counting them and putting them on a numbered chart before they can eat them.  I could have Katie read clues like I did another time to find them if I have the time to set it up.

How bout you?  Have you done any fun History lessons with your kindergartener.  Feel free to leave a comment below.

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For the portfolio I ended up having Katie color a picture of George Washington and doing a crayon rubbing of a quarter.

St Patrick's Day!

We did some pre St. Patrick's Day activities today since I don't know if I'll have time to do them tomorrow.

My 4.5 year old did this cute leprechaun hat worksheet.
She traced the hat, colored, cut out the shapes and pasted them onto the hat.  To make it a little more interesting I wrote surprise messages or designs in each shape using white crayon. When she colored the shapes the surprise "magically" appeared.

Leprechauns are little Irish fairies. A leprechaun looks like a small old man about 2 feet tall. He dresses like a shoemaker, wears a hat and an apron.
Leprechauns are believed to be aloof and unfriendly. They live alone, making shoes for other fairies. According to legend, the leprechaun posses a hidden pot of gold. You can track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker's hammer. If you can catch him, you can force him to tell the whereabouts of his pot of gold. However, you must be careful. You must keep your eye on him every second. If not, the leprechaun will trick you and disappear. Your hopes of find his pot of gold vanishes with him.
Have you ever wondered what is at the end of a rainbow ? Well, legend has it that the leprechaun's pot of gold is hidden at the end of the rainbow !!



My daughter also colored and cut out a blank Ireland flag.  From left to right the colors are Green, White and Orange. She then cut the flag out and we taped it to a stick.