I found two similar activities that allow the flexibility to teach multiple children in different grade levels at the same time. Homeschooling is always more fun when everyone can participate and learn together.
I found the lessons below at Mom on Deals and No Time for Flash Cards. We used the basic themes and tweaked them to work for our educational needs.
Learning rainbow
Supplies:
- Small cardboard snack box or cereal box
- Construction paper in various colors
- Markers
- Scissors
- Glue or tape
Directions:
- Cut a half circle toward the top of your box, allowing enough room to make a rainbow above the half circle.
- Have your child cut out or color a black pot, a rainbow and 2 clovers.
- Once the items are cut out of the construction paper, they can be glued or taped to the box to form a rainbow that sits above the half circle.
- The black pot will sit below the opening of the half circle so that coins can go "into the pot."
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Fun Fact:
Fun Fact:According to Irish tradition, the shamrock or three-leaf clover represents the Holy Trinity — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. When a four-leaf clover is found, it represents God's grace.
Learning clovers
Supplies:
- Colored craft sticks (wooden or foam)
- Card stock
- 3 clovers cut out of card stock or foam
- Pencil for tracing
- Scissors
Directions:
- Mark the numbers 1, 2 and 3 on the clovers.
- You can teach a simple syllable game by clapping out St. Patrick's Day vocabulary words and matching them to the correct syllable clover.
- Words with 1 syllable will go with the number 1 clover, and so on. You can also write math problems on the colored sticks and have your child match the correct math problem to the correct answer on the clovers.
Use these crafts to teach multiple subjects
Math
Both crafts can be used for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. With the learning clovers you can write math problems on the colored sticks and match them to the correct answer on the clover. Use the learning rainbow in much the same way by matching the correct problem and answer on the coins. Once the coins have been matched, they can go into the golden pot.
Vocabulary / language arts / history
Learning rainbow: Label the coins with vocabulary words about St. Patrick's Day and the history of Ireland. You can throw the coins on the ground and have the children take turns picking up the coins and giving a definition of the word on their coin, as well as using the word in a sentence. Get the creative juices flowing and have children tell a story with the coins they pick up. You can start a short story about St. Patrick or Ireland and each child will continue making up the story with facts as each coin is picked up. The child with the last coin will end the story. You can also try a rhyme game with younger children by matching words that rhyme and then putting them in the gold pot.
Learning clovers: You can try the above games in much the same way with the colored sticks. The three clovers are the perfect set up to teach syllables. Match the syllables in each word to the correct clovers 1, 2 and 3.
St. Patrick's Day Vocabulary Words
- apostle
- bagpipe
- bishop
- blarney
- clover
- fiddle
- Gaels
- horseshoe
- Ireland
- jig
- legend
- leprechaun
- missionary
- Scotland
- shamrock
- snake
- St. Patrick
Memory game
Create a memory game with vocabulary words or St. Patrick's Day stickers on the coins. Place coins face down and have your child find the matching words or pictures by flipping the coins over, one at a time, and finding matching pairs. When a matching pair is found, they place the pair in the golden pot and continue until all of the coins are in the pot.
Science
Study the newfound science behind the four-leaf clover. Learn what a rainbow is and how they form. Learn about the seven colors found in a rainbow as well as prisms and white light.
The best part about these crafts is the many ways you can incorporate fun, hands-on, educational lessons that will feel much more like playing than learning.
Fun Fact:
Rainbows occur when water droplets scatter white light rays from the sun into their component colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
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tell Us:
What activities or lessons do you use to teach your children about St. Patrick's Day?
More St. Patrick's Day activities
St. Patrick's Day crafts for kids
Test your St. Patrick's Day history knowledge
Shamrocks and St. Patrick's Day