This is a question we have asked ourselves about many activities over the last year. It’s an ongoing challenge. However, we are getting better at it and learning new things about virtual learning all the time. Here are some St. Patrick’s Day activities that you can implement with your virtual learning students that will be fun and educationally beneficial.

Irish Literature

There is an abundance of excellent Irish literature for all ages of students including books about Ireland, Irish folktales, and books by Irish authors. For K-5 students, a good book to start with is This is Ireland by Miroslav Sasek. (By the way, Sasek has a whole series of “This is…” books that are great for introducing different countries and cities around the world!). Then, delve into the Irish culture by reading versions of folktales and Leprechaun tales. For older students, middle and high school, it would be appropriate to choose some Irish authors or poets to study.

Virtual Field Trip

Take a virtual field trip to Ireland with your virtual learners! A lesson focused on Ireland allows the opportunity to teach geography and multicultural studies together. After spending some time introducing the culture of Ireland, find the country on the world map. Next, find some locations that you can tour virtually with your students. This would be a time to look at the landscape and natural beauty of the country. You could also find some historical sights to tour as well.

Scavenger Hunt

A fun activity would be to have a scavenger hunt with your virtual learning students. This could be a bell-ringer type activity, just to get the day started on a light and fun note. Ask your students to find something green. Have them find something with rainbow colors. Tell them to go find a pot like the leprechaun uses for his gold. The possibilities are endless.

You could also have them find answers to St. Patrick’s Day riddles to see who could come up with the answers first. Or have them write down their answers and assign points for each correct answer. Students could then add up their points to determine a winner, incorporating math into the fun!

Culture and History of Ireland

There are many options when it comes to stories about Ireland, both fiction and non-fiction. However, there is one that can be used in most elementary/middle school grade levels. The Magic Treehouse book series by Mary Pope Osborne has a fiction book called Leprechaun in Late Winter. This a fun fictional story that older students can read as part of a book study or it can be read aloud to younger students.

There is also a companion non-fiction “Fact Tracker” book called Leprechauns and Irish Folklore. This book would be excellent to bring the fictional book into reality, helping students distinguish what is real and what is folklore. These books are also an excellent source for elementary students to use for researching topics regarding Ireland. Students could use the information found in this book to write a report and present to the class, virtually.

Leprechaun Fun

The STEM activity for creating a leprechaun trap may not have the same effect with virtual learners, K-5. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t have some leprechaun fun. A great activity is directed drawing. I do a content/theme-related directed drawing weekly. I begin with a Leprechaun directed drawing like one found here. You start with the face and add details, moving very slowly, until the leprechaun is complete. Older students’ drawings will generally be better than those of younger students; however, while they may not be perfect, they always turn out very cute, regardless of age.

Afterward, model writing a fun leprechaun story for your virtual students. Then, give them a leprechaun writing prompt such as “A sneaky leprechaun came into our classroom last night and caused all kinds of trouble. Write a story about what he did” or “write a story about catching a leprechaun”. Then let students work independently. Completing the art first can inspire students for the writing activity. On your next virtual meeting, let them share their drawings and stories with the class.

Fun with Lucky Charms

This one will take some advance planning and parent cooperation, but if it suits you and your group of virtual learners, have parents buy a box of Lucky Charms cereal to have at home to use on St. Patrick’s Day for math activities. If students/parents are unable to get this, you can deliver a portion in a baggie into mailboxes if the parents are ok with it. If you can make it work, each student should have their own portion of cereal. Students then use a bar graph to show how many marshmallows they have. You can also give each marshmallow type a point value and have students calculate the total point value of their marshmallows. Don’t be afraid to get creative with this!

Physical Activity

We know the benefits of physical activity and brain breaks. On St. Patrick’s Day, incorporate some movement. Maybe try some St. Patrick’s Day-themed games or exercises that can be done virtually. Or even better, incorporate some Irish culture and pull up a simple instructional videos for Irish dancing and let students have fun with that while enjoying Irish music and some exercise at the same time.

While our virtual learning environments are very different than our in-person learning environments, we can still put together some St. Patrick’s Day activities that all students can enjoy!

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Well, to prevent the mad dash to the copier, here are some St. Patrick’s Day lessons and activities that you can prepare in advance that your students are sure to enjoy.

Leprechaun Adventure

Students of all ages enjoy some leprechaun fun on St. Patrick’s Day. One of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids to do is a directed drawing. I do a content/theme-related directed drawing once a week. Students in kindergarten love this just as much as those in fifth grade and higher.

For St. Patrick’s Day, I like to start with a leprechaun directed drawing like the one found on First and Kinder Blue Skies. You start with the face and add details, one at a time, moving very slowly, until the leprechaun is complete. Of course, a leprechaun completed by older students will generally be neater and more detailed than those completed by younger students. However, while the drawings may not be perfect, they always turn out very cute regardless of the age of the student.

This directed drawing is a great prompt for a St. Patrick’s Day writing activity. Give students a prompt like: “A sneaky leprechaun came into our classroom last night and caused all kinds of trouble. Write a story about what he did,” or “Write a story about catching a leprechaun.” I find that doing the art first really helps to inspire the students for the writing activity.

Multicultural Studies – Ireland

Focusing a lesson around Ireland gives you the opportunity to teach geography and multicultural studies. You can begin by discussing the origin of St. Patrick’s Day. Then find Ireland on the world map.

From there, it’s fun to show students a clip of some people speaking with an Irish accent. Students can learn some common Irish phrases. Incorporate art by having students make the nation’s flag. You can also try some classic Irish dishes like Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes), barm brack, or other great dishes.

This type of lesson can be easily adapted to different grade levels. You can go as deep or as shallow as you would like with this study.

Leprechaun STEM

A great way to incorporate a STEM activity on St. Patrick’s Day is to have students create a leprechaun trap. While leprechaun traps aren’t exactly a new idea, you can put a slight twist on it and turn it into a very effective STEM lesson. This is another activity that you can use with various grade levels.

For younger students, it’s great to start with the book How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace. After reading the intro, put students into groups. Give each group the same supplies. You can choose what materials you want to use. Some ideas to consider are pieces of cardboard, cardstock, paperclips, duct tape, pencils, straws, rubber bands, etc. Give them a time limit, and at the end of that time let each group demonstrate to show the effectiveness of their trap. Make it even more fun by awarding prizes to the groups that are successful!

Rainbow Science

Since the leprechaun’s pot of gold is always at the end of the rainbow, try some rainbow science activities on St. Patrick’s Day! Try creating light patterns on a CD, exploring light with a prism, color mixing, and light refraction.

Irish Literature

What better way to focus on another country’s literary heritage than to focus on books about Ireland, Irish folktales, and books by Irish authors. For younger students in grades K-5, a great book to start with is This is Ireland by Miroslav Sasek. Then, dive right into the culture by reading some Irish versions of folktales and leprechaun tales. For older students in middle and high school, it would be appropriate to choose some Irish authors or poets to study, such as Oscar Wilde or William Butler Yeats.

St. Patrick’s Day Math

This is a fantastic St. Patrick’s Day activity for elementary students. Get some Lucky Charms cereal and let the math fun begin! Give each student a portion of cereal. Students can then complete a bar graph, graphing how many of each marshmallow they have.

Another activity is to assign each type of marshmallow with a point value. Then give students their portion of cereal for which they have to calculate their point value. You can get creative with this and come up with at least half a day filled with Lucky Charms math fun!

Physical Activity for St. Patrick’s Day

We know the profound benefits of physical activity and brain breaks for students. On St. Patrick’s Day, take some time to incorporate some movement. Begin by hiding construction paper 4-leaf clovers with point values on the back throughout the halls or outside, if weather permits. Have students hunt the clovers and add up their point value to determine who won. You can also try some St. Patrick’s Day games in gym or outside to make sure students get their required exercise for the day.

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STEM is education for students that concentrates on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It has even evolved to STEAM, which includes art education. This approach to education combines multiple disciplines and is applied in its nature. STEM activities provide students with opportunities for critical and design thinking, as well as helps to develop observation skills. Additionally, it helps students to develop coping skills as they must follow the engineering design process, and when one design fails, they must create a new one. With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, here are some easy STEM activities you can try in your class.

St. Patrick’s Day STEM Activities for Kids

Fizzing Rainbow Pot

St. Patrick’s Day activities can be fun and educational. For this activity, students can use basic chemistry to create a rainbow pot full of fizzing color. Simply use a small black pot (you can probably find this at the Dollar Store), and fill it with baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring for a fun, rainbow explosion! If you are really daring, you can add glitter into the mixture or even put a gold coin in it for a surprise!

Rainbow or Shamrock Crystals

Students can use a few simple ingredients to create rainbow or shamrock crystals. To create a rainbow crystal, students can use pipe cleaners to create a rainbow and then put the rainbow in a container of boiling water and Borax mixture. Leave the pipe cleaner rainbow in the mixture for twenty-four hours and the crystals will form around the rainbow. You can do something similar for a shamrock crystal, but you may even find a plastic Shamrock cutout and use that to create a shamrock crystal.

Rainbow in a Jar

You can use water, food coloring, salt or sugar, a dropper, and a thin tube or straw to complete this activity. In various plastic cups you can make different salt/sugar water solutions with different densities. Use the same amount of water in each cup, but make one cup with no salt/sugar, one with 2 scoops of salt/sugar, one with 5 scoops, and one with 8 scoops. Stir until the solute is fully dissolved and add food coloring. Use a dropper to layer the solutions in a straw with the densest solution on the bottom.

To add another twist, create the solutions for the students and have them determine the densities of the solutions by layering them properly. Students can keep track on a data sheet to determine the correct order to make a rainbow with colors separated and solutions layered according to density.

Green Carnations

Another simple STEM activity is to create a solution of water and green food coloring in a jar and place a white carnation into the jar. As the carnation naturally absorbs water from the jar through its stem, the white petals will turn green and be a pretty gift for students to bring home and show off their STEM skills!

St. Patrick’s Day Slime

A favorite among the children! In order to make this, you need the following ingredients: half a teaspoon of baking soda, green food coloring, 3 cups of shaving cream foam, half a cup of white PVA glue, 1 tablespoon of saline solution, glitter, a mixing spoon, and a large bowl to mix it in!

Put the shaving cream, glue, and food coloring in first and stir; then stir in the baking soda; finally, mix in the saline solution until the slime pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You should continue to knead the slime to create the right consistency, and this is where you can add in glitter to jazz it up! The more food coloring you add in step one, the greener your slime will be!

Leprechaun Gold

You will need dull and old pennies, white vinegar, salt, two bowls, and paper towels. You need to fill one bowl with ¼ cup of vinegar and a teaspoon of salt and the other with water. Place pennies in the vinegar solution and let sit for about 15-20 seconds. When you remove these pennies, rinse them off in the second bowl full of water, and then lay them on a paper towel to dry.

Take a second set of pennies and place them in the vinegar solution, and remove them and place immediately on a separate paper towel. You will see that the unrinsed pennies will develop a blue-green film as the copper atoms from the penny combine with the chlorine from the salt and oxygen from the air to form malachite. This is what makes the Statue of Liberty have its “green” color. It creates a teachable moment and allows you to integrate some social studies into your lesson, too!

Gold Coin Catapult

You can use popsicle sticks, rubber bands, bottle caps, and glue to create catapults to launch the gold coins at the end of the rainbow! Students can work to create the catapult that will launch the coins the farthest. Coins are loaded into the bottle cap and launched off the popsicle stick and rubber band catapult you create. You can then incorporate measurement into your lesson to see whose catapult has the most power and launches the coins the farthest.

STEM activities require students to use critical thinking skills, problem solve, and think outside-of-the-box. The activities are hands-on and require students to use inquiry skills. Many of the activities mentioned above are simple and require little set-up. There are many great resources online to find STEM activities. All the activities mentioned above are projects that I or a fellow educator have tried in combination with ideas found on Little Bins for Little Hands.

Also, the STEM activities align with many of the new NGSS standards. As Albert Einstein stated, “If you’ve never failed, then you’ve never tried anything new.” STEM requires students to design and redesign different ideas. A design that is a failure is one step closer to the solution.

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