8 St. Patrick’s Day Ideas for Kindergarten
Do you love breaking out your green around St. Patrick's Day? This holiday is such a great opportunity for hands-on learning. The teachers in my Kindergarten Palace Facebook group are always on the hunt for ways to keep their learners engaged and motivated to learn. I was inspired to put together 8 of my favorite St. Patrick's Day ideas for kindergarten that you're going to love.
#1. Leprechaun Trap STEM Activity
Let's kick off the St. Patrick's Day ideas for kindergarten with one of my favorites…leprechaun traps! I'm 99.9% confident that your students will have a blast with this. Give your students various materials and supplies from around the classroom. Manipulatives, construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, art supplies, whatever you have on hand works.
The object of this activity is for your students to work together to build a trap to catch the sneaky leprechaun. Before you start the activity, discuss ideas and strategies as a class. Talk about ways to attract the leprechaun to the trap, such as a pot of gold, coins, a leprechaun friend, rainbows, snacks, etc. Have your students work in partners or small groups.
Now here's the best part…turn your students loose and watch their creativity and critical thinking come alive. As they create their traps and work together, soak in the learning buzz from your classroom. Check on each group to hear what their strategy is.
Once the traps are built, leave them overnight. Before your students come the next morning, you can trap leprechaun cutouts or figurines to show students that their plan worked. I'm telling you, this STEM activity is a hit!
#2. March Morning Tubs
After your students come in and are delighted to see their trapped leprechauns, it's time to get back on track with your solid morning routine. Without a consistent morning routine, your classroom can turn to chaos in 2.5. The March morning tubs are full of St. Patrick's Day ideas for kindergarten that will help students get focused from the get-go.
These morning tubs also give students the opportunity to work on skills they're learning in math and literacy with the 19 different activity options. Lots of practice is the key, right?
#3. Fill the Pot
If you're looking for a hands-on way to practice counting, one-to-one correspondence, and teen number identification, this St. Patrick's Day idea for kindergarten is just the ticket. Gather plastic containers or small buckets you have on hand. Use a die cut machine or card stock and scissors to cut out large gold circles.
Then, write numbers 11-19 on the circles, one number on each. Stick the number circles to the outside of the containers. Give students a large container of gold pom poms and have them use jumbo tweezers to count out the number of pom poms to fill the container. They'll even sneak in some extra fine motor practice as they fill their pot with teen number gold!
#4. St. Patrick's Day Math and Literacy Centers
Want to know the easiest way to make your math and literacy centers fresh and exciting for your students? Put a St. Patrick's day spin on them! You can swap out manipulatives for mini-erasers, use Lucky Charms™ to practice sorting and counting, or practice writing sight words and CVC words with rainbow colors. These simple ideas can be implemented with your current center activities to give them a St. Patrick's Day flair.
You can also add these 6 St. Patrick's Day math and literacy centers and corresponding recording sheets to your rotations.
#5. Sight Word Rainbows
This St. Patrick's Day idea for kindergarten is all about sight words! First, cut strips of colored paper into 2 x 3 inch pieces. Give each student 3-5 pieces of colored paper. You can let them choose their colors or hand them out. Give each student a sticky note list of 3-5 sight words to write.
They'll write each sight word on a piece of the colored paper. Build a class rainbow by calling out a sight word and having every student with that word come up and place their colored piece on the whiteboard, making a rainbow shape. Continue on until all sight words are called and the rainbow is complete.
#6. Making 10 Craft
To carry on the magic and luck that comes with St. Patrick's Day, keep the learning going with a DIY craft that will have your students swimming in gold coins and reviewing ways to make 10 all at the same time.
This making 10 craft only requires green construction paper, scissors, glue, crayons, a marker or pencil, and the free Ways to Make 10 printable. Easy prep? Count you in! This would make the perfect math craftivity to complete during your St. Patrick's Day studies or as a fun Friday math activity.
#7. March Boom Cards
As students are learning new concepts in math and literacy, it's important to review these skills so students are continually keeping them fresh in their brains. Boom cards are an effective way to review skills and foster independence in your kindergarteners.
The March Boom Cards set focuses on the skills your students are working on this month. From beginning blends and digraphs to CVC words, addition and subtraction, teen numbers, and 2D and 3D shapes, your students will have 8 self-checking decks of learning fun to add to their independent learning centers, technology station, or even their early finisher activities.
#8. Pot of Gold Snack
What better way to wrap up than with a tasty treat fit for a leprechaun (or a kindergartener). Not only is this pot of gold snack delicious, it's fun for students to make, too!
Prep the snack by placing all of the ingredients each child will need on a paper plate. Take this opportunity to work on direction following by building the pot of gold snack together step-by-step.
Did these St. Patrick's Day ideas for kindergarten inspire you to try something new? I'm confident your little learners will be full of luck and learning this month!
