Our Saint Patrick’s Day

Yesterday, Laura posted about why she doesn’t celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day (SPD). Today, I want to tell you why we do.

Three reasons why we “celebrate” various holidays around my house (and celebrate is in quotations because this may just mean doing a five-minute craft and trying to explain in preschooler language what the holiday is for):

1 – We’re in the midst of learning the months of the year, and the way the calendar works. Giving my kids a holiday they can latch onto, as well as birthdays and other events, gives them a frame of reference.

This year, I did a quick rainbow craft with my three year-old, found of course on Pinterest. This quickly turned into an art lesson on the colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV, y’all!), as well as another chance for him to use a gluestick, which is one of his favorite things in the world!

And he wrote his name free-hand, all by himself for the first time!

2 – I want to teach my boys all about the world they live in – including other cultures, religious holidays, and world history. To me, teaching them about various holidays, and the TRUE meanings behind them, makes for more cultured and educated kids.

We have a front window off our living room where we like to display things. We did snowflakes for winter, and hearts for Valentine’s Day. For SPD, I traced and cut out a few shamrocks.

While I was putting them up, I was telling my three year-old about Ireland. I showed him on a world map where it was, and we talked about some of the things that it is known for. He didn’t listen all that well, but he did perk up when I turned it into a shape lesson!

When my Kindergartener got home, he asked about them. Apparently, they talked about shamrocks at school, so it was reinforcement for a lesson there. We also talked about Ireland some. He was much more interested in the geography lesson, and even wanted to look up more on the computer with me! We learned about how Saint Patrick didn’t necessarily drive snakes out, but was a very important missionary to Ireland. This led into a lesson on missionaries, which tied to a recent lesson from our church on mission-work.

I even found a few math worksheets online that had shamrocks and rainbows on them. And some writing prompts for my oldest to write about our activities! He even asked if we could learn more about Ireland, so we may do a family report soon.

3 – Mommy enjoys crafting and decorating, and this is just one more excuse to share it with my kids.

I am learning that the creativity that runs in my mom’s family definitely got passed to my boys. My husband and I love all things art and music, and our boys soak it all in! They love doing craft projects, so this is just another way that I can relate to my boys, while also feeding their creative nature. Being creative feeds my soul, and knowing that same blood runs in their veins, I try to feed their souls often too!

I wanted to make a meal to focus on SPD too, but knew the stereotypical Corned Beef and Cabbage wouldn’t go over too well. So I decided to make a broccoli quiche, adding shamrock cut-outs to the edges.

Goodness knows that it can be hard to incorporate big, fancy events and lesson plans into your kids’ day. But it is possible to keep things simple, and there’s nothing wrong with letting Google help you teach your kids! My opinion is that I am my kids’ first teacher, so why not teach them as much as possible about the world around them? I try to let their curiosities lead us in our learning, even incorporating holidays into things they’re already learning in school.