Beyond Imagination: Five Irish traditions to adopt in your classroom this Saint Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick is Ireland's patron saint. Starting as a religious holiday honoured on March 17th in Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day as a true celebration came to be in the United States in the 18th century. At first, it spread to other countries with high percentage of Irish immigration, and now it is slowly taking over the world. People are captivated by the happy-go-lucky nature of this holiday, saturated with the colour green, shamrocks and cute and greedy little leprechauns.

Here are five fun ways to celebrate St. Patrick's day in your classroom.

Tradition #1: Green everything

Green colour traditionally dominates the St. Patrick's Day. Encourage your students to wear green clothes, and bring some green snacks such as green apples, kale chips or cabbage. Green foods are nutrient-dense and useful to our bodies, and this is the perfect opportunity to make them fun to eat.

Tradition #2: Meet the leprechauns

Leprechauns are charming bearded fairies. They are famous for hiding their pots of gold from the rest of the world. Get to know them. Read stories about them in class, and create maps to find their precious gold. Golden chocolate coins will do just fine for this purpose.

Tradition #3: Shamrocks

According to a legend, St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish. Although there is no actual proof that he indeed practised this, both three and four-leafed shamrocks are the symbols of St. Patrick's.

At the very beginning of March, plant some clover seeds in suitable pots and keep them in a warm and light spot. Hopefully, they will sprout and grow just in time for the holiday. If you have a clover patch somewhere in the school's yard, you can take the younger kids out for the ever-exciting lucky 4-leafed clover hunt.

Tradition #4: Irish folk music

You can spice up all your activities by playing Irish music. The fairy-tale-like melodies will add value to every activity, deepening the connection with the original Irish roots of the St. Patrick's Day.

Tradition #5: The Parade

All of the formerly described activities can be incorporated into the great finale - your group's very own St. Patrick's Day parade. These parades are one of the most famous hallmarks of the American St. Patrick's day, and especially those held in Boston - and you can make your own classroom version. With everybody dressed in green, special snacks, shamrocks and incredible music, you can try out traditional Irish dances and - have fun. For some extra fun why not create your own craft decorations to add some children's creativity to the parade!