St Patty's Day in the classroom

I get excited whenever any sort of special day comes up. I jumped on Mardi Gras with glee and the same with St-Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, not everyone is like me. In fact, St-P day is not celebrated in very many daycares. I have no idea why, but people dont seem to want to jump on the holiday bandwagon. In fact, I was approached by a coworker and asked why I was going to do this, since I was obviously not Irish.

Why? How about exposure to another culture, for one. A change in the pace of regular activities, an opportunity to talk about things the children might not be otherwise exposed to, and seriously, any chance to decorate and celebrate is ok by me.

We discovered what three leaf clovers were and spent some time outside looking for some (in the snow). We decorated with some green and orange, learned about the Irish flag, looked at where Ireland was, and leanrt (only a tiny bit because I couldnt go into too much detail) at who St-Patrick was. We had a visit by FitzPatrick, that silly leprechaun who stole our shoes and challenged us to find all his treasure. We made some Irish soda bread and had facepainting and general game playing. And best of all, we showed them some Riverdance videos, put on some music, and let them dance the Irish way. Feet tapping, jumping, reels, jigs, and heel clacking, the kids were absolutely glorious to see. EVERYONE IS IRISH ON ST-PATRICK'S DAY!