I’m pretty sure I’ve never written this out before, but I’m going to go ahead and say it: Top of the morning to you! St. Patrick’s Day is this week and, as you my remember from my Valentine’s Day post, I’m trying to make the year exciting for the kids because they’re not in school right now and are missing out on all of the fun holiday celebrations at school. And holidays (even the arguably silly ones) provide the perfect excuse for snacks and fun.
I’ve always been partial to St. Patrick’s Day. My parents instilled upon my sister and me the importance of wearing green to avoid being pinched. And we would always have green food coloring on hand to dye our Sprite to honor the day.
This year I wanted to put together a few St. Patrick’s Day activities for the family so we could all get in the spirit too.
ONE
First – the meaning behind St. Patrick’s Day as told by the Berenstain Bears.
I stumbled across this fairly new book (written by Jan and Stan Berenstain’s son Mike Berenstain) when I was looking for an Easter Berenstain Bear book. It’s a darling little story in which Gramps Bear tells the cubs about the “island of Bearland” and the ‘Bearish. He explains the history of St. Patrick’s Day and all of the St. Patrick’s Day traditions. My kids love the Berenstain Bear series, and this book is a definite hit. (We really like this Easter one too).
TWO
The second “activity” is this St. Patrick’s Day themed mini charcuterie/snack board:
Technically speaking, a charcuterie board has meat, but that didn’t stop us from trying out this popular trend with our favorite fruits and veggies. We tested out our design a few weeks ago, and it couldn’t have turned out cuter.
The best part about the mini board is that it doesn’t require many ingredients.
I used one strawberry, one mini carrot, 1/2 mini cucumber, 1/2 green bell pepper, 2 small pieces of cauliflower, 2 small pieces of broccoli, 4 green grapes, 6 blueberries, 1/2 kiwi fruit, 1 piece of pineapple, 2 store-bought green cookies, and a handful of green M&Ms. However, any green or rainbow colored fruits and vegetables would work. Check out this short timelapse video on my Pinterest account to see how it all came together.
To make the shamrock, remove the sides from the green bell pepper and cut the sides into heart shapes.
I also trimmed the cookies with a small cookie cutter (similar here on Amazon) so they would fit on the board better.
THREE
Darby O’Gill and the Little People. This is hands down the best movie to watch on St. Patrick’s Day.
It has it all–leprechauns, rainbows, and a pot of gold. But the best part of the movie is watching a young Sean Connery sing his way through a Disney film. I will note that the movie has some more serious themes surrounding death, so it may be scary for young children in certain parts.
This is the second copy of the movie I have owned because I lost my original and was sooooo sad when I discovered the loss on St. Patrick’s Day a few years ago. My uncle saved me and sent me a copy as a surprise, so I have never gone without since. Thanks to modern technology, you can now rent the movie on Amazon (link here).
FOUR
One activity that I think the kids will really enjoy too is a St. Patrick’s Day themed coin hunt. I haven’t decided exactly where we are going to do it, but I do know that the coin hunt will involve shaving cream and green food coloring.
If the weather permits, I plan to hide a bunch of coins underneath a layer of green shaving cream in our plastic swimming pool and then turn the older kids loose. We may have to move operations to the bathtub if it’s too cold outside. The end result will probably look something like this:
I’ll be updating my Instagram stories with how it all turns out.
Need something less messy? Love Grows Wild has a cute and simple scavenger hunt printout that looks really fun (link here). It has simple instructions that lead the kids to the front door, their bedroom, etc., until they eventually reach a prize at the end.
FIVE
My fairy godmother bought us two packages of corned beef, and I am very excited about cooking them for St. Patrick’s Day. We have made corned beef from scratch in the past using this recipe. However, this year we are keeping it simple and using the prepackaged meat. We will cook the corned beef in a slow cooker over a bed of vegetables and serve it with sauerkraut and brown mustard (recipe here).
For the second corned beef, we plan to smoke it on the grill to make pastrami (recipe here). This will be a test run, though, because you usually don’t trim the fat off of the pastrami brisket, and the prepackaged stuff is trimmed. We are still going to try it out, and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
AND, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT . . .
Finally, I would add looking for four leaf clovers to the list. However, the freeze a few weeks ago wiped out everything AND I can’t believe it but my oldest found a four leaf clover a few days before the freeze. I spent countless hours during my childhood searching for four leaf clovers and never found one. Lamborghini was determined and found his within thirty minutes.
We are pressing the clover and I plan to frame it for him when it is completely dry.
It is my hope that all of my above plans come to fruition on the 17th, but I think the kids will be happy even if we do just a few of the activities. I’m sure they will pass on the corned beef, which definitely IS happening, but they’ll at least be having a green fizzy drink or apple juice to celebrate the day.
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