March is filled with excitement as the sneaky little leprechaun is about to make its appearance. My students love to talk about St. Patrick’s day and catching the leprechaun. I embrace this excitement with lots of St Patrick’s Day classroom activities all month long. Here are my Top 5 St Patrick’s Day activities and some bonus freebies too.
#1 St Patrick’s Day Reading Comprehension Activities
Over the years I have collected several books that I love to read to my students. We spend an entire week exploring different St. Patrick’s Day books and working on reading comprehension strategies. My very favorite stories are The Gingerbread Man & the Leprechaun Loose in School and Leprechaun on the Loose. I love to read both stories on different days and then compare and contrast them. Some of the stories are now hard to find, so I have linked all of the books in this set to digital read-aloud versions.
This St Patrick’s Day Reading Comprehension activity pack is filled with 200 plus pages of not only comprehension, but word work activities, writing activities, and some adorable St. Patrick’s Day crafts too. One teacher said, “We had so much fun reading the stories and working on our reading skills. These activities made our practice much more exciting and engaging!”
Check out my favorite St Patrick’s Day books on Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
#2 Shamrock Pie in a Cup
Who doesn’t love a little snack treat on St. Patrick’s Day? We don’t usually have a classroom party for this holiday, so making this Shamrock Pie in a Cup together makes it seem like an extra special day and we get to enjoy a delicious snack when we are done. We use the mini book to follow the directions and make the snack together. When we are done, we work on writing, make a little shamrock snack in a cup craft, and use it to graph the results of the treat.
Here is an example of how one teacher used this in her classroom: “We broke up into 3 teams so every Firstie had a job. Team Shamrock, Team Leprechaun, and Team Pot of Gold had a FUNtabulous time.!! We read the book and discussed it for a couple days before the “cooking day” so they knew every step. We are still using the writing activities this week and finishing the math. Love making memories like this in my classroom!”
#3 Solve the Mystery of the Missing Pot of Gold
My kids love Solve the Mysteries so much that we do them for every holiday. I usually save them for the afternoon, and we end the day solving the case.
They begin with a short video that presents the missing pot of gold. Students then complete task cards to find out who took it, when they took it, and where they put it. I put my students into groups of 2 or 3. I place the task cards around the room in bins. Each bin has 2-3 of the same task cards so more than one group can complete them. When students complete a task, they visit me and I check over their work. If it is correct, I hand them the clue. They use their clue sheet to cross off the who, when, and where. Once they are all finished, they have solved the case.
There is a short story you can share with your class explaining why the character took the pot of gold. There are also headbands, certificates, and a few fun writing extensions. I guarantee your students will have a blast with this activity. This mystery is available for Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade (coming soon!), or a Third through Fifth Grade version. One teacher said, “My students love solving the mystery! This is such an amazing resource! Students have fun along with engaging with one another to learn specific first grade skills! This resource also help me, as the teacher, see how students are learning and retaining materials that I have taught!“
#4 Digital St Patrick’s Day Activities
When we had digital learning, I made Digital St. Patrick’s Day Slides. It worked out great during that time of need, but I didn’t realize how much I would love it just as much for in-person learning. When March hits, this set of slides is an open tab all month long. Each day when we have transition time or gather up front to the SMART board, we work together on a few more slides. My students absolutely love them. I have also sent these digitally through Google Classroom for independent work.
There is so much flexibility in how you use this resource. One teacher wrote, “My students love them and I love them because they always have plenty of themed activities that I can usually tie into either a review station or sometimes even graded independent work. Thank you so much for these products!“
#5 St Patrick’s Day Bingo
Since we don’t have a class party, we play St Patrick’s Day Bingo on the holiday. I created this version as both a digital and paper bingo game. In my classroom, I use both simultaneously. I print and laminate all the bingo boards so I can reuse them each year. I have my students get their cubes out of their math tool kits to use as markers. I project the teacher reveal boards onto the SMART board. Then, I go around the classroom having each student give a number to reveal. When they say a number, I slide the number off to reveal the item. This way everyone can see them from their seats. Once we have a bingo, we move to another reveal board and play again.
They all love playing this fun St. Patrick’s Day game. One teacher said, “I need one for all holidays and special days! LOVE!”
Freebie: How to Catch a Leprechaun Activities
Every year I invite my students to make leprechaun traps at home and bring them to school. We read “How to Catch a Leprechaun” early in the month to get their little minds thinking about a plan. The day before the holiday, we set our traps before they leave to go home. We also write our plan on how we are going to catch the leprechaun. I created a cute freebie that you can download which includes the writing paper, some leprechaun legs to color, and leprechaun shoes. They always turn out cute and we hang them in the hallway. Of course, that sneaky leprechaun makes a huge mess of the classroom and we have never had any luck catching him.
I also have a fun FREE set of St Patrick’s Day task cards too!
St Patrick’s Day classroom activities are always some of my favorite memories. I hope you were able to snag some great ideas for your classroom. You can check out even more fun activities for March here.
