All Things Irish
One of my favorite March activities is our St. Patrick's Day lapbook. It contains all sorts Irish fun!
We begin this two week unit discussing the country of Ireland. We listen to and sing Irish songs, learn Irish dance and read all sorts of fun Irish tales.
The favorite, of course, is always tales of leprechauns. After reading about these mischievous little men and women, we decided to create our own tiny leprechaun.
They were adorable!
We wrote our own leprechaun tales as well! It always amazes me to see the types of stories the munchkins can come up with!
To add to our leprechaun fun, we opened a box of Lucky Charms cereal and spent a morning sorting, counting and graphing the marshmallows.
Of course, eating them was the best part! What a great morning snack!
And isn't this the sweetest thing?
Well, that was only the beginning of our Ireland study. We also took a look at our globe and searched and searched for the little Emerald Isle. We put a little map into our lapbook, locating and coloring Ireland on it.
Then we discovered what the Irish flag looks like. We compared it to our flag, noting ways the two were the same and also noting how they were different. We added a small flap book in our lapbook that included a tiny Irish flag.
Then we created a large one to take home.
After discussing the fact that Ireland is an island, it was fun to create this simple little snack and see if the munchkins figured out what we were doing. It was funny as they began to realize it was Ireland and the ocean...I heard lots of "I know!" and "Ohhh...I get it!"
The main part of our St. Patrick lapbook was dedicated, of course, to the saint himself. We began with a coloring image of him. The munchkins did a great job making it look like a stained glass window.
We read several nonfiction stories of St. Patrick's life (as well as some of the fun legends associated with the saint). The munchkins got to write a little biography of him after completing a KWL chart about him. (K=what we know, W=what we wonder, L=what we learned)
What great writers we have!
We spent some time exploring why St. Patrick is always pictured with a clover. We learned a fun song about the clover and the Blessed Trinity and then we added a clover to the front of our lapbook. This clover had all the symbols of the Trinity on it as well.
Some of the munchkins made decade rosaries in the shape of a clover.
And others began searching for clovers outside in the play yard. Our science center had loads of clover at it this week, along with several magnifying glasses to get a better look!
Since we were sooooo into clover, we decided to plant some (along with some grass seed, since it germinates so quickly).
The fun thing about our seeds is that we planted them in a little hermetically sealed jar and set them in our windows. Because of the seal, we have our own little terrariums. We will not only get to watch the life cycle of the plants, but also the water cycle at work. It is always such a treat when it begins to "rain" inside the jars. The munchkins love it!
(And, I have to admit, it is pretty cool.)
After planting, we discussed all the things a plant needs to grow and we created a cute little flap book to add to our lapbook.
Then we spent a day with one of the most fun stories about St. Patrick:
St Patrick and the Snakes
We learned a fun little song about St. Patrick banging the drums to drive the snakes from Ireland (just as he drove out sin).
Then we created St. Patrick miter hats and paper snakes.
Some of the munchkins colored an image of St. Patrick and the snakes.
And we all enjoyed "snake snack".
Yes...we eat a lot in kindergarten.
The swirling eyes were quite a hit! I'll have to remember that next year...
What a cute bunch of saints!
Our finished lapbook had soooo much in it and the munchkins were very proud of them. They couldn't wait to take them home and show Mom and Dad everything they learned about Ireland and its patron saint.
Good St. Patrick, pray for us!
Until next time...
Giggles,
Mrs. D.
