St. Patrick’s Day, A Missionary’s Story Lesson Plan

I love St. Patrick’s Day.  I’m not really sure why.  But I do know that most of the St. Patrick’s Day celebration seems to revolve around things that are… not as “G” as I’d like them to be for my family.  So I did a little hop, skip, and jump when I read Teaching the Trinity for St. Patrick’s Day from I Have No Greater Joy.  That post and a few quick searches later and this is the St. Patrick’s Day lesson plan we’re working from!

We checked out Patrick, Ireland’s Patron Saint from the library (even before I read the Trinity lesson plan!) and it was the perfect book for introducing the kids to Patrick the missionary.  Did you know Patrick was held as a slave in Ireland, escaped home, and later returned to share the gospel?

Then we made shamrocks from bits of scrapbook paper by cutting three hearts and gluing them to a craft stick.  Its not in the photo, but we also added ribbons to them to make them pretty.

We talked about the shamrock shape and how St. Patrick might have taught the trinity with it.  Anna didn’t understand at all, but Brett was able to follow along enough that at least he understands there is such a confusing concept, even if he can’t yet grasp it!  We sang the song “God the Father” as posted in the Trinity lesson and that was a great hit.  It was so easy for them to learn!

At the end of the Patrick book is a short section on the legends of St. Patrick.  Brett enjoyed the story about the snakes (of course) and he loved the gross motor activity we created to go with it.  I had the kids take their shamrocks outside and chase pretend snakes out of the yard.  If there had been any real ones… well, they’d be gone too ;-).

The kids also enjoyed this video I found on Pinterest.

I bought some dot paints from Hobby Lobby last fall, and if you haven’t tried them, they’re great.  All the fun of painting (mostly!) without the fuss and mess.  When I saw this it seemed like a great idea for the preschool kids in my Homeschool Co-Op class.

And then I used those same leftover bits of scrapbook paper to cut out shamrocks– two of each design.  One shamrock I glued to a paper and the other I left loose.  Tomorrow I’ll have the preschoolers match the paper’s designs, then Monday I’ll make it a math lesson for Brett by writing simple addition facts on the loose shamrocks and the answers on the glued down ones.  Hmm, or maybe capital letters with a lowercase match?  Might need more scraps…

And this has nothing to do with missionaries, trinities, or Christ in anyway, but I couldn’t resist.  Remember that whole me just liking St. Patty’s thing?  Well, I also love Lucky Charms.

There.

I just admitted it.

Online.

I love them.

When I taught kindergarten I always bought one box for my class to sort the shapes and then I ATE THE REST!

Once a year.

But I haven’t taught kindergarten in six years.  So its been a looooong time since I’ve eaten Lucky Charms.  And I couldn’t resist.  Today we sorted the shapes.

It was so educational.

And tasty.

And then I gave them each a missionary penny.

What is that?  Well, a missionary penny is one SENT.  All people are sent to spread the gospel, some in foreign countries and under heroic circumstances like Patrick, but all of us are called.  Funny enough, the penny is also considered “lucky,” but plainly states “In God We Trust.”  We discussed that it is not luck but God who gives us all good things– which was important to me in a St. Patty’s Day lesson!

If you have other ideas for making Christ a part of the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, leave them below!