10 Family Ideas to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that doesn’t come with many built-in celebrations as Christmas and New Year’s do. Even Halloween and Thanksgiving have their own festivals and traditions to follow that are widely known, but St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t have too many commonly-known ones. Still, you’re sure to want to celebrate this day with your family — particularly if you have Irish roots. These are just a few of the ways you can celebrate the day with your family. 

1. Watch Fun Movies

As with any other holiday, plenty of movies have been made about St. Patrick’s Day or involving the holiday. Many people might remember the Disney Channel movie “The Luck of the Irish,” which is still one of the most-loved Irish movies to date. Several Ireland-based or St. Patrick’s Day movies will be great to watch as a family, but you should always pre-screen movies to ensure they’re appropriate for all ages. 

2. Hunt for Four-Leaf Clovers

If you have a clover patch near your home, this holiday is the perfect time to go looking for a four-leaf clover. Four-leaf clovers are said to bring good luck, so your children should enjoy finding the tiny green plant.   

Once you find the four-leaf clovers you were looking for, you can dry and press them in something for your child to keep forever. Consider keeping them in a scrapbook or adding them to a bookmark. They’ll serve as pieces that your children can remember for years to come and look back on fondly. 

3. Learn the History

If you want to make this holiday as educational as it is fun for your children, consider teaching them the history of the day. St. Patrick believed it was his mission to convert all of Ireland to Christianity.  

Nowadays, the story of St. Patrick could be considered removed from his history of priesthood and mission. Since his death, people celebrate the legend that he was the one to drive all the snakes out of Ireland. However you celebrate the day, make sure your child knows why people celebrate. 

4. Create Leprechaun Traps

Leprechaun traps are exactly what they sound like — small crafts that supposedly trap leprechauns in them. Their aim is simple: place something leprechauns love in plain sight, then obscure the trap so they can fall in unawares. Many schools encourage children to make this craft, but if they don’t, you can design an innovative trap with your children using construction paper, paper decorations and fake gold — bonus points if they’re chocolate coins! 

5. Bake Festive Recipes

Make traditional Irish recipes on St. Patrick’s Day so that you can celebrate with a genuine feast. One of the most popular recipes to make is soda bread, or Irish Soda Farl, which isn’t actually made with sweetened soda. This delicious bread gets its name for the baking soda in the recipe. It’s easy to make and an extremely popular recipe, making it the best dish to make with your children on this holiday.  

6. Research Your Family Tree

Even if you don’t have Irish heritage, figuring out where your family comes from and as much story as you can about your ancestors can be an excellent activity for your family to do together. This way, your children learn about their grandparents and everyone who came before them.  

Having this history on hand is essential, as it allows future generations to learn more about those who lived before and what struggles they triumphed over. When your children get older, they’ll realize just how much they value this information about where they came from.  

7. Learn a Jig

Irish jigs are celebrated all over the globe. The fun thing about Irish jigs, popularized through folk music, is that they are total improvisations. Still, that doesn’t mean that you and your children can’t teach yourselves how to do the fancy footwork that goes into a jig.  

Dancing is a cardio workout that can lessen your risk of contracting heart disease and can keep your entire family active — so why not carve out some time to learn how to dance the old-fashioned Irish way? It’s a physical activity that your kids will be excited about and love to put their own spin on.   

8. Commit to Living Greener

While it doesn’t strictly relate to St. Patrick, living a greener life fits the green theme. Consider doing the minimum by replacing your lightbulbs to be more energy-efficient or encouraging your children to turn off lights and devices when they leave a room. Eventually, you can work up to more eco-friendly activities and products and become a green family all year round. 

9. See a Parade

Your local community may host parades in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. If your particular town doesn’t celebrate, look around — there’s bound to be a town that celebrates Irish culture near you. Once you find out when the parade is, go with your children. Children love to see the assortment of floats and colorful people in the parade, and they may even have candy to throw out to your children. You may encounter plenty of fun activities, like face painting, as well. 

10. Dress Up in All Green

This tradition might be the most well-known. If you encounter someone who isn’t wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, they deserve a pinch — but teach your children to respect other people’s boundaries and wishes, too. You may opt not to teach your children about the pinching tradition and simply have them appreciate the color green by wearing it. Get as creative as possible — your kids will love nothing more than you getting into the holiday spirit with them. 

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Style 

Just because this holiday isn’t as widely celebrated as others doesn’t mean you can’t make it into a party for your family. Encourage your children to learn the holiday history while celebrating it in a way they love. That way, they have something new to celebrate as the years roll by. After such a long winter holiday season, it’s a great way to break into the spring holiday season and get your children more excited for the fun days life has in store.