Reach For The Gold
In advance, place a
class supply of gold foil wrapped chocolate coins in a leprechaun
hat.
After reading a story to the children, show them the hat.
Explain that this special hat
contains golden coins that help children listen to the person
holding the hat. Then
pass the hat to a child and invite him/her to share his/her
favorite part of the story.
When he/she finishes his/her turn, have him/her select a coin
and then pass the hat
to another child. Once everyone has shared, invite your
youngsters to eat their treats.
Irish Names
Make everyone Irish
that day by adding a O' to their last name? You can add this
to any hats or special badges that might be made for St.
Patrick's Day. Example: Patrick
Swayze would become Patrick O'Swayze. I would just write O'Swayze
on the his hat.
ABC Center
Matching
upper/lowercase shamrock letters, rhyming pictures and opposites.
Putting lowercase alphabet shamrocks in order. Putting different
colored
rainbow beads in the correct order, by reading the color words.
St. Patrick's
Day Writing
Spelling out St.
Pat's words with magnetic letters and then
writing them. "Leprechaun is so LONG, Miss Laurie!" :)
Shamrock
Discussion
Display a real
shamrock or a picture of a shamrock. Discuss color, number and
shape of leaves, and any distinguishing characteristics. For
example, shamrocks
close their leaves in the evening. The shamrock is considered by
many
people to bring good luck. A legend tells that St. Patrick used
the shamrock as
a symbol of Trinity. The shamrock has become a national symbol of
Ireland.
The Throwaway
Hearts: Shamrock Story
(I elaborate on this
story to fit my room, class, etc.) A teacher makes three red
hearts
to decorate the classroom for February. The three hearts enjoy
the children and
the classroom activities, especially those on St. Valentine's
Day. But as the month
draws to a close, the hearts begin to worry. They realize the
teacher will throw them
away and decorate the calendar with an object more representative
of March. On
the last night of February, the hearts think and think. The
leader of the three suggests
that they try to change to green, because March is the beginning
of spring. They close
their eyes and think very hard about being green; and when they
open their eyes, they
are! Now they try to think of different green objects they could
be. (get ideas from the
group) Then one of the hearts sees a shamrock decorating a
calendar on the teacher's
desk - the shamrock looks like three hearts. When the teacher
comes in the next morning,
she finds the three red hearts have become a green shamrock. And
it's so perfect that
she uses it to decorate her room! (I use this story on the
flannel board with hearts
that are red on one side and green on the other. Simply put the
point of the three hearts
together, add a stem and you have a shamrock!) Taken from
Instructor magazine; no date listed.
Fishing Game
My kids LOVE is the
fishing game. We have a half
wall in our room but you could use anything as a divider. One
kiddo
on one side, one on the other. Both kids have several laminated
pictures, a letter grid (lowercase right now), and a fishing pole
(dowel and string with a clothes pin attached). Put your pole over
the wall and ask "Do you have something that starts with R?" The
child finds the correct picture and clips it onto their
clothespin,
giving a little tug. Play goes back and forth until the cards are
full. I also use this game for other skills as well.
Pre-K
Fun Theme Pages are for educational reference only!
No copyright infringement is intended.
I do not claim any of these as my own
ideas.
They are shared from friends and fellow
group
members.
Thanks for sharing all your great ideas!
