We don’t have long-standing family customs and traditions rooted in our heritage. I didn’t grow up in a family where we made a big deal out of holidays. I was jealous of friends who lit candles for Hanakkuh, opened crackers for Boxing Day, and celebrated their ancestors for Dias de las Muertas.
In college, I did a family genealogy project and discovered that there is one holiday that we should most definitely be celebrating with pride and excitement. My grandpa’s grandma, my great-great grandmother Elennor Creighton was born and raised in Ireland so I’m totally Irish (1/16 at least but whatevs). Therefore, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and are proud of our Irish heritage.
We don’t dance any jigs or eat corned beef and cabbage but we enjoy celebrating this fun and symbolic holiday in our own way. There might not be traditions we have done for generations but that hasn’t stopped us from creating our own. There’s so much more to this holiday than just preventing pinches by wearing green so I thought I’d share some of what we do in our family with you.
St. Patrick’s Day Traditions
Leprechaun Visit
My kids look forward to how a leprechaun seems to manage to stop by our house every year and cause all sorts of havoc like dying the milk green or leaving notes on the bathroom mirror like, “Top of the mornin’ to you.” Sometimes he draws funny faces on our family pictures or tips over the kitchen chairs. We’ve even found tiny green footprints in random places throughout our house. My kids love to run out to see what the sneaky leprechaun has done as soon as they wake up and it always makes them laugh.
Top of the Mornin’ Breakfast
We like to start our day with a fun and colorful breakfast. It can be as simple or fancy as you want it to be. Green pancakes, green yogurt parfaits, green scrambled eggs, or a rainbow of fruits. Donut holes with a sign that says, “Do-nut you know how lucky I am to have you?” or Lucky Charms with a sign that says “I’m cereal-sly lucky to be your mom.” are also fun ideas and guaranteed to make even your teens smile!
Learn the History
Learning about the history behind St. Patrick’s Day is interesting and can be shared applicable to your kids ages. Some years, we’ve studied all sorts of facts and others, we’ve done word searches and puzzles. You could even learn some Irish step dancing or jigs.
A brief history
St. Patrick was made the patron saint of Ireland for bringing Christianity to the Irish people. He was actually not born in Ireland but was captured and put in an Irish prison where he converted to Christianity and even though he escaped and returned to his homeland, he eventually returned to be a missionary in Ireland. It is hard to determine what is legend and what is fact but some of what we do know is that originally the color associated with this holiday was blue and later switched to green mainly because of shamrocks which are the national flower of Ireland, many Irish immigrants came to our country to escape the great potato famine of 1845 which helped to make this holiday a bigger deal here in America. There are many parades throughout Ireland and here in America to celebrate the day, Chicago even dyes their river green every year in honor of St, Patrick’s Day.
Rainbow Cupcakes
We make rainbow cupcakes topped with cloud frosting together. It may sound daunting but have your kids help and they will love them even more. My youngest has already been talking about this tradition for months and looks forward to it every year. We like to top them with fresh whipped cream.
Leprechaun Scavenger Hunt
Leprechaun scavenger hunts are super fun and simple to do. This is my favorite activity we’ve done since my kids were really little, mostly because it’s easy to put together and my kids love it. You can go here or here to print out some great clues or create your own.
I like to use a black pot or a big leprechaun hat to have at the end of the hunt filled with all the things. Some gifts my kids have gotten over the years include: [unordered_list style=”tick”]
- green toys from the dollar store
- green socks
- rainbow-colored fruits
- colorful art supplies
- rainbow licorice
- chocolate gold coins
- gold Hershey’s chocolate nuggests
The bulk candy section at Winco is a great resource for this but the chocolate coins tend to sell out so plan ahead!
Themed Dinner
Having a St. Patrick’s Day themed dinner is also something we enjoy! We aren’t big on corned beef and cabbage (most Irish people actually eat bacon and cabbage or potatoes) but have had several green dinners. Think green mashed potatoes, green salad, green french toast, green macaroni and cheese, minty shamrock shakes, and green jello. There are all sorts of fun ideas you could make, adding a little dye to whatever you’re making will excite your kids! This would also be a great time to buy lots of green fruits and vegetables for your kiddos to try!
Luck ‘O The Irish Art Projects
We love doing art and craft projects for holidays and St. Patrick’s Day is no different. There are so many great ideas including painting rainbows on canvas’ or stamping shamrocks using bell peppers. Painting some rocks with cute Irish sayings or rainbows for your garden would also be fun. Making a treat with a note saying “We are lucky to have you for a _______.” would be such a great way to serve a teacher, friend or neighbor. Many families like to build a leprechaun trap. We haven’t done this but there are so many cute ideas online. There are some pretty sneaky leprechauns out there though so best of luck!
I’m excited to celebrate this lucky holiday with my children and enjoy our family’s traditions. Don’t forget to wear green on March 17th and plan to celebrate in whichever ways work for your family! Make it your own whether you’re Irish or not and have fun! I’m sure my ancestors, including my great-great grandma Elennor, are glad that we are keeping their heritage alive by making the most of this special day.
