St. Patrick's Day
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Enjoy the following crafts, recipes and links.
Arts & Crafts
St. Patrick's Day Wreath
Okay, so you say your kids are too young for arts and crafts, huh? Well, this is one even the little tikes can do (with a little help of course)
white paper 
green crayons
green ribbon
transparent tape
green feathers or glueable decorations
glue
Have your little one color the paper with the green crayons. (More than one shade is fine) When they're done, roll the paper lengthwise with the green on the outside. Have children squeeze the paper once it's rolled to give it a "scrunched" look. Precut some strips of tape. Connect the ends of the paper roll to form a wreath. Let children help with the taping. Tape one end of the ribbon onto the wreath and spiral the ribbon around the wreath (tape if necessary). If you have any green decorations that can be glued on, let them glue away. Hang it up and see how excited they are with the fancy holiday wreath that they made!
Lucky Chain 
green construction paper
scissors
glue stick or stapler
Cut construction paper into strips 3/4 to 1 inch wide and 8 1/2 inches long. Connect the two ends of one strip and glue or staple it together forming a circle. Take the next strip and do the same thing, but lace it through the first circle before you tape or glue it together. This will form a chain link. Continue to do this until you've used all your strips. (Save the chain and have the kids add to it every year. This way, it shows some history and family tradition as it grows longer each year. It will also keep you from trying to make a giant chain all in one day!)
Activities
Scavenger Hunt
Have the children go on a hunt for a pot of gold. Hide some "blarney stones" too. Use fake coins, pennies or chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil (a Dutch store favorite) in the pot. Have the children paint some stones green and hide those as well. If the children are older, give them age appropriate clues to solve in order to find the items. For younger kids, make it an easy hunt, but be prepared to rehide the objects over and over again!
Recipes
Green Eggs and Ham? okay!
This is more of an idea than a recipe. Serve green food! Lettuce, apples, bell peppers, peas, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, celery... Need something to go with all those fruits and vegetables? Dye it green with food coloring! Let the children help you in the coloring so that they can see what the food looked like originally (my own kids are picky...). By the way, scrambled eggs would be great green. Or paint hard boiled eggs!
Apple Fritters
This is a traditional Irish snack that the kids will love. 
5 oz Flour
5 fl Water
1/4 t Salt
2 Eggs (separated)
1 T Melted butter
2 Large cooking apples
4 oz Sugar 
Lemon juice
Oil for deep frying
Make batter at least an hour before required, using following method. Sift together flour and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the cooled melted butter and some of the water and egg yolks. Work in the flour and beat until smooth. Add remaining water. Leave to stand. Just before using, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into batter mix. Peel, core and slice apples (slices about 1/4-1/2 inch thick). Dip into batter and deep fry in very hot oil (175-180C) until golden. Drain and serve dredged with sugar and sprinkled with lemon juice. Makes 4 servings. (source: Edibilia )
Irish Stew
This meal is traditionally made with mutton and cooked much longer (2 ½ hours).
2 ½ lb Boned Lamb
4 Large Potatoes
2 Large Onions
3 or 4 Medium Carrots
Sprig of Parsley
1 pt./500 ml/ cups Water 
Salt and Pepper
Cut the meat into good sized chunks. Peel the vegetables and slicethickly. Chop the parsley. Choose a pot with a well-fitting lid and put in the ingredients in layers, starting and finishing with potatoes. Pour inthe water and season to taste. Cover and put on a very low heat for about 1 1/2 hours until the meat is tender and the potatoes have thickened the liquid.
Great Sites to visit
The Story of St. Patrick - Hallmark has "Seasons & Reasons" on these pages. Check out the history behind this popular holiday.
Activity Cupboard - There are a few very simple crafts to do on this page.
Billy Bear's St. Patrick's Page - There are some coloring book pages to print and color and a Pot o' Gold money math game for the kids
St. Patrick's Coloring Pages - More pages to print and color.
Red Branch Irish - Everything Irish... Have a couple of hours to spend on the internet? There are links to anything and everything you might need or want to know for this Irish holiday!
