Saturday, March 1, 2014

St. Patrick's Day at Home

St. Patrick's Day is coming up on March 17th!

I have heard that the true story of St. Patrick is actually one of a great inspiring Christian man. I wanted to learn about St. Patrick so where else would I turn to as a reliable source than to Veggie Tales. Check out this 8 minute super cute video of the story of St. Patrick. 


Didn't I tell you it was super cute. Now on to some fun St. Patrick's activities that keep the focus on God. 

#1 First set the stage. Dress up in all green and talk in your best Irish accent. Top of the mornin' to ya!

#2 Start your morning with a healthy green smoothie for breakfast (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup of spinach, 1 cup water - blend well) or you could go a little less healthy with these green mint chocolate chip pancakes.

#3 Compare and contrast Noah's rainbow vs the Leprechaun's rainbow. Although St. Patrick was a man of faith who became a missionary in the very place he was sold as a slave, Irish folktale tells a very different tale of a silly leprechaun. The tale states if you catch a leprechaun, he will tell you where the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is. Their rainbow leads to a pot of gold. Our rainbow found in the Bible is a rainbow that leads to God....a rainbow of promise not luck. A promise that God will always protects us and be there for us.

There are thousands of rainbow crafts or recipes you can do if you search on-line but the one that we did was print a rainbow template and fill it with the rainbow colors of froot loops.


Then we got out pipe cleaners and made candy or rather froot loop bracelets.


They loved eating their bracelets - I couldn't even get them to stop eating it to take a picture! Did you notice the subliminal message of Noah's Ark in the background....stay with me people :)


#4 If you have lucky charms at home - this is a cute activity (found at this link) to do with your kids. St. Patrick shared the Bible with as many people as he could in Ireland. Find the different marshmallows in lucky charms (lets be honest the marshmallows are the only part of lucky charms that the kids eat anyways) and talk about the different promises of God found in the Bible.

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#5 Compare the 4 leaf clover vs the 3 leaf clover. On St. Patrick's day you often hear about the lucky 4 leaf clover. However, St. Patrick used the 3 leaf clover to talk about the trinity. Just like the 3 leaves on the 1 clover leaf, there are 3 parts to the trinity - God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit but only ONE God. Again, I would take God over luck any day! Coloring sheet here.

#6 St. Patrick was known for his intense prayer life. Take time to pray to God as a family today!