St Patrick's Day Books & Crafts for Kids

History Books

• Reach age-appropriate books to your child that teach the history and the story behind St. Patrick's Day. For kids ages 6 and older, "St. Patrick's Day," by Jennifer Blizin Gillis, teaches kids about who St. Patrick was, where the tradition of wearing green came from and how it is celebrated in the U.S. For kids ages 5 and older, "Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland," by Tomie DePaola focuses on the Catholic saint whom the holiday is named for, including his origins and converting the Irish to Christianity.

Legends and Myth Books

• Read books with your children about the many legends and myths that surround the St. Patrick's Day holiday. For kids ages 3 and older, "Jack and the Leprechaun," by Ivan Robertson, follows an Irish mouse teaching his visiting cousin about leprechauns and the myths that surround them. Another book to check out, for kids ages 4 and older is "The Last Snake in Ireland: A Story about St. Patrick," by Sheile Macgill-Callahan tells the legend of how St. Patrick droves all snakes out of Ireland before he become a saint.

Paper Crafts

• To make a shamrock wreath, help your kids cut out shamrock shapes from dark and light green construction paper. Cut out the middle of a paper plate, leaving only the rim, and have your kids paste the shamrock shapes onto the rim, to create the wreath. Another idea is to have the kids make a hand print leprechaun by pressing their hands into orange paint, then onto light-colored paper, so that the digits are facing downward. Cut out a white circle and paste in the middle of the palm and have your child draw a face. The fingers will resemble a leprechaun beard. Help your tot paint a green hat with a black buckle to complete the picture.

Food Crafts

• Work on edible art in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Have your kids help you make rainbow cupcakes. Your kids can help you make a vanilla cake batter, and then once divided, add food coloring for every color in the rainbow. The kids can carefully layer in the cake batter, adding about a spoonful of each color to each baking liner in the cupcake pan. Once baked and cooled, the kids can spread vanilla frosting and gold sprinkles on them. For another tasty food craft, your children can help you make shamrock pizza by adding pizza sauce and cheese to English muffins. Using cooking scissors, help your kids cut three heart shapes each out of a green pepper, as well as a thin sliver for the stem. Press the heart-shaped peppers and stem onto the pizzas to look like shamrocks. Add a little more cheese and bake in the oven until finished.