Lucky Lessons: St. Patrick’s Day Activities for School

Are you planning St. Patrick’s Day activities for your classroom? Wearing green is fun, but this holiday also opens up doors for meaningful lessons across subjects. With the right resources, you can turn March 17 into a day of learning, not just celebrating.

From Irish history and folklore to symbolism and science, St. Patrick’s Day is a natural fit for ELA, social studies, and STEM lessons. These ideas help you build background knowledge, spark curiosity, and keep students engaged, all without extra prep time.

Jump to:

• Discover the history of St. Patrick’s Day in social studies
• Explore the magic of St. Patrick’s Day in ELA
• Look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in science

[Discover the history of St. Patrick’s Day in social studies](id-ss)

Key takeaways:

• St. Patrick’s Day activities help students connect Irish traditions to history and culture.
• Explore how religious holidays can evolve into global celebrations.
• Use lessons that support geography and cultural identity topics.

Understanding where St. Patrick’s Day comes from helps students connect tradition to real people, places, and events. These social studies activities build historical context, explore cultural change, and help students see how holidays evolve.

What are the origins and traditions of St. Patrick’s Day?

Students can benefit from learning how St. Patrick’s Day began and why it’s still celebrated today. These resources help you build background knowledge about Irish culture, symbols, and the shift from a religious observance to a global cultural celebration. 

Use these resources to help students:

• Learn about the life and legacy of the religious figure St. Patrick and his role as Ireland’s patron saint.
• Explore symbols like shamrocks, snakes, and leprechauns, and what they represent.
• Discover how St. Patrick’s Day transformed from a religious holiday in Ireland to a worldwide cultural (often secular) celebration.

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Newsela Knack: Teaching K-2 students? Try the elementary history version for age-appropriate pacing and scaffolding!

How did the first St. Patrick’s Day celebrations begin?

Understanding early celebrations helps students connect history to modern traditions. After exploring Irish history, students can apply what they learn through creative, inquiry-based activities. Extend learning by asking students to:

• Plan a trip to Ireland during the week of St. Patrick’s Day using research and geography skills.
• Create their own holiday, including traditions, food, and an origin story.
• Build a timeline of Irish immigration to the United States and key historical moments.

What can students learn by visiting Ireland virtually?

Virtual exploration helps students experience Ireland’s history and culture beyond the textbook. These resources support discussions about culture, conflict, and migration. Students can explore topics like:

• The history of Celtic culture and its influence on modern art and design.
• The Great Famine, and how it shaped Irish emigration.
• The sectarian walls that divide Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland, and why they exist.

How does St. Patrick’s Day connect to Catholic traditions?

Because St. Patrick’s Day began as a religious holiday, students can benefit from learning about Catholic traditions and sainthood to better understand its history. These resources provide important context without requiring prior knowledge. Use these articles to help students:

• Understand the process of becoming a saint through modern examples.
• Learn about the role of the Pope in canonization.
• Meet influential Catholic leaders, like Archbishop Wilton Gregory, the United States’ first Black cardinal.

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Newsela Knack: Interested in more religious studies? Check out our Comparative Religions social studies elective course that explores Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Dharmic religions, East Asian and Indigenous religions, and contemporary religious issues.

[Explore the magic of St. Patrick’s Day in ELA](id-ela)

Key takeaways:

• Students can compare fiction and nonfiction texts using shared themes and symbols.
• Use St. Patrick’s Day activities that reinforce prediction, annotation, and evidence-based writing skills.
• Folklore and symbolism help students practice close reading and critical thinking.

Stories, symbols, and folklore make St. Patrick’s Day a natural fit for ELA lessons. These activities blend fiction and nonfiction to help you build students' comprehension, analysis, and writing skills while keeping them engaged with a familiar holiday theme.

How can fictional Irish stories build reading comprehension?

Fictional stories give students a low-pressure way to explore themes connected to St. Patrick’s Day. This lesson helps students practice prediction, annotation, and reflection as they engage with Irish folklore.

Follow this lesson outline for front-of-class instruction:

• Before they read “The Pot of Gold” by Angela McAllister, ask students to predict what they think will happen to the main character, Donal, at the end of the story. 
• Then have them annotate the text to highlight the conclusion, determine whether their prediction was correct or incorrect, and explain why.
• Finally, extend the lesson with writing practice by asking students to write their own short story about a different St. Patrick’s Day tradition. They may use a storyboard graphic organizer to help them plot their tale.

Why are colors so important in holiday symbolism?

Colors carry meaning, and with the St. Patrick’s Day focus on green, you can offer an entry point for analyzing their symbolism. This lesson helps students connect abstract ideas to concrete examples. Guide students as they:

• Watch a video explaining the concept of symbolism.
• Read about colors associated with traditional holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Halloween.
• Write an analysis of meaningful colors in their own lives, like the school colors. Try it with Newsela Writing!

Who are the magical creatures connected to Irish folklore?

Folklore introduces students to recurring characters and themes across cultures. A paired-text activity helps students compare how magic appears in both fictional and nonfiction texts. Students can explore these ideas by:

• Reading a fictional article about fairies and their characteristics.
• Examining a nonfiction article about the popularity of magical fiction.
• Completing a paired text analysis worksheet while focusing on the guiding question, “How are both texts related?”

[Look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in science](id-sci)

Key takeaways:

• Students can investigate rainbows, matter, and chemical change through hands-on learning.
• Use lessons that connect holiday symbols to physical science and chemistry standards.
• Try activities that encourage inquiry, modeling, and scientific reasoning.

St. Patrick’s Day themes like rainbows and gold are an easy way to introduce real science concepts. These STEM activities help students explore physical science and chemistry ideas while separating myths and magic from evidence-based explanations.

Can something ordinary be turned into gold?

The idea of turning an everyday object into gold sparks curiosity and critical thinking. These resources help students examine matter, molecules, and conservation laws while debunking myths. Students can investigate questions like:

• What molecules are and how they form.
• How the principle of conservation of mass explains chemical reactions.
• Why gold is valuable.

How do rainbows form?

Rainbows may feel magical, but their formation is all science. This STEM-friendly lesson helps students understand light, water, and color while creating a visual model. Support student learning by having them:

• Read about the science and symbolism of rainbows.
• Discover the “recipe” for seeing a rainbow in the sky.
• Model capillary action by creating a rainbow with water, food coloring, and paper towels.

What can students learn about the element of gold?

Gold is one of 118 known elements, making it a perfect anchor for St. Patrick’s Day chemistry instruction. These resources help students understand how elements are classified and studied. Use these articles to help students:

• Learn about the design of the periodic table.
• Explore the process it takes to approve new elements to the periodic table.
• Read about inventor and scientist Dmitri Mendeleev, who developed the periodic table.

Have students collect (gold) tokens with the Independent Reading Challenge

Encourage reading for fun inside and outside the classroom with the Newsela Independent Reading Challenge! This monthly, gamified event encourages students to practice literacy skills by reading about topics that interest them. 

Rather than a leprechaun’s gold coins, students can earn badges and tokens for completing the associated quiz and Power Words activities on articles included in the challenge. 

Not a Newsela Customer yet? You can access the Independent Reading Challenge and other differentiated content and activities by creating a Newsela account and starting your free 45-day trial of our premium subject products!