More than Leprechauns

I love teaching at a Christian school. We are able to freely talk about God and his role in our lives. We strive to be a Christ-centered school. This means finding ways to connect classroom learning to Biblical truths. We call it "Biblical Integration". Some topics/themes naturally lend themselves to discussion of spiritual truths such as plants and animals (God's amazing design of living things). Others... don't seem as apparent...like St. Patrick's Day. The children's books that do talk about St. Patrick's life (rather than rainbows and leprechauns), seem a little much for Kindergartners.

Here are some of the activities I did this year for St. Patrick's Day that go beyond leprechauns and wearing green.

3 in 1 Shamrocks

According to legend, St. Patrick would use 3-leaf clovers to teach how God is 3-in-1: God the Father, Spirit, and Son.

We marble painted the shamrocks before cutting/gluing the 3 names for God. (Note: ALWAYS wear a painting apron. I didn't and marble painted my skirt!)

You can find the template I modified for this project HERE at Bible Story Printables' website.

On the back I added a song one of my students had taught me earlier in the year when I read the book 3 in 1 by Joanne Marxhausen.

We read this during our "Apple" unit in September.

Worth more than Gold

We started talking about gold. It's valuable. It costs a lot of money. Gold coins can buy expensive things. This naturally led to "My grandpa has a gold tooth...." Hehe!

We then talked about the legend of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.... and got to thinking...

Looks like we have a saver in the group (last response).

We then started discussing....  it would be great to find a pot of gold, but people are more valuable than something that can get spent, lost, or stolen.

We did a little "Turn and Talk" about WHO was worth more to us than gold. Their responses filled my heart:

"My Dad because he plays with me all of the time. I love him."

"The new baby because it is part of my family." 

"My Mom because she cooks my favorite food."

"Jesus because he died for us. He was born at Christmas."

"My Dad because he tells people about Jesus."

Thanks to Lindsey at The Teacher Wife for this adorable idea and printable!

Head on over to The Teacher Wife's blog to download this FREEBIE!

We displayed them outside our classroom around the hand print rainbow we painted earlier this week.

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow.

May God's love surround you wherever you go!