• One place I would love to go on St. Patrick’s Day is to Ireland and have a Guinness and listen to the bagpipes. Although these things have nothing to do with the true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day. In actuality, March 17th is the anniversary of the day of death for the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. It isn’t a day to pinch people who don’t wear green (although that was a fun part of the holiday for me as a kid). I don’t celebrate this holiday for its religious significance, but  I do join in on the green festivities because it’s a lot fun. The green hue coloring of this holiday makes me think of the immediate arrival of spring and all things green (foods, recycling, etc). Plus this is one of the few holidays that doesn’t revolve around consumerism and candy. Here are some of our favorite ways to celebrate St. Patty’s Day:

    • * Eat all green foods: Often kids equate green foods as tasting bad because they’re constantly reminded to finish their greens (broccoli, green beans, celery, etc). So to change that, they help gather as many green foods as we can find and we experiment with the ingredients to make the color green delicious, healthy and fun. The kids help me prepare Green Bell peppers with guacamole, asparagus soup, green eggs (eggs with pesto), spinach noodles with pesto, green roasted apples, homemade bread with pesto (green bread) and green smoothies, the key ingredient being frozen Kiwis.
    • * We wear green clothing – My daughter turns it into a game whereby she hides her green clothing, so people pinch her and then she corrects them by showing off her green socks, so she can pinch them back.
    • * Put green color in the toilet bowls (that means a leprechaun urinated there).
    • * To review the importance of “being green” and recycling, we dress up as green leprechauns and play the “Recycling Treasure Hunt” game (see our Playdate article Recycling Treasure Hunt).
    • * My all-time favorite: Send the kids in the yard or take them to the park to search for 4 leaf clovers. This takes them at least 30 minutes before they give up, which means I have 30 uninterrupted minutes to myself.

    So, be creative to make this St. Patrick’s Day fun, educational and tasty!