Tuesday, March 9, 2010

St. Patrick's Day Family Fun!

Hi Friends! :) I recently received the following note in my mailbag...

Dear Cindy,
Any suggestions for St. Patrick’s Day? I would like to do some fun things, but don’t really have any ideas. You are my “party go to expert”....


I'm so glad you asked, dear one! I am busy in St. Patrick's Day planning mode ~ and would love to share my family~friendly ideas with you!



I've already pulled out our St. Patrick's Day books. We've been reading The Story of Saint Patricks Day by Patricia Pingry for years!

I love sharing with my kids St. Patrick's love for God, and how he used the shamrock to share the Trinity with others (more info on teaching St. Pat here)

And how will we celebrate on St. Patrick's Day??


Typically, we start the day with green pancakes. Here's a fun picture from a few years ago....


Don't they look adorable?? (Sorry I still had my hearts of loving kindness hanging from the chandelier. I'll have to share that idea in another post...)


For lunch, I usually cut their sandwich into a shamrock with a shamrock~shaped cookie cutter, throw in a green napkin, cut green apples or grapes, green veggies, etc...


For dinner, here is the menu we usually have...

* Shamrock Shaped Pizza

* Green Fluff Salad (my kids favorite ~ with marshmallows & pistachio pudding mix)

* Lettuce Salad & Dressing

* Fresh Green Vegetables (cucumbers, celery, broccoli, snow peas, etc..)

* Green finger jello (shamrock shaped, of course)

* Cupcakes for the kids (Fun Recipe here or here)

* Key Lime Pie (this is a new addition. We've invited friends over, and the mom offered to bring this for dessert. My husband John is thrilled!)

(More yummy food recipes here!)


Other St. Patrick's Day party ideas...

Of course, we will have tattoos :) Here's a pic from a former celebration.... (My jewelry is from Claires. Super fun, but inexpensive!)


* We also have a Treasure Hunt. I place a shamrock under one of our guests' dinner plates. After dinner, I have everyone look under their plates. The shamrock under the plate has the first clue. At the end of the treasure hunt, I have little black pots filled with candy gold for all the kids. (I originally saw this idea here). The kids LOVE it! :)

* It wouldn't be a party without BINGO. You can make your own St. Patrick's Day BINGO cards here.

* I'll print off lots of color sheets, word searches, mazes, etc.. You can get started here or here.


You might think, "Cindy, why do all this work for one simple day?".

Well, years ago, I coordinated a program for homeless teen moms. We happened to be out driving to appointments on St. Patrick's Day. I drove by McDonald's and saw a sign for Shamrock Shakes. We stopped in and I bought all the teens a Shamrock Shake. You would have thought I gave them a million dollars. The teens were thrilled to enjoy a special shake, and asked me if I would do that every year for them. Simple. Inexpensive. Took very little time. And yet, my guess is that these teens will always remember that day. I know I will. (And yes, the next year I bought green shakes again for all the homeless teens!)

When my Jake was little and I was a single mom, every year on St. Patrick's Day, I'd take him to McDonald's for a shamrock shake.

Now that Jake is older, our family has grown (a lot!), ~ I don't ever want to miss the chance to make an "ordinary" day more "extraordinary". This year, thankfully, I am able to spend a little more time planning this celebration. But if our world was crazy...we would at least stop by McDonald's for a Shamrock Shake. :)

May I encourage you to "mark this moment" in some little, special way. Your kids will remember. You will remember. :)



And if you don't have a McDonald's nearby, a delicious Shamrock Shake recipe is here. Thank you to Recipe Zaar for sharing! :)

Happy early St. Patrick's Day!! Do you have any tradition or family fun ideas to mark this day?? I'd love to hear from you!!!

Many blessings to you!!



P.S. For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer.
P.S.S. My celebration ideas are obviously very kid-friendly. If you're looking for more "grown up" recipe ideas, All Recipes has some great looking recipes here.

17 comments:

Kel said...

I've never done the green pancakes. My girls will love that! Thanks for the idea.

Carrie Cooper said...

Carrie @ comfortedbyGod.blogspot.com

Cindy--What fabulous ideas! Ive never even thought about doing anything to celebrate St Patricks Day so these are welcome suggestions. My kids would totally love the treasure hunt and green pancakes. Cute post!

Andrea said...

Blessings,
andrea

Let'sMakeADifference said...

Great ideas! We'll also be celebrating a birthday! Our 4th son will be 21!

Kirsten said...

Such great ideas - thanks for sharing!

We make green posicles - general recipe here:
http://paintingpinkpajamas.blogspot.com/2009/06/fruit-popsicles-and-sneaky-vegetables.html

Jennifer said...

These are some awesome ideas!

Thanks for visiting our St. Patrick's Day Craft Ideas blog post and giving us your link.

I'm following you now through your RSS feed and Twitter so I can be sure to see more great stuff from you in the future!

-Jennifer

Mc Allen said...

ohhh some great ideas.. Ive never had that shamrock shake , yum!! I love how dedicated to the cause you are, lol!! xoxo LA

Julie said...

Thank you for sharing. Such great ideas even to incorp. today in our St. Pat's day birthday party. Thank you so much.
Follow Friday is here and I'm a following. Take care and God Bless!!

dustinnikki said...

Hi, Happy Follow Friday! I'm your newest follower!

http://dustinnikki.blogspot.com/

Great ideas!

Nicole

Tatum said...

What great ideas!! I am now following you from FF & hope you have a great Friday!!!
http://tatumsreviews.blogspot.com/

Joy said...

I'm soooo glad I just found you through Friday Follow!!!!! Love this post and will be linking to it on my blog this week when I highlight St. Patrick's Day.

Hope you have a super weekend.
:)

Julie@comehaveapeace said...

Cindy, will you make a "She Speaks" bingo? :) And I think a book of celebrations from the heart could be in your future!

Anonymous said...

What fabulous ideas! I'm going to use some of them with my little ones this year! And I've never heard of the Shamrock Shake. I'm going to have to check that out.

Tonya said...

Wow! Now, those things look like fun! What a loving mommy to plan all that and create such fun memories!
I may have to add some "greenery" to our day on the 17th.

Joy said...

Happy Saturday!! Just wanted to let you know that I've given you an award. Check out all the details ... http://myreasonstoblog.blogspot.com/ ... hope you'll pass it on to others.
~ Joy :)

LeAnn said...

I see a kindred spirit in you! I have not yet planned my St Pat's Day, and it looks like you have some fabulous things going on here. I am going to have to use a bunch of then I think! Thanks. :)

Freely Living Life said...

Hi there!

We are visiting from the FF. We are already followers of yours and wanted to stop by and say hello. :) Hope you had a fantastic weekend! <3

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