St. Patrick's Day Literacy Activities {FREE}

It’s time to celebrate all things Irish! We’ve made FOUR FREE St. Patrick’s Day literacy activities to compliment your classroom celebrations. St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that observes the life of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It should be noted that this holiday is heavy on symbolic images like golden coins, shamrocks, rainbows, leprechauns and the color green. All of these are a way to bring “the luck o’ the Irish” to your students. You can introduce your students to this celebration of Irish culture while inviting some luck into your classroom with these fun ELA activities covering reading, writing and syllable sorting!

Getting Started

Since these printable activities require little or no prep, only a few materials will be needed to complete our literacy worksheets:

pencils
markers or crayons
scissors
glue
stapler
optional: cardstock

To begin, just print the activities you want to use with your little learners. You may want to use all of them or just a couple depending on how much time you have. Also, some of these activities might be review and done independently while others may be a new concept that can be done together as a whole class. Basically, you decide what works best for your students!

St. Patrick’s Day Literacy Activity #1: Word Book Craft

This craftivity is super cute and very easy to put together! First, give the leprechaun template for students to cut out and color. We like to print them out on cardstock for extra durability but regular paper is ok too. Then, students will complete the mini book word pages by coloring and tracing the St. Patrick’s Day words. Finally, staple the word book to their leprechaun!

st. patrick's day literacy activities word book

St. Patrick’s Day Literacy Activity #2: Label the Leprechaun

This is a fun labeling activity that gets kids reading and matching words to the parts of a leprechaun. So, if your students are just starting to learn to read, have them work in pairs to figure out the words. Remember, older children will be able to read them more independently. After they have labeled their leprechaun, they can color him!

st. patrick's day literacy activities leprechaun

St. Patrick’s Day Literacy Activity #3: Syllable Sort

Our printable sorting mat is a great way to review breaking up words into syllables! But, if this is your kiddos first time working with syllable sorting, you may want to do this activity as a class. Simply have students cut and paste each St. Patrick’s Day themed word into the correct box. All words will either be 1-3 syllable(s) long.

st. patrick's day literacy activities syllables

St. Patrick’s Day Literacy Activity #4: Mystery Message

Who doesn’t love a secret message? We know that our kids sure do love them! Students will use the letter and number key to decode this holiday inspired phrase. Keep in mind, we like to use this activity as the last thing they do because once they figure it out, they can turn the page in for a special treat! For example, we usually have gold candy coins in mini black pots ready for each student to enjoy (which can be found in most dollar stores this time of year). We love to give them a reward for all their hard work after finishing the St. Patrick’s Day literacy activities! Best of all, they get so excited to receive their little treats.

Extending the St. Patrick’s Day Fun!

We’ve come up with some other ways to incorporate this fun holiday into your classroom. Use them to make St. Paddy’s Day come to life!

1. Read books about St. Patrick’s Day! Learning about the history of this holiday is the perfect way to start your day of celebration. Without a doubt, our favorite is St. Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons. This non-fiction book tells you everything you need to know about the holiday. Your students will learn the story of Patrick’s life, legends about the saint and the history of the holiday. Clearly, it is the perfect introduction to the symbols and customs that surround this special day.

2. Enjoy Irish culture. You can play Irish music and even show videos of dances like jigs and step dancing. Also, you can find videos with virtual tours of Ireland and popular tourist sights. Moreover, Ireland has many beautiful castles and cliffs that you’re students will love to “visit”.

3. Eat Irish foods and/or green treats! Some popular Irish cuisine includes corned beef and cabbage, Shepard’s Pie, soda bread, and boiled potatoes. Or, dye some of your favorite treats with green food coloring like cupcakes, Rice Krispy treats, and milk.

4. Lastly, if you’re looking for even more ways to celebrate the holiday, check out this pack available in our shop or on TPT: