St. Patrick’s Day Writing Center

I’m so ready to share my St. Patrick’s Day language materials with you! The focus of this center is storytelling, and the items that I have available for the holiday really support that. So let’s dive in!

Leprechaun Dress Up – Who wouldn’t want to be a leprechaun?! Chasing rainbows and searching for gold sounds like an amazing adventure, and children can use these materials to act that out. I’ve got tutus, bow ties, feather boas, fun glasses, and headbands. I’ve also included top hats, blazers and vests, and messenger bags in the past.

Shamrock Cupcake Letter Match – These cupcakes are just the cutest, and sometimes that’s all it takes to get a preschooler to practice their letter recognition skills. I’m all about using materials that will attract and engage, and cupcakes are always a good bet. Matching capital and lowercase letters can build recognition and understanding of how written language works. 

Stickers – This is the easiest activity to prep, but preschoolers LOVE to have free reign with stickers, and it hits some serious fine motor skills. If you’ve ever watched a young preschooler try to peel stickers off a sheet like this, you can see the concentration, care, and effort that goes into it. Encouraging children to practice these skills will support the same care and effort in future writing, while also building those finger muscles. This set is kid-friendly and school-appropriate, and so are these! (affiliate links)

St. Patrick’s Figurines – These were a dollar spot find that have been popular with my littles year after year for storytelling. They can be used with block towns, or to act out St. Patrick’s day books. Here’s a cute set of similar gnomes, and if figurines aren’t available I’ve also used felt shapes (this set is amazing!) and even copied book pages and cut out the paper characters. (all links are affiliates)

St. Patrick’s Day Alphabet Book – If you really want to get into the holiday and explore Irish heritage a little more then this book is perfect. In an effort to find words for each letter of the alphabet, I’ve included a number of Irish town names, along with vocabulary that might not be as common for preschoolers, like emerald, jig, and bagpipes. These alphabet books are really effective at helping children listen to letter sounds using new words – giving them the opportunity to really apply their understanding of these sounds.

Sticky notes and green writing utensils – I seem to have an unusually large collection of green sticky notes, is that just me? I don’t know what it is about tiny little pieces of paper, but these are like magnets for preschoolers. Putting out sticky notes is a surefire way to get them writing and drawing (and then decorating the classroom with their work). These can also support storytelling if you encourage children to draw or write one piece of the story on each sticky note, and then posting them all like a comic strip or story board. I’ve included some green pens and green and gold pencils to go with the theme. Here are some solid green square sticky notes, and some larger lined rectangular sticky notes (affiliate links). I really like to ask for donations from parents too, because that can give you a great variety for children to choose from.

Leprechaun mini books – I used my Leprechaun Story Starters for these. Instead of printing the full pages, I changed the printer settings to print 4 pages on one page, giving me smaller images of each page. Then I cut the pages out and stapled them into books. This means each child can create and illustrate their own leprechaun book.

St. Patrick’s Day Vocabulary Cards – These are a staple on my writing centers. I love that they help children write independently, and that children have an opportunity to create their own sets. Since I use these so often, children regularly build a large collection of their own vocabulary cards that they can use in the classroom or take home and use there.

Cozy space – I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a ton of St. Patrick’s Day books, but there are still so many things that children can use this cozy space for. Most importantly, it’s inviting and homey – that’s something that I’m always trying to build into the classroom.

When it comes to St. Patrick’s day, anything green goes – but don’t forget about the gold too! Throwing in those little gold touches makes everything more magical. Pop back in on Friday to see what I have for math and science during this mischievous holiday.