Posted in Fun With Felt

For St. Patrick's Day the kids and I will be going to a party in the afternoon.  We are looking forward to eating a lot of green food, having a treasure hunt and seeing  if anyone forgot to wear green so we can pinch them!    But before we go I want them to have an idea of why we are celebrating an Irish holiday.

I plan on talking with them about the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's.  We like many other American's are descendants of Irish immigrants.  So I want them to understand that a terrible plant disease is partially responsible for us being here.

Then I will be reading them the book Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola.


Next, I have made a felt board story to demonstrate how St. Patrick used the Shamrock to explain the Trinity.  I have cut 3 large felt hearts and one stem.  I have marked them Father, Son and Spirit.  1st we'll talk about what Trinity means and discuss other words that have "tri" in them. (Like tricycle and triceratops!)  Then I will put up the felt pieces.



Here's my felt board story.

Saint Patrick would tell the people that God is the Father.
(Put up Father heart.)
In 1 Corinthians 8:6 it says
"For us there is only one God - Our Father.  All things come from Him and we live for Him."

He would tell them that God is the Son.
(Put up Son heart.)
In Romans 9:5 we read:
"...they are the earthly family into which Jesus Christ was born, who is God overall."

He would tell them that God is the Holy Spirit.
(Put up Spirit Heart.)
In Genesis 1:2 it says
"The earth was empty and had no form.  Darkness covered the ocean and God's Spirit was moving over the water."

Now at this point I can imagine that people where very confused.  It would seem, at this point he is telling them that God was 3 different people!

But this is when he would direct their attention to the stem of the Shamrock.  (Put up stem.)  He would explain to them that even though there are 3 parts of the Shamrock they are connected to be one.
In Duet. 4:35 it says
"He showed you things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other God besides Him."

When the people of Ireland heard all of this they were able to understand what he was trying to tell them about God.  Soon most of the country of Ireland were believers in Jesus Christ!

So the next time you see a Shamrock remember how St. Patrick used it to teach the people of Ireland about the Trinity and that God really is 3 special parts.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.



After we finish our felt board story we will make our own Father, Son & Spirit Shamrocks  out of fun foam to wear to the party.  Hopefully the will get lots of questions about their shamrocks and get the chance to explain to other kids about the Trinity.



Have a blessed Saint Patrick's Day!

May the wisdom of God instruct me;
The eye of God watch over me;
The ear of God hear me;
The Word of God give sweetness to my speech;
The hand of God defend me;
And may I follow the way of God this and every day.
                                                        -St. Patrick

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Comments

Posted by writmm

What a terrific idea! And I had never heard that before. Thanks for starting my St. Patrick's Day off right!

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Posted by heresseven

I love the curls on your little one. Your kids are soooo cute! I was reading through some of your blog. I will have to come back later, so many interesting blogs, I just need more time!
I loved that comment you left on my blog. To funny, that has happened to me too! My youngest son is almost 13 and we still get little 5-6 year olds coming to the door.

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Posted by Leigh2

Yay! You've given me a lesson to tie into St.Patricks Day because...um...I forgot about it. Sigh. Good thing the kids aren't up yet! Now I've got to find us all some green clothes. LOL

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Posted by preschoolmommy

yeah, I just love this idea of the felt board. I didn't go into too much detail w/ my children this morning about the shamrock, just that he used it to explain about God...too young to fully understand, I think.

Well, HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY! My son calls it THANKS PATRICKS DAY...I tend to agree. I believe with out him, my family may not have discovered the strong Christian faith!

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Posted by preschoolmommy

I'm thinking you need to change your name to FELT FREAK or FUN WITH FELT. I'm inspired to go out and buy some now, since you use it so often and have such a great time with it! ha

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Posted by homesklr

We used your shamrock idea. We read a story a couple days ago about St Patrick and we reread it today and made the shamrock. It helped reinforce who St Patrick was and what he did as opposed to just the fun of eating green things all day. Thanks for sharing your idea.

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Posted by dinomomm

What a great addition this will add to our St. Patrick's Day celebration! St. Patty's day is big here in Savannah, but, shall we say, the celebration is lacking the Christian trappings of its patron saint. I remember reading about his creative use of the shamrock to share the gospel. Thanks so much for the reminder! You share such creative teaching ideas that I am adding you to my friends so that I can check back. Thanks again.

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Posted by mom2ZAW

We really like St Patrick's Day, too. We have done the treasure hunt and eaten green foods, too. I feel kind of bad because my 11 year old son said just this morning that he wished we could do a treasure hunt again. I may have them do ones for each other instead. I even have some chocolate coins to use. I think the story of St. Patrick is so great. It's not just about wearing green and pinching people, although that was the first thing we did this morning. :o) Thanks for the good idea for the lesson on the shamrock and the Trinity. It would make a good children's lesson at church on Sunday.

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Posted by redmom

I love it!! (I hope to get the newsletter out this weekend and will be linking to all your goodies!)

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Posted by t4jesus

Hey, thanks for the site on the homeschool groups in Albuquerque. I appreciate it and will check it out. I also love your St. Patty's day ideas--I am sure your kids have so much fun!!

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Posted by appleleaf

Hi, I was having a random search and found your blog. Thanks for all the terrific hands-on, practical tips you give. I'd thought I'd say hello because my family sounds very similar to yours. I have an 11 year old son, a 7 year old daughter and an almost 2 year old son. I'll visit your blog more often in future to get more ideas on what works with such a set-up. We each have three children with considerable age gaps and a girl in the middle. It's good to pick other people's brains sometimes.

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Posted by schooldad

Thanks for the comment on my blog and from the looks of this great shamrock idea it's no wonder you are having a blast with school now! I'd love it it too.

This is a great idea and my kids love it when we work in our lessons with some type of crafty thing (I have to get my better half in for the crafts though... I'm all thumbs.). I haven't had the opportunity to get into felt yet, but this might just be something we'll be doing very shortly.

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