March Lesson Plans and Supplemental Education Activities

March Lesson Plans and Supplemental Education Activities

Teachers and parents often look for themed activities that concentrate on the current month. March introduces California to spring and includes St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. There are many ways that teachers and parents can add fun and productive educational activities into their students’ lives this month.

1. St. Patrick’s Day Art Projects for Young Students

Materials needed: Green crepe paper, masking tape, scissors, white glue, and washable markers.

Elementary school teachers or parents can work on this fun and low-supervision art project with their kids this month. Students will cut out long ovals using scissors and green crepe paper. They can then tape them together (creating a stem) to make a garden of four-leaf clovers. Once the students have enough clovers or shamrocks to fill out a sheet of paper they can tape or glue them on and create their own shamrock garden. This is a great activity for teachers to do in the month of March if they are on a strict budget or a great thing for parents to do with their kids to help extend their imagination and creativity (READ: “5 Fun Projects to Get Your Kid Interested in Math”).

Students who want to celebrate spring can also make crêpe paper daises or roses using white, yellow, or pink crêpe paper, or they can draw the flowers on the base paper with washable markers.

2. Fun activities around town

Parents who want to take their kids out for a little bit of green fun this March can visit some of the enjoyable local events to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. There are several parades and festivals that encourage young children to socialize and celebrate this lively holiday. For example, there are St. Patrick’s Day parades and festivals in San Diego County as well as a St. Patrick’s Day 10K run (with shorter distances for kids), which is a good way to introduce physical education two young children.

For more information: Your Lucky Guide to SoCal’s St. Patrick’s Day Events

3. Irish folklore

Parents and teachers alike are constantly trying to get their kids to read more often; young kids are more likely to read for fun if they can be immersed in a world of imagination and fun. There are many Irish tales that are appropriate for young kids, which provide a great opportunity for them to increase their reading skills while learning about another culture.

Examples here: Celtic Fairy Tales

4. The Irish language

Another great way to celebrate March is to learn about the Irish culture and integrate foreign language learning. Although not spoken as much as it used to be, Ireland has its own language called Gaelic. Young students are encouraged to learn about different languages as a way of learning about different cultures and their history. Although most students will simply think that they’re having fun, learning something as simple as how to ask somebody’s name or how to say ‘good morning’ is a great way to broaden cultural horizons. Students who enjoy arts and crafts projects can draw the beautiful Gaelic alphabet with a calligraphy pen or paint brush or simply write their name or a kind greeting while mom or dad is making dinner.

More information here: Irish (Gaeilge)

Many teachers start to run out of new ideas as the end of the school year approaches, and looking to different themes for each month is a great way to keep classroom projects interesting for young kids. Parents can also sneak in important skills and educational elements including cultural diversity, foreign language learning, arts and crafts, and general socialization. March is a great month to celebrate Irish culture and everything green.

Happy Spring, Southern California!

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