Leap into March!

 If you're anything like me, then you like to plan ahead.  With the first day of March being tomorrow, I thought today would be the perfect day to talk about St. Patrick's Day and get a head start on planning...if you haven't already.  

But before we get to all that, HAPPY LEAP DAY!!!!  

This couldn't be more true.  

If you happen to be checking this before your school day starts...or during your lunch/planning break....and you need some Leap Day ideas, you can check out what I shared last week by clicking the pic below.

In honor of Leap Day, I'm throwing a sale in my shop.

Click the pic below for 20% off!!!

St. Patrick's Day has always been one of my most favorite **holidays**.   The green.  The pinching.  The silly traditions.  I love it all.  My dad's side of the family is Irish.  My cousin's name is Liffey (after the Liffey River in Dublin Ireland).  And she has red hair.  AND...her birthday is on St. Patrick's Day!!!!  HA!!!  I LOVE IT!!!!!

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in the primary grades is just my favorite.  I love the way the littles believe pretty much anything you say and almost everything that happens.  It's cute and endearing and it reminds me how magical life is when you're a 5/6/7 year old.  And I love that.  

I love to (tempera) paint the side of my fist green and leave little leprechaun footprints all over the desks...then turn over the chairs and leave the classroom a bit of a mess when the kids are out of the room.  OH, that CRAZY leprechaun!!!  The kids go NUTS!!!  I usually spray paint a ton of garbanzo beans gold and then leave the little nuggets all over the room & let my kids collect them.  At the end of the day the leprechaun usually leaves a little baggie full of gold nuggets, gold chocolate coins, Rolos, and froot loops for each of my kiddos.  The excitement is palpable.  They fall for it every.single.year.  And all of those silly shenanigans sure do make for some great writing experiences, too.  Not to mention the memories :)  

These are 17 of my most favorite St. Patrick's Day read alouds.  I read them throughout the week.

I think I've been doing these little loopy leprechauns with my kids since my 2nd year teaching.  I love the way they turn out and love the writing that goes with it.  

You can download the template and writing printable HERE or by clicking the picture below.

We did this little math craftivity last year in Kindergarten.

It was inspired by Erin's math craftivity.  Hers is MUCH cuter!!!!!!!

And I pretty much LOVE everything in Sarah Cooley's Shamrock Shenanigans packet.  Especially this darling writing craftivity!

Speaking of craftivities, here's another great one from Lindsey at The Teacher Wife.  And it's FREE!

I absolutely LOVE directed drawings.  Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies has a WONDERFUL video tutorial for a leprechaun directed drawing activity.  I LOVE this!!!!  

This is a great resource for St. Patrick's Day science activities from Creekside Learning.

I have included several St. Patrick's Day themed printables in my March Print & Practice Math & LIteracy packet.

There are also some great St. Patrick's Day themed problem solving activities in my Spring Print & Practice Problem Solving packet.  

And there are also some great St. Patrick's Day vocabulary cards, labeling activities, writing task cards, and other writing activities in my March Work on Writing packet. 

The Science of March also has some great Rainbow themed experiments and activities that would be perfect for a little science tie-in!!