• Children learn with holiday puzzles.dancing leprechaun with shamrocks image by Maria Bell from Fotolia.com
  
  Many children look forward to St. Patrick's Day. They get to make St. Patrick's Day-related crafts in school, wear tall, green hats and clover pins, and eat foil-wrapped chocolate coins. Many schools hold mini-parties in the classroom that involve Irish-themed games and puzzles, stories and music that teach children a little about the country's culture and history.
  
  

St. Patrick's Day Word Search

• Most children are familiar with word searches, words hidden within a grid of letters. Apples 4 the Teacher offers printable word searches packed with Irish words, though teachers may certainly make their own. Children circle or highlight the words with green markers. When finished, the teacher and children discuss what each word means. Words like shamrock, leprechaun and cauldron may be appropriate for younger children, while older children can learn certain Gaelic words like "failte" (welcome), "shillelagh" (club) and Irish place names. Students may then draw pictures of the search words to help them remember what they mean.
  
  

Irish Memory Game

• Children of all ages will enjoy playing this Irish memory game from DLTK Holidays. It starts with 16 to 36 cards that are about six inches square, so the students can see them easily. Each card should have a duplicate, so there should be 8 to 18 pictures total. Pictures of rainbows, leprechauns, shamrocks, Irish standing stones and gold coins are all appropriate. The teacher splits the class into two teams and lays out all of the cards on the floor with the teams flanking the grid. The teacher flips a gold plastic coin to see who goes first. The first team gets to choose two cards; if they match, they get to keep the cards. If not, the other team gets a turn. The team with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
  
  

Shamrock Scavenger Hunt

• This shamrock scavenger hunt is both a puzzle and a game from 123 Child. The teacher creates clue tags in the shape of shamrocks and hides them around the room. Each shamrock should lead to the next clue, with the final clue leading to a small plastic cauldron filled with chocolate coins, colorful stones and other treats. The teacher splits the classroom into teams of two to three students. Each team must follow the clues to the treasure, putting the clues back for the next team after reading them. The first team to find the treasure wins and passes out treats to the rest of the class. The winners get special sparkly certificates.