Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on March 17TH, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century and this day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilís, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks.
It is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (for provincial government employees), and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, especially amongst Irish diaspora. Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. Modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America.
We, at New Deal, celebrated this popular and important holiday by explaining our students its origins and importance around the world along with the different kind of celebrations held globally nowadays.
First we started out with a brainstorming activity in which each participant expressed their own thoughts about this celebration; it was without a doubt the best way to start. After that, we started a contest related to important information about St. Patrick, each student had to choose the correct option according to the information given previously and if their guesses were correct, they would continue to another activity, otherwise they would have to make up a sentence using the elements of the correct answer. We had so much fun!
To finish we did a little game using the Saint Patrick’s symbols and objects in which each student would have to digitally get dressed similar to the picture shown on the screen. Everyone had so much fun and learned a little more about this celebration.
