Friday, March 13, 2009

Of Snakes and Rainbows and Saint Patrick

First and foremost I want to share our all time favorite St. Patrick books. It is quite a collection, but after all, we are Irish (some more than others!)
If you click on the book's cover, it will take you to the Amazon link.







This is our very favorite St. Patrick's Day craft book.
Our favorite Leprechaun book,

and our favorite St. Patrick video.
We have been enjoying rainbows and shamrocks, and now we are learning all about Saint Patick.
One of the stories we have heard about St. Patrick, is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland by beating his drum to drive them into the sea. So what better that some snake crafts.
I found these springy spiral snakes at the DLTK website.

These snakes were for Mark and Grace to make.
First Mark and Grace decorated their snakes.
Nice job!
Lastly you simply cut the snake out along the black line, forming a spiral.
They came out great. I threaded a string through the tail of the snake. They spring up and down, and after we hung them from the ceiling, they twirl nicely in the breeze.
Kim and Luke made a colorful, rainbow snake, also from the DLTK website.
Kim and Luke, with my help, colored all the parts of the snake in the color of the rainbow. There is an option of printing this in color. This would have been a better choice for us, as the kids got tired of coloring and they needed a lot of help.
I cut out the pieces and then decided instead of just gluing the parts together, that I would put brass fasteners between each segment of the snake so that it could be played with, not just hung up on the wall.
We put the snakes together following the colors of the rainbow. Both kids are getting really good at naming the colors in the correct order.
Luke's snake.
Kim's snake is just lovely. You can see in this picture that I didn't cut around the snake's tongue. I thought it would rip off too easily if I cut it and made it so skinny. (Six hours after being played with constantly, they are still in one piece.)
Make sure to check out the other We Made It, Saturday Showcase posts.

5 comments:

jennwa said...

Those snakes are great. We have done something similiar to those spiral snakes, and my kids love it.
Also thanks for sharing those St Patrick's Day books.

Thanks for linking, have a great weekend.

Vickie said...

That is a cool project. My oldest daughter is into animals.

I am also a little Irish.

Amberella said...

I love that rainbow snake! So cute!

Stacy said...

Joanne, that is an amazing photo that you have on the top of your page. I love how the little kids are all doing their own thing. You should blow that up!

Rhonda said...

I like the spiral snakes and the little ones colorful snakes. The picture of Kimberly with it around her neck was just as cute as can be.