30 Ways to Celebrate All Things Green

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day all month long with these festive ideas!

• Pick a parade. From Midtown to Martin City, Belton to Brookside and Lawrence to Lexington, there are more than a dozen St. Patrick’s parades in our area. Visit KCParent.com for a complete listing.
• Green menu. Use green food coloring in your family’s eggs, pancakes, milk and more, and serve green foods such as grapes and broccoli.
• Visit the Kansas City Irish Center. Located at Union Station, the center offers exhibits, classes and special events relating to Irish heritage and culture. (IrishCenterKC.org)
• Gold coins. Reward kids with gold coins (found at dollar stores) for doing their chores, using their manners, etc. The kids can then redeem them for a trip to the bookstore or dollar store.
• Create a fruit rainbow. Use strawberries, oranges, bananas, kiwi, blueberries, grapes (or any other colorful fruits) to create a rainbow. Use mini marshmallows as “clouds” and gold chocolate coins as “gold.”
• Feast on Irish food. Your family might want to bypass the crowds at Irish-themed restaurants on St. Patrick’s Day, but head to one another day in March. Browne's Irish Market, O'Dowd's Little Dublin and Riley's Irish Pub & Grill are a few in the area. Read our guide to KC's Best Irish Restaurants for more.
• Head to the library. Take the kiddos to check out books on the history of St. Patrick’s Day. Many libraries also hold St. Patty’s-themed story times and other special events. Check with your local branch.
• Scavenger hunt. Have the kids locate green objects around the house, yard and neighborhood. First one to find all the objects gets a prize!
• Host a party. We had a memorable St. Patty’s a few years ago when a friend invited other moms and kids over for green eggs and ham, a mini parade through her house, coloring sheets and other festivities. It was a simple but fun celebration.
• Drink green beer—root beer, that is. Use green food coloring and serve in clear mugs. You can even top with green ice cream.
• Build a leprechaun trap. Have little ones get creative with shoeboxes, glitter and stickers to create a trap. Paint rocks gold to entice the wee fellas, then leave a trail of gold glitter to prove the leprechauns were there.
• Cook an Irish meal. Go online to find recipes for Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and more, then make the goodies as a family. Dessert can be cupcakes with green frosting or sugar cookies with green sugar.
• Support Harvesters. Participate in the 30^th annual Go for the Green food drive, held in February and March. Donations collected by participating schools, area businesses and Price Chopper stores will benefit individuals served by Harvesters.
• Run and have fun. Are you a family of runners? Join hundreds of green-clad Kansas Citians in the Westport St. Patrick’s Day Run. The course is four miles, with a Kids Fun Run at the end. Go to StPatricksDay4MileRun.com for details and to register.
• Wear green. Go head to toe green or wear just a splash so you don’t get pinched.
• Play leprechaun tag. Kids can choose any gold “treasure” they have at home. Pick someone to be the leprechaun. He tries to tag the person with the treasure, which can be passed back and forth among the players. Once he tags someone holding the treasure, that person becomes the leprechaun.
• Tie-Dye. Make your own St. Patty’s t-shirts by tie-dyeing them green.
• Play Irish music. March is not only St. Patrick’s Day, it is also Irish Heritage Month. Celebrate by playing Irish or Celtic music, which can be found on YouTube, Amazon, iTunes and more.
• Eat apple pie. What do apples have to do with St. Patty’s Day? The fruit has been grown in Ireland for at least 3,000 years, and St. Patrick is said to have planted apple trees in his adopted land.
• Create a cereal rainbow. Cut a paper plate in half and glue colorful cereal (such as Froot Loops) in a rainbow pattern.
• Learn about Ireland. If your family’s knowledge of the Emerald Isle is sparse, you can find plenty of info online. TimeForKids.com has an “Around the World” section which features photos, a history timeline, quizzes, fun facts, “day in the life” and more from various nations, Ireland included.
• Go green. The green month is a great time to teach your children the importance of being eco-conscious. Turn off electronics when not in use, recycle, take shorter showers and walk instead of drive when possible.
• Make green flowers. Buy white carnations, make a cut at the bottom of each stem and put in a vase of water with several drops of green food coloring. The food coloring will slowly make its way up the stems and turn the flowers green!
• Make rainbow cupcakes. Prepare a box of white cake mix and divide batter into six bowls. Add food coloring to each bowl to make yellow, orange, red, green, blue and purple batter. Layer a little of each into cupcake tins and bake as directed. Top with green frosting.
• Dress up the pets, too. Humans don’t have to be the only species to wear green! Dress Fido or Fluffy in green bandanas or sweaters.
• Lucky duck. Try your luck at winning some green at Shawnee’s annual Duck Race on Sunday, March 15. Visit CityofShawnee.org for more info.
• Think spring. St. Patty’s Day coincides with spring break in many local school districts. Celebrate the arrival of the green season by flying a kite, visiting a park or going for a bike ride.
• Plant some spuds. Potatoes, of course, are associated with Ireland, and March is the perfect time to plant them.
• Shamrock craft. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make the three leaves of a shamrock. Color or paint.
• Read Green Eggs and Ham. March is Dr. Seuss’ birthday, green is associated with St. Patrick’s Day and Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham!

Tisha Foley and her family live in Belton, will be wearing green and eating corned beef on the Irish holiday.