St. Patrick’s Day has a reputation of being adult-oriented, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great holiday for kids, too. As you start planning how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, try to keep both kids and adults in mind!
How do you do that? By checking out some of the ideas below that can make your party good for both groups. There are plenty of kid-friendly St. Patty’s party ideas that you can weave into your holiday plans.
Kid-Friendly St. Patty’s Party Ideas
Here’s a fun fact you can share with the kids: About 33 million people in the United States – around 10% of the population – claim some Irish ancestry. That’s bigger than the current population of Ireland, which is about 5 million!
Once you’ve tickled their brains with that fact, you can move on to providing them with some fun things to do as you celebrate an Irish holiday that’s bigger in the U.S. than it is on the Emerald Isle. You can make St. Patrick’s Day special with some of these ideas.
Tons of Bounce Houses to Choose From!
Games and Inflatables
You aren’t going to go wrong offering the kids a bounce house or inflatable slide to enjoy during the party. There are also tons of cool carnival games that will bring midway fun into your St. Patrick’s Day party.
Inflatable Slide Rentals You'll Love
Green Foods
Put a little Irish into your meals with green pancakes or (and they will love this) a giant bowl of Lucky Charms and green milk. But that’s just getting started. Because so many people celebrate the holiday, you can now get items at many grocery stores that are green, shamrock-shaped, rainbow-colored and festooned with images of Leprechauns. You can also expect that to especially apply to tons of cookies, cupcakes and cake options.
Go to the Parade
Most communities have some sort of St. Patrick’s Day parade. They are almost always fun, because they feature great music, green everything and a chance to face paint the little ones with shamrocks and rainbows. Maybe even a unicorn.
Adult St. Patrick’s Day Party Ideas
There’s more to St. Patrick’s Day than drinking green beer, although green beer is not a bad idea. Here are some ideas for your St. Patrick’s Day events for adults.
Carnival Games
You can turn your party into something different by offering some games for the adults that are a bit more challenging than the ones for the kids. There’s even LED cornhole if your party keeps going after the sun goes down.
Special Food and Drinks
In addition to beverages tinged green, there are also plenty of real Irish food items you can put together for the adults. You can go for corned beef and cabbage, but that’s actual more a food of Irish immigrants to American than Ireland itself. If you’re looking for Irish dishes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, consider the following. You can find recipes at many different Irish food sites.
- Lamb stew
- Chicken and leek pie
- Steak and Guinness pie
- Shepherd’s pie
- Soda bread
- Rhubarb tart
Put On a Holiday-Inspired Movie
There are many wonderful movies either based in Ireland or about the Irish diaspora (those with Irish roots living elsewhere, like New York City and Boston). Interestingly, most Irish-themed movies are aimed at adults, so don’t put these on where the kids will see. Some ideas:
- “Michael Collins”
- “The Departed”
- “Gangs of New York”
- “In the Name of the Father”
- Or, for the more romantic: “Once” or “Brooklyn.”
Listen to Some Irish Music
There’s a lot of that, too, from the Irish Rovers to Celtic Woman. Or may you prefer U2. Irish music can provide some lovely sounds for your party background.
Learn Irish History
If you’ve got some people with Irish ancestry, they might enjoy learning some Irish history through a trivia game. You can find plenty to ask about on sites dedicated to the history of Ireland.
You can even hand out copies of Irish poetry as a parting gift (a good choice is the Irish Blessing) or even have a drawing to win a copy of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” if you want to do something really unusual (and very cool).
You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, the very spirit of the day is one of fun and camaraderie with all. Think about putting some of the above ideas into play as you get ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year.
