Have you been looking for some new and engaging music lessons and activities for St. Patrick’s Day this year? St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays for music lessons because there are so many things we can learn about with our students. From Irish music, traditional instruments, and folk songs to all the leprechaun and shamrock-themed games and activities!
Here are five of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day music lessons and activities:
1. Learn about Irish musical instruments.
Lots of kids don’t realize how many musical instruments there really are! They all know about pianos and violins, and maybe you’ve talked about the instruments of the orchestra. But do they know how many other unique musical instruments and musical traditions there are around the world?
Take the chance in March to explore some of the traditional and folk instruments of Ireland. Kids will love learning about instruments from the Celtic harp and bodhran to the tin whistle and spoons!
Listen to a variety of different Irish music and see how many of these instruments you can spot. If you’ve been learning about instrument families, you can extend that to talk about the families these instruments belong to.
For print-and-go activities about Irish musical instruments, you can find my posters and lesson worksheets here.
2. Listen to (or sing!) Irish folk songs.
Once you’ve learned about some of the instruments commonly used in Irish traditional and folk music, be sure to listen to some Irish music with your students. There is a wide variety, from Celtic songs to folk songs to jigs and reels. Explore a wide variety of musical styles and expand your students’ musical experiences!
Some easy activities to explore Irish music are:
- Listening glyphs – listening glyphs ask students to color a picture based on what they hear. For example, they might color an apple green if they hear a fiddle but red if they hear a harp. Listening glyphs are perfect to use when introducing new styles of music to your students. Kids always love to color and will be more open to actively listening to new music when they’re coloring. They will want to color the picture correctly by listening carefully to the music! Try out these listening glyphs about Irish music and instruments here.
- Folk songs – there are lots of fun Irish folk songs, but two of the most popular for kids are Rattlin’ Bog and I’ll Tell Me Ma. Rattlin’ Bog is a cumulative song and is the perfect opportunity to teach accelerando!
- Movement – be creative and give your students a chance to move to some Irish tunes! Perhaps you’re adventurous and want to learn some simple steps to an Irish jig. Or maybe you’ll do a simple movement activity to one of the folk songs your students are learning.
Here are a couple videos for Irish folk songs you could use with your students:
3. Review notes & rhythms with this printable music escape room!
While we should definitely explore Irish music with our students around St. Patrick’s Day, there are also lots of holiday-themed ways to engage your students about the concepts you’ve already been covering in their music lessons.
For example, if you’re focusing on note reading or rhythms, adding a St. Patrick’s Day twist is a great way to renew your students’ interest and engagement.
My favorite way to add a holiday twist is with a music escape room! If you’ve never tried one with your music students, you’ve been missing out. Students will pull out all their musical knowledge to ‘escape’ with the leprechaun’s gold while you get to review and assess their note-reading and rhythm skills.
Try a music escape room as a class reward day or just as a holiday surprise!
4. Play rhythm bingo.
Bingo is always a hit and is a perfect way to practice reading and recognizing rhythms.
Rhythm bingo gives students a variety of 4 beat rhythm patterns on a bingo board. The teacher/leader of the game claps or plays a rhythm, and students look for it on their bingo board, just like in traditional bingo. The game continues with the teacher going through a list of rhythms to play until a student calls ‘bingo.’
This is a great way to practice listening skills and review rhythms with your students.
You could make your own rhythm bingo or find my shamrock-themed set in 3 different rhythm levels here.
5. Shamrock matching games
Matching games are always popular with younger classes. They’re a good way to review note names, rhythms, or symbols in centers or small groups. Students can match the cards, record their matches to practice writing or play a game of memory.
For older groups, matching game cards add a fun musical twist to choosing partners. Hand out half of a shamrock matching card to each student. Students must move around the room to find the person with the matching half.
