Here are a few ways you family can celebrate St. Patrick's Day in your very own home or town.

Make St. Patrick's Day crafts
Teach kids about Irish heritage while they are having fun! Try making lovely crafts such as Irish Celtic cross, a pot of gold, or pony bead rainbow or any other of the fantastic St. Patrick's Day artsy activities we have featured on Kaboose.

Check out a local St. Patrick's Day parade
According to Tim Meagher, Associate Professor and University Archivist specializing in American Irish History at Catholic University, the tradition of St. Patrick's Day parade comes not from Ireland, but from America. Says Meagher, traditionally in Ireland St. Patrick's Day was treated as a holy day celebrated with religious traditions, but the Irish in America developed the day into a secular and cultural phenomenon.

However, according to The Wearing of the Green: A History of St. Patrick's Day by Mike Cronin and Daryl Adair, in recent years there has been a push to "reclaim" St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. An annual St. Patrick's Day Festival in Dublin was started in 1996 to not only include a parade, but a vast array of cultural and educational events centered around Irish heritage and pride. The number of attendants continues to grow each year.

But if you want to attend the longest-running and most widely attended St. Patrick's Day parade, head to New York City. This year the city expects over 2 million people to attend the parade. But don't fret if you can't make it to NYC--many cities in the US and Cananda host annual St. Patrick's Day parades. The parades are popular events that draw large crowds in major cities like Boston, MA and Savannah, GA. 

From to Irish step dancing troupes and armies of marching bagpipers to the Downtown Chicago's tradition of dyeing the Chicago River green, the festivities are usually grand spectacles that will make for wonderful memories.

To find a local parade near you, visit StPatricksDayParade.com.

Watch St. Patrick's Day movies
Snuggle up with the kiddies and get your Irish on! Check out our picks for the Top 10 St. Patrick's Day movies of all time.

Read St.Patrick's Day and Irish-themed books
Here are some books to add to the holiday festivities contributed by Alecia Dixon and Nora McDermott. Be sure to check out our complete list of St. Patrick's Day books and ask your local librarian for more ideas!

Grade Schoolers (Age 4-8 = K - 4th Grade)

• Crafts for St. Patrick's Day. Kathy Ross, Illustrated by Sharon Lane Holm
  Twenty easy craft projects including a shamrock bird, leprechaun face mask, a shillelagh, a rainbow bracelet, and a pot of gold table decoration.
• Daniel O'Rourke : An Irish Tale (Picture Puffins). Gerald McDermott
  Join Daniel O'Rourke as he is whisked from a small brook to the moon and then to the sea.
• Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato. Tomie dePaola
  Lazy Jamie O'Rourke doesn't lift a finger, even after his wife hurts her back digging the "praties" they depend on; but he does catch a leprechaun, who gives him a seed that grows into a potato so large that it takes the combined efforts of the village to dig it up and eat it.
• Jeremy Bean's St. Patrick's Day. Alice Shertle, Illustrated by Linda Shute
  Shy Jeremy Bean forgets, much as to his humiliation, to wear green to school for St. Patrick's Day.
• Leprechaun Gold. Teresa Bateman, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger
  What happens when you save a leprechaun from drowning? He'll reward you with enough gold to last a lifetime! If you're Donald O'Dell, however, you'll refuse to take such a generous gift. What's a leprechaun to do but resort to matters of the heart to repay Donald for his heroic act.

Tweens (Ages 9-12 = 3rd-6th Grade)

• The End of the Rainbow: A Story about the Meaning of St. Patrick's Day. Louise Mandrell
  First a mysterious shamrock appears on Miss Wink's front door. Then Kate and Mickey find a sign on their new clubhouse: "The Green Shamrock Gang Was Here." Will the Dixon twins be able to solve this mystery?
• Let's Celebrate St. Patrick's Day : A Book of Drawing Fun. Pamela Johnson
  A simple how-to-draw guide using St. Patrick's Day as its theme.
• Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Steven Kroll, Illustrated by Michael Dooling
  "In 1849, the potato famine forces Mary's family to leave their farm in Ireland and cross the ocean to settle in a basement room in New York City. Living in the drab surroundings, Mary dreams of the grand St. Patrick's Day parade, in which their local storekeeper, Mr. Finnegan, drives a gaily decorated horse-drawn cart. Mary can ride in the cart only if she finds a shamrock--an unlikely event, given the snow-covered ground. The appearance of a leprechaun finally helps her fulfill her dream."
• The St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Mystery. Marion M. Markham, Illustrated by Karen A. Jerome
  First a mysterious shamrock appears on Miss Wink's front door. Then Kate and Mickey find a sign on their new clubhouse: "The Green Shamrock Gang Was Here." Will the Dixon twins be able to solve this mystery?

Learn More about St. Patrick's Day

• Fun Facts About St. Patrick's Day and Saint Patrick
• St. Patrick's Day Books for Kids
• All About St. Patrick's Day Holiday
• St. Patrick's Day Crafts for Kids