Saint Patrick's Day History for Kids

Every year on March 17th we celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, a worldwide celebration that honors Ireland's patron saint, Patrick.

Believed to have lived during the 5th century, much of what we know today about St. Patrick has been pieced together by historians using both written historical documents and oral storytelling. Since Patrick's life has been twisted, distorted, embellished and at times, even completely fabricated, it's been a challenge to piece together the whole true picture.

What we know for sure is that St. Patrick was kidnapped by pirates as a teenager living in Great Britain, then taken to Ireland where he was sold into slavery. To survive his slavery, Patrick turned to his Christian faith for strength and after 6 years, he escaped and returned to his homeland.

When he returned home, Patrick became a priest, but was soon plagued by dreams of the Irish people calling him to return and convert them to Chrisitanity. After years of study and preparation, Patrick returned to Ireland in attempt to spread Christianity to the people there.

Though he faced much opposition, Patrick succeeded in his quest. He is honored as the Patron Saint of Ireland for this reason as well as for his triumphs in spreading the written word to the country.

Share the history of Saint Patrick's Day with the kids with one of these fun activities to help them understand and enjoy the lesson even more!