Adventures in Ireland

OK, we didn't actually GO to Ireland, but we have spent the last couple of weeks learning as much as we could about it!  Same thing, right? 

Mini-Me pulled out the Ireland Top Secret Adventures and I knew we could have some fun with this.  I said, in my best Irish accent, "Aye, lass, you know you're a wee bit Irish!  Let's have some fun with this, shall we?"  Her eyes grew big {in awe at my Irish accent or confused by it, it could have gone either way},and I knew we were ready to explore the Emerald Isle!

We started with a basket full of books!  Fun picture books, lots of poetry and Irish folklore, and some really great chapter books!  Here are the books we read, our favorites being in italics.

• Fin M'coul: The Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie dePaola
• Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale by Margaret Read MacDonald
• Leprechauns and Irish Folklore {Magic Tree House Research Guide}
• A Pot o'Gold: A Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and {of Course} Blarney by Kathleen Krull
• Tales From Old Ireland by Malachy Doyle
• The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh by Janett Nolan
• Small Beauties: The Journey of Darcy Heart O'Hara by Elvira Woodruff
• Count Your Way Through Ireland by James Haskins
• Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola
• Too Many Leprechauns by Stephen Krensky
• Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk by Gerald McDermott
• Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman
• Kathleen: The Celtic Knot {Girls of Many Lands series} by Siobhan Parkinson
• Leprechauns in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne
• A Voyage from Ireland in 1849 (Journey to America: Fiona McGilray's Story) by Clare Pastore

The last book on the list, Fiona McGilray's Story, was our read aloud for the duration of our study.  This book was absolutely wonderful.  We LOVED it!  Every chapter would end with a gasp, tears were shed {both sad and happy tears}, and we were both very sad to turn the last page and realize the story was over!  It has been a long time since a book captured our attention like that, so I am eager to see what other books there are in that series!  Loved it!

We also watched some Irish movies, and listened to lots of Irish music thanks to a neighbor who let us borrow 6 of her Celtic and Ireland cd's! 

 

 

 

 

 

Some snapshots of our 'trip' to Ireland!

Working on a map of Ireland
 

Her first attempt at creating something with Legos!  Her Ireland map!

We made a Celtic heart knot bracelet with this video on Youtube.  We just decided to use three strands of hemp cord to make it extra complicated! {wink}
 

We made some Irish soda bread that was a big hit!

Mini-Me colored a Celtic kaleidoscope page for the back of her lapbook!
 

We completed an Ireland lapbook, and a mini unit on the Blarney Castle.  There are lots of good links within the lapbook of videos to watch and articles to read!
 

Another craft we did was a Blarney Stone.  We invited some friends over on a nice day to join us, but I think they were a bit too excited to run and play outside than they were to paint a Blarney stone.  I suppose all is well, though, as I am sure none of them needed to be blessed with the gift of gab anyhow! 
 

And just so he isn't left out, Little Man participated in all the Ireland fun as well, just managed to escape the frame of the pictures.  His favorite Ireland activity was sampling the Irish soda bread.  Here we used some blue and yellow do-a-dot markers to learn how to make the color green!  He was pretty excited to see he could make such a neat change happen all my himself!

 

That wraps up our adventures in Ireland! 

 

 

Slán leat

Good-bye in Gaelic pronounced 'slawn lat'