I did this for every single country I taught, and that is a lot of Country Boards considering I taught world culture classes to children for over 8 years!

With the changing of a country, came the changing of a Country Board.

My students loved Country Boards! They looked forward to them at the start of each session and referred to them frequently throughout the course of our classes.

The answer is clear. I think it’s high time you give a Country Board a try, don’t you?

When you are finished reading this post, be sure to download our FREE Ireland Country Board printable. I have created all of the board titles and images for you so all you have to do is print, cut and paste! For detailed directions, however, please see below.

We especially recommend this Ireland Board as a wonderful precursor to St. Patrick’s Day. 

HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY BOARD

Green foam board
Copy paper
Scissors
Adhesive (glue stick, tape or glue gun)
Decorative paper or accouterments (optional)

COUNTRY TITLE

Your board needs a country title. To do this, type the name of the country in a very large font that will roughly span the length of the top of your board.

COUNTRY FACT TITLES

Decide from the list below (or your own list) which country facts you want to include on your board. Type up these titles in a font size that fits your board.

PHOTOS

The next step is to find photos online that you can use to go with each country fact. As you find each photo, copy/paste them into your document to go above each country fact.

Tip: Test your font and photo size to make sure all of your country facts will fit on your board! I do this by formatting one photo and title and then printing it to double-check its size.

Our FREE Ireland Country Board printable is a good example of what size your photos should be in order to fit on the board.

Below is a list of country facts I have always referred to when making my Country Board. Depending on the country, I will pick and choose which facts I want to include on my board. This is always a tough decision for me because I want to include them all!

Country Map
Continent
Capital
Population
Flag
Language
Currency
Current leader
National Symbols (national food, national animal, etc.)
National holidays
Famous landmarks
Inventions
Religion(s)
Modes of Transportation
Coat of Arms
Distance from your country

HOW TO DISPLAY YOUR COUNTRY BOARD

AT HOME

Here are a few great reasons to make a Country Board for your home:

-It is a great precursor to an upcoming world holiday and will add more depth and meaning to your celebrations (we recommend our FREE Ireland Country Board printable as a precursor to St. Patrick’s Day!)

-It will enhance your child’s studies of a particular country at school with the research necessary to put the board together.

-It will provide your family with information about a country you plan to travel to so that when you land in-country, your family feels a  sense of familiarity, not overwhelm. I recently created a Sri Lanka Board for our family!

IN YOUR CLASSROOM

As we mentioned above, a Country Board is a much more visually appealing way than printed worksheets for children to grasp and retain basic facts about a country.

Having a Country Board in your classroom will generate excitement and discussion. It will be a great reference point for everything related to your curriculum.

Every ounce of effort it takes to make a Country Board for your classroom is so very worth it for your students.

IN YOUR HOMESCHOOL

Making a Country Board is a great small-group project for any homeschool group. Not to mention, each fact on the board could present a new avenue for exploration and further learning.

In homeschooling, the sky’s the limit, so use your Country Board as a solid foundation from which to soar.

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE IRELAND COUNTRY BOARD!

Every Irish recipe I have made has filled my home with aromas of goodness.

I almost feel they should only be eaten on rainy days so they can properly serve their purpose of warming your belly and filling you up.

That said, we are expecting a beautifully sunny day here in the Bay Area this St. Patrick’s Day and that would never stop me from making these Irish recipes to enjoy with my family!

In this post, we will give you 4 recipes to make the perfect St. Patrick’s Day family dinner.

4 IRISH RECIPES TO MAKE A PERFECT ST. PATRICK’S DAY FAMILY DINNER

MAIN COURSE: IRISH STEW

Everyone knows that warm stew + warm bread = LOVE!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY RECIPE BUNDLE.

SIDE DISH: IRISH SODA BREAD

Put emphasis on searing an “X” on the top of your loaf and let your family know that some people believe that the “X” was cut into the bread to ward off evil, and other’s believe it was to let fairies out of the bread.

A fun family discussion might entail asking each family member their theory before you tell them, or asking everyone to come up with their own unique belief about why there is “X” in the bread.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY RECIPE BUNDLE.

CONDIMENT: HOMEMADE BUTTER

TIP: Don’t forget the salt, and make sure to allow time to shake the butter to completion. When complete, it should look like the butter in the picture below.

When I make this with my students, I always play Irish music while the shakin’ occurs. We would sit in a circle and when the music stopped, the jar would be passed to the next person to continue with the shaking when the music started up again. They loved it!

You could make butter with your family the day before your Irish family dinner.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY RECIPE BUNDLE.

DESSERT: GLAZED IRISH TEA CAKE

This recipe cooks at the same temperature as the Irish Soda Bread conveniently.

Your house will smell so good, so homey, and so Irish!

If you have Irish Tea on hand, make a pot for everyone to enjoy with their Tea Cake. Be sure to offer up a little milk, cream or sugar.

It will be the perfect ending to your St. Patrick’s Day Family Dinner.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY RECIPE BUNDLE.

IRISH JOKES FOR YOUR ST. PATRICK’S DAY FAMILY DINNER

Why did the leprechaun walk out of the house?

What do you call a big Irish spider?

If you want to know the answer to these riddles, then you’re in luck.

As a fun bonus, we have added a page of St. Patrick’s Day jokes to enjoy with your family at your St. Patrick’s Day family dinner.

After all, those who cook together, eat together, learn together, and laugh together!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! 

I know the first question you are going to ask.

Why are you using “extremely satisfying” and “string pennant” in the same sentence?

I’ll tell you why…at least why this is the case for me.

I LOVE TRACING THINGS! DO YOU?

When I was little my mom bought me books of tracing paper. I would carefully tear a page from the book and lay it on top of one of my favorite pictures from any of my favorite books.

I would sharpen the heck out of my No. 2 pencil and then I would sit and trace the pictures so diligently, gently lifting the page without shifting the page, to look underneath if I felt I was off track.

I did this for hours.

And ya know what? It was sooo satisfying. Meditative really.

TRACING PROJECTS TRANSFORM ANY MOOD TO ONE OF CALM AND FOCUS

At times it would consume me so much so that I tuned the world out altogether, missing my mom’s multitude of calls to come to dinner, help out in the kitchen, or get ready for bed.

The best part came when all the tracing was complete and I could lift the whole page off the book for the first time.

It felt like such an accomplishment as if I were the original artist of each picture I traced.

ADDING COLOR TO A TRACING PROJECT GENERATES EXCITEMENT!

I would gather my markers (the fat ones that smelled of grape, cherry, licorice…you know the ones) and add color to my masterpiece, little by little.

I hung my favorites in a little nook underneath our staircase as well as on the wall above my bed. My not-so-favorites I kept in a folder and would tinker at improving them with additional color so as to make them hang-worthy.

HERE ARE THE BENEFITS OF TRACING…

Just for fun, I Googled “What are the benefits of tracing?” and look what came up: 

“Tracing can help children develop fine motor skills, which can aid them with other tasks, such as learning to write. It also helps students with developmental disabilities to develop math and language skills. Other benefits of tracing include improvement in hand/eye coordination, dexterity, and spatial awareness.”

BAM. Good for all learners no matter what.

LET’S GET STARTED WITH THIS TRACING PROJECT!

Here is how to make An Extremely Satisfying String Pennant Project to Display Ireland’s National Symbols in Your Home or Classroom:

SUPPLIES:

Ireland String Pennant Template
Scissors
100% white, cotton fabric (ask the experts at the fabric store what they recommend)
Blue gel glue
Acrylic paint (your colors of choice)
Paintbrushes
Glue gun/sticks
Rope/Ribbon for hanging your pennants on

DIRECTIONS:

1. If you choose to, print out our FREE Ireland String Pennant Template. This template provides you with the pennant shape as well as a harp, Claddagh ring, shamrock, and flag template to trace.

2. Use a pencil to lightly trace the pennant shape (for as many pennants as you want to make) on 100% cotton white fabric.

3. Cut out each fabric pennant.

TIP: Be sure to adjust the nozzle and flow of glue prior to starting. Do so by twisting the orange lid of the nozzle and squeezing out glue on a scrap piece of fabric or paper. We have made our Irish symbol templates bold to ensure easier tracing, but you do not have to make your lines as thick as the ones in the template.

Let the glue dry overnight, or longer depending on how thick your glue lines are.

TIP: Be sure to paint right up and even a bit onto the glue lines to ensure crisp edges.

Let the paint dry overnight, or longer depending on the thickness of your paint.

7. Take a sponge and lightly wipe along the glue lines (underwater if you can). Have children feel for the sliminess of the glue underwater and if necessary, use their fingernail to lightly scrape away the thick parts of the glue. Try your hardest to remove all the glue but don’t stress if this does not happen!

8. Lay out the wet pennants on a dry towel or wire rack. I like the wire rack because they tend to dry faster this way and I am always eager to move on to the next step!

10. Using a glue gun, adhere each pennant to the rope. The amount of space in between is up to you. You may want to decide where you are going to hang your pennant, buy a rope that works for that length and then space your pennants accordingly.

DON’T FORGET TO DOWNLOAD OUR FREE IRELAND STRING PENNANT TEMPLATE HERE!

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