St. Patrick’s Day for kids: Fun facts, coloring pages and events in Atlanta

St. Patrick’s Day 2013 is right around the corner, so it’s the perfect time to get your green on. To spark your kids’ Irish spirit, here are some fun facts about St. Patrick’s Day for the young and young at heart, plus online resources for free coloring pages for kids. May the luck of the Irish be with you today and every day of the year.

Top 10 fun facts about St. Patrick’s Day (from History.com)

1. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th around the globe to honor the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick.
2. St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because it is believed that St. Patrick died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
3. On St. Patrick’s Day, people in Ireland traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.
4. Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge festival from March 15-19 that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theater and more. In North America, parades are often held and some cities paint the yellow street lines green for the day. In Chicago, the river is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.
5. Ireland is associated with the color green because it is known as “The Emerald Island.”
6. According to the Guinness Book of World records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14.
7. Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.
8. Some American towns have “Irish” names, including Mount Gay-Shamrock in W.Va., Shamrock Lakes in Ind., Shamrock in Okla. and Texas, and Dublin in Calif. and Ohio.
9. The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.
10. 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which is home to 4.1 million people.

Top 10 websites for free St. Patrick’s Day coloring pages for kids
From leprechauns to rainbows and 4-leaf clovers, there are a ton of free printables and coloring pages from which to choose for St. Patrick’s Day 2013 coloring fun. Here are ten great resources.

1. Coloring Book Fun
2. The Kidz Page
3. Raising Our Kids
4. Apples 4 the Teacher
5. The Holiday Spot
6. Primary Games
7. Kaboose
8. Billy Bear for Kids
9. Funschool
10. DLTK

St Patrick’s Day in Georgia
The biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the state of Georgia occurs every year in Savannah . Since 1818, the southern city has celebrated St. Patty’s Day in a big way. The river and fountains are dyed green and close to half a million people attend the annual festivities. The 2013 parade travels through Savannah’s Historic District on Saturday, March 16 at 10:15 a.m.

St. Patrick’s Day in Atlanta
There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Atlanta since 1858. This year’s parade winds through the streets of downtown Atlanta and ends up at Underground. The 2013 Atlanta St. Patrick's Parade features over 200 units, including clowns, floats, bands of every kind, military units, Bagpipe & Drum Corps, thousands of children, Irish dancers, clowns, and dignitaries from Ireland. After the parade, Underground Atlanta hosts a St. Patrick’s Day celebration with vendors, food, free entertainment, music and dancing. Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 12:00 noon.

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