During this recession, when we think of green we think of money. But let’s not forget another ‘green’ subject: St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17.

The Irish honor St. Patrick with a holy day and a national holiday. They cherish their beautiful green countryside and remind themselves of the beauty of their country by wearing green. Although it began in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide with parades and other festive traditions.

Key symbols that stimulate early childhood fun and curiosity are rainbows, four leaf clovers, shamrocks and leprechauns.

I can remember my childhood fascination with beautiful rainbows. On late summer afternoons after a mid-afternoon rain I would run through my grandfather’s field to catch that rainbow I thought was just at the end of the field—only to run into a prism of beautiful sunlit dewy colors. Rainbows are symbols of hope, as we read about Noah and the ark. Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” knew there was hope and future, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

A rainbow is a curved arc of light of many colors across the sky. Rainbows are caused by the sun’s rays shining through drops of water during or after a rain.

An experiment that young children enjoy is using a water hose. The sun must be shining with your back facing the sun. Have your little-one hold the hose where you can make a fine mist and find the rainbow!

I know you recall the desire to find the rare gem of a four leaf clover.  Many a young child sits in the middle of a clover leaf bed to find that special four leaf clover to make a wish on.

Another delightful way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day is to make shamrock ice-cream sandwiches. Roll out green, sugar cookie dough and cut out shamrock shapes with a cookie cutter; bake as you would cookies. Take green ice cream and let it soften; then spread it on the flat sides of the cookies, join the cookies together, wrap each sandwich in foil and freeze for two hours.

Beth Pinyerd lives in Daphne and serves as director of younger children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.

Her column appears every other week in the Daphne Bulletin and Spanish Fort Sun.