Every year I have to remind myself to wear green on St. Patrick's Day so I don't get pinched.

I have to remind myself tonight to pull out something green next week to avoid those little fingers giving their teacher a kidding pinch.

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated each year on March 17.

In Ireland, the Irish honor Saint Patrick with both a holy day and a national holiday. The Irish 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 in countries around the world with parades and other festive traditions.

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

I can remember as a young child my fascination with beautiful rainbows. On late summer afternoons after a mid-afternoon rain I can still remember running my little feet off through my grandfather's field to catch that rainbow at what 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 Noah, and his family are met by a rainbow of promise that there will be no more floods after stepping out of the ark where they had been protected from the earth being flooded forty days and forty nights. Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz knew there was a hope and future "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

On St. Patrick's Day we see on bulletin boards, crafts, greeting cards a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Young children are so fascinated by the rainbow and even try to catch a rainbow today in a variety of ways. The scientific definition of a rainbow is: A curved arc of light of many colors across the sky.

Rainbows are caused by the sun's shining rays through drops of water during or after a rain.

An experiment I have done over and over in the classroom is to take a clear glass fill it to the top with water and put it in my classroom window sill. Place a white sheet of paper on the floor in front of the window.

Presto! A rainbow will be captured and reflected on the paper depending on how bright the sun is that day.

Another simple 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. So many other neat lessons are found on the Internet with preschool lesson plan activities.

An inside project I have done in making rainbows is so simple to do. It's so easy to gather and show.

You will need to have red, blue, and yellow food color; one cup of milk; dish soap and a shallow bowl.

1. Pour the 1 cup of milk into the bowl

2. Add 3 drops of red food color to one edge of the bowl

3. 1/3 of the way away, add 3 drops of blue food color

4. 1/3 of the way add 3 drops of yellow food color

5. Don't bump, mix, or jiggle the bowl

6. Squeeze a drop of dish soap in the center of the bowl

7. Your little scientist needs to record what they see

Of course a rainbow appears in the middle. This is a rainbow experiment that many early childhood teachers share with each other as a rainy day science project.

I know each of you frantically 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.

I allow my young students to take out magnifying glasses and nature bags if they cannot find that one special four leaf clover, they can gather other nature items to share back in the classroom or at home.

Other delightful ways to celebrate St Patrick's Day is to make Shamrock Ice Cream sandwiches.

Just make some green sugar cookie dough or, to make it easier, buy refrigerator rolls and mix it in green food coloring, roll out the dough, cut out shamrock shapes with a cookie cutter or a pattern, and bake as you would cookies.

Take some green ice cream, vanilla with green food coloring, mint chip, green sherbet, or whatever is your child's favorite ice cream. It needs to soften. Spread on the flat sides of the cookies, join the cookies together, wrap each sandwich in foil and freeze for two hours.

These are yummy treats for your child to enjoy! I know my young students really enjoyed this treat as we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Also pick up green gum for your little ones to enjoy for a brief treat as well as green lollipops or green jellybeans.

Remember, the young child you're entertaining is like the symbol and meaning of the rainbow which is a hope and a promise. I hope you find your four leaf clover!

Beth Pinyerd serves as director of Young Children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort, Ala.