Shamrock Trinity Table Runner Craft

I made up a batch of shamrock cookies to go along with our reading of Ann Heinrich's simple, holiday text for Saint Patrick's Day.


And, while the cookies were baking, I put the older children to work, decorating a table runner, focusing in on the legend of Saint Patrick using the shamrock to explain the trinity - that just as the shamrock has three leaves growing off of one stem, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all one God.


First off, I traced out a pattern for heart shaped leaves and a free-handed stem, on the back of a cereal box, as well as a complete shamrock using the same heart shaped cutter (I washed it, before making the cookies).


Then, I found seven verses that each refer to all three aspects of the Trinity (copied here from carm.org):

Matt. 3:16-17, "And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, 17and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Matt. 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,"

1 Cor. 12:4-6, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons."

2 Cor. 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."

Eph. 4:4-6, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

1 Pet. 1:2, "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure."

Jude 20-21, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life."

I traced out three hearts, and one stem for each verse, on green construction paper. I printed the verse references on the stems, while the verses were divided amongst the hearts, so each of the three hearts per verse, had a part of the verse dealing with a different aspect of the Trinity - Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.


After I cut the hearts and stems out, I flipped the hearts over and wrote which part of the Trinity each heart dealt with. Then, I spread them out on a piece of butcher paper I had run down the center of the table, like a table runner...


...and traced seven (one for each verse) shamrocks on.


Using their Bibles, and the references written on each stem...

...the children had to locate, sort out, and glue the leaves on each shamrock to unscramble the verses...


...making for a festive decoration for our story time, and adding some depth to the legend of Saint Patrick.



It's great to be a homeschooler.

Linked with Bible Alive! Tuesday hosted by The Fantastic Five.