22 Virtual St. Patrick’s Day Ideas, Games & Activities

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St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17 and sparks celebrations in Ireland, the US, and other countries around the globe. Virtual St. Patrick’s Day ideas are ways to celebrate the occasion online with coworkers, students, friends, and family. The purpose of these games and activities is to encourage fun and camaraderie among dispersed groups. This holiday is also known as “St. Paddy’s Day”.

This holiday is an example of virtual celebrations, and is a great opportunity to host a virtual social event.

This post includes:

• St. Patrick’s Day games online
• fun virtual St. Patrick’s Day activities
• St. Patricks Day Zoom ideas for adults
• virtual St. Patrick’s Day ideas for school

Here are the tips!

Virtual St. Patrick’s Day games and activities

From cooking classes to dance lessons to happy hours here is a list of fun, online St. Patrick’s Day activities for all ages.

1. St. Patrick’s Day Word Search

Word searches are great virtual St. Patrick’s Day ideas for school. These fun puzzles challenge participants to find holiday words among jumbles of letters.

We made a St. Patrick’s Day word search you can use for your online class or meetings:

To solve the word search online, pull up the word search, share the screen, and make sure annotation settings are on. Players can circle words right on screen!

Here are more word games and vocabulary games.

2. Virtual St. Patrick’s Day Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts engage online audiences by getting players up and moving. To host an online scavenger hunt, ask participants to fetch objects one by one. The first player to show the item onscreen wins points for themselves or their team.

We made a St. Patrick’s scavenger hunt template to use for your game:

For more tips, check out our list of virtual scavenger hunt ideas.

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3. St. Patrick’s Day Word Jumble

Word scrambles are fun educational St. Patrick’s Day games to play with students or employees. These activities make great warmups for online classes or meetings. Players receive a list of scrambled letters and must make words.

We made a template to get you started. Feel free to add your own words.

For extra fun, turn the activity into a race and see how many words participants can unscramble in one minute.

4. Online Office Games

Online Office Games is a virtual team building competition in the style of Office Olympics. Events last for 90 minutes, with the option to extend for another 30. Remote coworkers gather on Zoom, form teams, and face off in virtual challenges. An energetic host leads the groups in games like trivia, lightning scavenger hunts, and “Can You Hear Me Now?” The event is fun, engaging and a perfect way to bring your people together online.

Learn more about Online Office Games.

5. Online Irish Cooking Class

Food is an important part of any holiday, and St. Patrick’s Day has plenty of tasty treats. Online cooking classes and cook-offs are a great way to share a meal and an activity with your closest friends or coworkers.

Simply meet up on Zoom, FaceTime, or a similar software, and prepare a dish together. Be sure to show off the finished product!

Here are recommendations for dishes to make for St. Patrick’s Day:

1. Corned beef and cabbage
2. Shepherd’s pie
3. Soda bread
4. Stew

You could also go the after-dinner route and whip up a green dessert or a sweet that combines chocolate with Irish cream liqueur or whiskey.

For more fun with food, check out our list of online cooking classes.

6. Irish Fable Storytime

Ireland is famous for its folklore. One great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day is to read Irish fables during a video call.

Here is a collection of Irish fairy tales, which are also available on an audiobook app.

To make storytime more interactive, ask listeners to write their own tales together afterwards, or to illustrate the story on the digital whiteboard app.

7. Virtual Field Trip to Ireland

While you may not be able to fly your team to Ireland, you and the crew can take an online tour of the Emerald Isle.

To take the digital tour, join a video meeting, then have one participant start the tour and share their screen. Or, book a guided online tour with a host to tell tales and answer questions.

Here is a list of virtual Ireland tours for St. Patrick’s Day:

• Dublin Ireland virtual tour
• St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin
• Blarney Castle virtual tour
• The Giant’s Causeway
• 360° Cliffs of Moher
• 360° immersive Ireland tour

For more online excursion ideas, check out our post on virtual tours.

8. Online Irish Dance Class

Irish dance performances are popular around St. Patrick’s Day. One fun way to celebrate the day is to follow an online dance tutorial.

Either book a virtual dance class, or follow an instructional video. Here is a how-to Irish step dance playlist with a breakdown for beginners.

9. Virtual St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Parades are a staple of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Some folks might not be able to attend the event in person, but luckily, there are many virtual St. Patrick’s Day parades that broadcast online.

You could gather a group and watch together over Zoom call. Or, you can host your own parade by decorating different areas of your house, then taking other attendees on a tour.

10. Shamrock Movie Party

If you prefer a low-key, more subtle celebration, then host a shamrock-themed streaming party. Simply meet up on a video call, select a festive movie or show, and use a program like Watch2Gether to synchronize video.

Here are movie and show suggestions:

• Luck of the Irish
• Leprechaun
• Boondock Saints
• Brooklyn
• Derry Girls
• Peaky Blinders
• Leap Year
• The Secret of the Kells

Or, if you and your crew cannot find time to meet up and watch a full movie together, then make a team playlist of some of your favorite Irish artists and songs that you can listen to throughout the day.

Here are more movies to watch with your team.

11. Virtual St. Patrick’s Day Icebreakers

Icebreaker questions are a quick and simple way to loosen up guests and kick start conversations. We suggest starting your meeting or party with a round or two of festive questions.

Here is a list of St. Patrick’s Day Icebreakers:

1. If you found a pot of gold, what would you spend it on?
2. What is the luckiest thing that ever happened to you?
3. What is your good luck charm?
4. Do you believe in leprechauns? Why or why not?
5. What is your zaniest work-friendly St. Paddy’s Day story?
6. Have you ever been to Ireland? Would you like to visit?
7. What is the closest green object?

And, for general talking topics, check out our list of icebreaker questions.

12. The Luckiest Leprechaun

The Luckiest Leprechaun is a game similar to Never Have I Ever. Participants start the game with two fists, and raise a finger for every statement that applies. Whoever reaches ten first is the Luckiest Leprechaun, the winner of the game.

Here are some prompts for the game:

• Won the lottery
• Won a contest
• Won a game
• Found money on the sidewalk
• Found money in a clothing pocket
• Found a four leaf clover
• Found an item you lost
• Saw a shooting star
• Ran into someone you knew in a different city our country
• All traffic lights were green during a drive
• A stranger paid for your snack or drink
• Got an extra piece of food in a package
• Upgraded to a first class seat for free
• Upgraded to a better hotel room at no charge
• Saw a celebrity in public
• Met and talked to a celebrity in public
• Arrived right on time
• Secured the last ticket to an event
• Bought the last item in stock

Feel free to add your own ideas, and tailor the prompts for younger or older audiences.

Here are more ideas for virtual game night.

13. Online St. Patrick’s Day Trivia

Trivia is a fun and collaborative game for any occasion. To play online, first break participants into teams. Then, either send teams to breakout rooms to answer all questions at once, or read questions one at a time, and award points to the first team that answers in a chat.

We made some starter questions for your game:

For more tips, check out our list of virtual trivia game ideas.

14. Beer or Whiskey Tasting

Fun fact: St. Patrick’s Day is a big drinking holiday because historically, Christians were allowed to forego Lenten alcohol restrictions for one day to celebrate the feast. Funner fact: you can entertain your group by hosting an online beer or whiskey tasting.

To hold the tasting, meet up via video call and try a variety of beverages together. Either invite an expert to guide the tasting tour, watch an online tutorial, or simply sip and share your impressions. Asking participants to bring their own beverages is probably the best option, since mail regulations for alcohol can vary from state to state. Be sure to send attendees lists of drinks to obtain, and cover the cost of purchase if feeling generous.

Pro-tip: Send attendees extras like pint or shot glasses, coasters, stirrers, drink infusers or mixers, and snacks like chips or pretzels.

Here is a list of ways to do beer tasting online and a list of ways to do virtual alcohol tasting.

15. Virtual St. Patrick’s Happy Hour

Toasting the holiday with a drink is one of the most popular celebration ideas. Virtual happy hours are great St. Patricks Day ideas for adults because they combine the social elements of grabbing a drink, without having to cram into a packed bar or hail a ride home afterwards. Instead, gather together on video call and sip your green beer or Irish coffee together.

We recommend covering your team’s first round of drinks by reimbursing or sending a stipend of up to ten dollars. Also, allow attendees to choose a drink of choice, and encourage themed options like stout, whiskey, Irish cream, green beer, or fun St. Paddy’s Day cocktails.

End the evening with a round of toasts or spirit renditions of Irish drinking songs.

Pro-tip: Writing your own Irish drinking songs is a fun team bonding experience!

For more tips, check out our guide to virtual happy hours and this list of drinking games to play on Zoom.

Virtual St. Patrick’s Day ideas

Here is a list of tips to make your online St. Paddy’s party memorable and enjoyable.

16. Brush up on the holiday’s history

There is more to St. Patrick’s Day than the color green, shamrocks, and leprechauns. Celebrating online makes it easy to share links, videos, and pictures. We recommend taking time to educate guests on the origins of the holiday. For instance, here are great articles on the history of St. Patrick’s Day from Insider and Time, plus a kid-friendly explainer from National Geographic.

17. Partner with an Irish-owned business

St. Patrick’s Day is the busiest time of year for many Irish pubs, and owners are happy for more business. If treating your guests to a meal or drink, then consider ordering from an Irish or Irish-American establishment. Be sure to leave extra time to order, since restaurants or bars might be busier than usual. You can buy from other types of businesses too, like retailers or performers.

18. Embrace a green theme

No St. Paddy’s celebration is complete without lots and lots of green. Though you may not be able to pinch online guests for not wearing the color, you should still encourage attendees to wear appropriate attire. You could even host a costume contest and award a prize to the participant with the coolest green garb. Or, if guests do not own any fun green clothing, then they can put up a festive Zoom background instead.

Here are more ideas for online dress-up parties.

19. Send a care package to guests

Pairing online events with physical objects makes for a more tactile and interactive experience. We recommend sending a care package full of St. Paddy’s swag to guests before the party.

Suggestions of items to include:

• Sunglasses
• Beads
• Headbands
• Silly straws
• Balloons
• Candy
• Chocolate gold coins
• Rainbow treats
• Stationery
• Stickers and temporary tattoos

For a finishing touch, package the goodies in a green box or gift bag.

Here are some fun gift ideas for employees.

20. Get lucky with contests and prizes

From four leaf clovers to pots of gold, luck is a major St. Patrick’s Day theme. To test your team’s luck, turn games into competitions with prizes. You could also do random giveaways like raffles and door prizes and mail rewards to winners post-event. Contests encourage attendance and participation and make online events more interactive.

Learn more about workplace competitions.

21. Sip spirits from the comfort of your home

Drinking is a popular pastime on St. Patrick’s Day. Indulging from home means added safety and comfort. There is no need to recruit a designated driver or pay cab fare, and no need to worry about whether other drivers are intoxicated. Plus, you can get comfy on the couch or in bed, wear whatever you want, and forget about crowds.

Check out this list of virtual wine tasting classes.

Conclusion

St. Patrick’s Day is a social holiday that encourages folks to gather for parades, parties, and drinks at the pub. Even if friends, family, or colleagues are far away, online St. Paddy’s festivities bring groups together for quality bonding time and shared fun. The holiday is a much-needed pick-me-up at the end of winter, and celebrating online can raise spirits and chase away loneliness.

For more tips, check out our posts on virtual Christmas parties for work or ways to boost employee morale.