Celebrating Saint Andrews Feast Day with Children

I love celebrating Feast Days of Saints with my children! We are all about holidays in general, and any chance to bake a cake makes my kids happy. AND it makes ME happy to teach my children about our special friends in heaven that are watching out for us.

Saint Andrew’s Feast Day is celebrated on November 30th.

Saint Andrew, Patron Saint of Fisherman, Singers, and Scotland!

Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland, where his Feast Day is a National Holiday! While we aren’t Scottish in our family, we are big fans of all things Ireland & Scotland.

Saint Andrew is also the Patron Saint of Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.

And, I’ve always been quite partial to St. Andrew for two reasons.

First, he is one of the original disciples of Jesus, so I learned about him in the Gospels first. Second, there is a special chaplet you can pray to him if you are trying to conceive. I’ve had many blog readers of my fertility blog say they got pregnant after praying the chaplet!

Saint Andrew, Andrew the Apostle

Andrew was the older brother of Simon Peter, and it is thought he was very close to Jesus. If you remember when in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is walking on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he sees Andrew and Simon Peter fishing. He calls them to come with him and become fishers of men!

Andrew preached Jesus’s word throughout what is now Greece and Turkey, and he was crucified.

How To Talk to Children About Saint Andrew

My children are very small (currently 2 and 5), so it is important that I stick with positive themes and skip the gore (no way am I talking about crucifiction!).

Andrew was a Fisherman

Saint Andrew was a fisherman and he is the Patron Saint of Fishermen. Kids love fish. There is an easy way to talk about Andrew here!

You can talk about what fishermen do, and share the story of when Jesus called Andrew and Simon Peter to follow him.

You can also do crafts or coloring pages of fish. Play fishing games. If you have access, you could actually go fishing!

Andrew as a Fisher of Men

We can use the feast day of Saint Andrew as a chance to talk to our children about spreading the love of Jesus.

We are called to spread the love of God and be shining examples of his goodness in the world.

This is a perfect way to talk about this with preschoolers.

Andrew as Patron Saint of Scotland

And of course, you can use the Feast of Saint Andrew as a day to celebrate all things Scotland! Much as you might celebrate all things Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day, here is a chance to talk about Scottish culture, the land, the music, the flag, etc.!

Ideas for Celebrating Saint Andrew’s Day with Children

• Learn about Scotland! Read books, color the flag, download some printables, listen to bagpipes, learn about Scottish geography and history, etc.!
• Talk about how Andrew was a “fisher of men” and discuss ways we can share God’s love with others.
• Play “fishing” games and pretend to be fishermen on the Sea of Galilee.
• Make Scottish shortbread!
• Bake a Saint Andrew Cake
• Watch Brave, the story of a Scottish princess
• Read Scottish stories like Katie Morag, Adventures of Hamish and Mirren, or something silly like There Was a Wee Lassie Who Swallowed a Midgie!
• If you are feeling motivated, you can pray the Saint Andrews Christmas Novena (Chaplet, really) with your children for a specific intention. Here is the novena:

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, to hear my prayers and grant my desires.

(Mention your intentions here)

Through Our Savior Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother. Amen.