St. Patrick's Day
Shamrock Garland
This festive St. Patrick's Day garland can be displayed in your child's room, at a party, or over the dining room table for family meals. Start by cutting 32 hearts out of green paper -- this will create an 8-shamrock garland. Hearts can be any size depending on how big you want the shamrocks to be -- 3" is a good size to start with. Glue 4 ...(read more)
Irish Flag
To infuse a little history into St. Patrick's Day, make an Irish flag! Start with a large, rectangular piece of white paper. Place the paper horizontally and divide it into 3 equal sections using vertical pencil lines. Using green paper or a marker, color the first section green. The center section will remain white. Color the third section orange. On the back of the ...(read more)
Pot O' Shamrocks
Bring a little Irish green to your table with this fun St. Patrick's Day centerpiece. Let your child color or paint 6-8 popsicle sticks (or more!) with a green marker or paint, while you cut hearts out of green paper. Hearts should be about 3" tall and you will need about 18-24 hearts. Glue the pointed end of a green heart to the top end of one ...(read more)
St. Patrick's Day Green Tasting Party
Have a green tasting party to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Serve all green foods, such as celery, grapes, pickles, olives, kiwi, limes, and green jelly beans. Talk about which foods taste salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. You can even make a simple chart with columns for each of these if you want. This is a fun activity for a group, such as a playgroup, but ...(read more)
Shamrock, Shamrock, Clover
This game is played like Duck, Duck, Goose, but uses the words Shamrock and Clover instead. Once a player is tagged, he or she goes to sit at the end of the rainbow to wait for the pot of gold. After everyone has been tagged, each child can pick a coin (candy or plastic) out of a black pot (found in party supply or craft stores) as their ...(read more)
St. Patrick's Day Party
To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, have a kid party in which everything is green! Serve green Jello, green pistachio pudding (or you can just put food coloring in vanilla pudding), green Kool-Aid or Powerade, and green jelly beans. Bake some shamrock shaped sugar cookies and then have the kids decorate them with green frosting and green sprinkles. For a fun activity, you can have the ...(read more)
Little Leprechauns
Help the Leprechaun to hide some gold candy coins or other treats for your kids! Using your hands and washable paint, you can create a Leprechaun trail through your house. Dip the side of your closed fists in green washable craft or tempera paint. Put them down on your kitchen floor, counters and/or kitchen table. To make toes, dip your little finger in the paint and ...(read more)
St. Patrick's Day Lucky Clover Craft
Talk to your child about things she feels lucky to have in her life. It could be friends, family, pets, toys, etc. Then cut out a large four-leaf clover on green construction paper. For older children, you can draw the outline of the clover and have them cut it out with children's safety scissors. Let your child decorate her four-leaf clover with the things that she ...(read more)
Going Green!
Plan a menu for the day where everything you eat is green: green milk and green pancakes or eggs for breakfast; green bread for sandwiches, green grapes, and green jello at lunchtime; green veggies at dinner. And of course, green cookies with green icing for dessert!(read more)
Musical Shamrocks
This game is very similar to musical chairs, without the chairs. Make or purchase some sturdy green shamrocks and place them in a circle. They may be laminated to last longer if you wish. Each child should have one shamrock to sit on. Be sure to tell the children that they need to walk around the outside of the shamrock circle in order to avoid slipping. ...(read more)
Experiencing Ireland
St. Patrick's Day is a great opportunity to teach your child about children from a different culture. Plan a traditional Irish dinner to teach your child about food from another country. Put together a collage or information poster to teach your child about Irish music and dance; where to find Ireland on a map; wildlife; places of interest; etc. Be sure to visit your local library to see what resources ...(read more)
Pot of Gold Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun St. Patrick's Day game. Make a pot of gold out of a small decorative black pot (found at a craft store) and fill it with gold wrapped candy. Hide the pot somewhere and then send the kids on a scavenger hunt. For older ones, write clues that lead to the pot. For younger ones just send them off to search. At ...(read more)
Hanging Shamrock
You and your child can create a fun Irish shamrock just in time for St. Patty's Day! Trace a shamrock pattern onto green craft foam and then cut it out. Use white craft foam to create smaller shamrocks to glue onto the big green one. You can also write a St. Patty's day message in green glitter glue. When done with your creation, use hole punch ...(read more)
All Things Green
Cut out pictures from magazines of things that are green. Paste them onto a piece of cardboard to make a collage. This is a great way to introduce your child to new vocabulary words and, of course, to reinforce color recognition. To add a textural element, glue things like leaves, lima beans, green pasta, etc.(read more)
St. Patrick's Day Magic Milk
Try this fun, healthy St. Patrick's Day drink. Have your child put a drop of green food coloring into a clear plastic cup. Then pour milk in. Watch it turn green! To make this more of a learning experience for your child, you can also try it with one drop of blue food coloring and one drop of yellow.(read more)
St. Patrick's Day Lucky Pasta Salad
Cook, drain, and rinse pasta with cold water -- spinach pasta makes this dish extra green. Then pour the cooked pasta into a large bowl. Help your child pour Italian dressing in, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, and mix it all together. To avoid a mess, use a very large bowl, or if you have one with a lid, put the lid on and let your child shake ...(read more)
Shamrock Counting
Make a grid of 6 squares on a piece of paper, and write the numbers 1-6 in each square. In box number one, have your child place one shamrock sticker. In box number two, have your child place two shamrocks. Continue in the same way through number six. For older children, you can extend the activity to a higher number. This activity is a ...(read more)
Leprechaun Masks
Cut out a hat shape (one dimensional forward view) from green construction paper. Cut out a yellow "buckle" to glue on the hat. Then cut a U-shaped "beard" out of orange paper. Cut small snips all around to make a fringe on the beard & glue to the bottom of edges of the hat (the open part of the U will be where your child's eyes/nose stick ...(read more)
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