Craft and Play on This Special We-Love-the-Irish Day
This story was contributed by Rock Paper Sprinkles – creators of fun, imaginative, and fully propped kid parties, delivered to your door.
Get out your green, it’s time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Engage in some entertaining leprechaun crafts and play with your kids. Here’s how:
Turn all the kids into LEPRECHAUNS. And then try to catch them!
Leprechauns are small, magical, mischievous fairies from Irish folklore. They like things that glitter. They hide pots of gold at ends of rainbows. If caught, some leprechauns grant three wishes, while others honestly answer questions, including the location of their gold. But, beware with your questions; leprechauns are notoriously tricky!
Below, we’ve outlined how to: read like a leprechaun, look like a leprechaun, play like a leprechaun, and trap a leprechaun of your very own!
Read Like a Leprechaun
Read one of these books to your children, about trapping and catching leprechauns: The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day, $4.99, or How to Catch a Leprechaun, $6.75. Your kids will feel super excited to make their own leprechaun traps out of household supplies.
Other favorite reads are: The Adventures of Shamrock Sean, $11.44, about a silly, yet friendly, little leprechaun. And Clever Tom and the Leprechaun, $8.90, about a man who catches (and gets outwitted by) a leprechaun.
Look Like a Leprechaun
Make leprechaun hat headbands:
Follow the steps below to make a leprechaun headband. Pair it with green clothing and wear it all day!
You will need:
• Leprechaun Hat Headband Template
• Green, black, yellow, and orange construction paper (8.5×11 or larger)
• Scissors
• Stapler, tape and/or glue
• Markers
How To:
1. Download the Leprechaun Hat Headband Template. Print and cut.
2. Using the template, trace the shapes onto construction paper, and cut out the pieces.
3. With your child, assemble the headbands, using glue or tape. If desired, add detail with green markers (i.e. shamrocks, dots, hearts, or stars).
4. Measure the headband on your child’s head, and tape or staple into a circle.
5. Tape or staple the hat and beard to headband.
6. Wear all day… to the parade, to the grocery store, to dinner (you get the idea).
PLAY LIKE A LEPRECHAUN
Play Leprechaun Games:
Gather your little leprechauns for games that will make everyone smile.
You will need:
• St. Patrick’s Day jokes for kids
• 1 package of plastic snakes
• 1 package of chocolate gold coins or loose household change
Hide Like a Leprechaun
Play the classic game of hide and seek. Tell children to hide like leprechauns and you’ll try to catch them! After each round, make each little leprechaun tell a joke or riddle for their “release”, before they can hide again.
Do as St. Patrick Did: Rid the Land of Snakes
Did you know that Ireland has no snakes? According to legend, St. Patrick chased all snakes out of Ireland! (In actuality, snakes have never lived in Ireland.) Quick! You must rid your home of snakes before they mistake your little leprechauns for mice and EAT THEM UP.
Hide plastic snakes around your house. Share the legend of St. Patrick. Then have your little leprechauns rid your home of snakes (and save them for everyday play or April Fool’s Day).
Follow the Trail of Coins to a Wee Little Leprechaun
Have your little leprechauns cover their eyes and count to 100, yes 100! With a package of chocolate gold coins or loose household change, make a weaving, looping “bread trail” to a place where you hide. Feel free to let your trail trick children into checking out multiple empty hiding spots. Rotate turns of who gets to leave the “coin trail” and hide. Divide up money or chocolate for children to keep.
Catch the Leprechaun: Tag
Weather permitting, get outside and play a game of freeze tag. One human who is “it” tries to catch little leprechauns. Whoever gets tagged becomes “it”.
TRAP A LEPRECHAUN
Trap a Leprechaun:
Make a leprechaun trap to set out the night before St. Patrick’s Day. Make sure to include something sparkly to entice a leprechaun up a ladder or into a container.
You will need:
• Glue, tape, and/or staplers
• Scissors
• Glittery or shiny objects (e.g. coins, glitter, costume jewelry, shimmery confetti)
• Construction paper
• Household items (e.g. mason jars, boxes, buttons, ribbons, cotton balls, play jewelry)
• Craft items (e.g. pipe cleaners, pom-poms, puffy paint, Popsicle sticks, ribbons, buttons, beads, artificial flowers)
• Markers or paint
How To:
There is no right way to make a leprechaun trap. Go on a hunt for supplies in your yard and/or use a collection of household items to glue, tape, craft and create masterpieces that will hold or contain a leprechaun – unlucky enough to fall in or stumble across your trap! Then set them out and watch for leprechauns!
Leprechauns can be very sneaky. And in our house, they usually grab the gold and take off sight unseen!
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