St. Patrick's Day Crafts & Activities

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Recipes

Leprechaun Pudding
one 1-ounce box of sugar free instant
pistachio pudding for every five children
1/2 cup of milk per child
1 small, resealable plastic bag per child
1/2 cup measuring cup
1 spoon per child.
Put tablespoon of pudding mix in sandwich bag and milk, then close the baggy and have kids shake and squeeze, then eat.

Songs

(sung to "I'm a Little Teapot")

I'm a little leprechaun
Dressed in green,
The tiniest man
That you have ever seen.
If you ever catch me, so it's told,
I'll give you my pot of gold.

Wee Little Patrick

(sung to "Yankee Doodle")

Patrick is a leprechaun
He has a sack of gold
He hides it in a special place
Between two stumps, I'm told

I think I once saw Patrick
Out in the woods at play
He smiled and laughed and winked his eye
And then he ran away

Don't try to follow Patrick
To find his treasure sack
He'll twist and jump and run away
And he never will come back.

(sung to "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'm a little Leprechaun short and green,
Here is my shamrock but I can't be seen,
When you pull my feather,hear me scream (everyone scream)
I'm a little Leprechaun,short and green.

Shamrocks, shamrocks,
On Ireland's hills,
Greenest of green
Over rocks and rills
Good luck do they bring,
For one and all
On St. Patrick's Day
We can see them all.

Games/Activities/Art

Two weeks ago, a leprechaun "lost" all his gold in our play spaces. He left us his pot and a reward notice saying that if we could find all his gold and refill his pot by St. Patrick's Day, he would leave us a reward. The children have been having a wonderful time finding the gold (gold spray-painted items - anything I could think of - marbles, rocks, buttons, keys, feathers, spoons etc.). Each time they find a piece of gold, they place it in the leprechaun's pot and I give them a "Lucky Shamrock" sticker to put on their cubby name label (we count how many items we have and how many stickers each child has - Math). On St. Patrick's Day, the leprechaun will return at nap time and pick up his small pot full of gold - and in return he will leave a large pot (a Halloween witch's cauldron) full of a reward. The reward will consist of shamrock shaped cookies, a pitcher of lemonade tinted green, festive cups and napkins, and a goodie bag for each child.

St. Patrick's Day Little Man Puppet
Cut a large shamrock out -- have the child paste it on a large art stick or popsicle stick and then add the arms (with attached little shamrocks for hands) and legs (again with little shamrocks for feet)

Shamrock cut outs
Cookie cutters into paint and either paint a sweatshirt or on large pieces of paper.

Shamrock Puzzles
Cut out a large shamrock and let the child paste, paint, color all over it. Depending on the age, the child can later cut it into several pieces and let them put the puzzle together!!

Ages: 2+
Shamrock hunting
Take children into back yard or a park and have them look for four leaf clovers. We actually found one last year!!!--- This can be done inside as well by making a construction paper clover and 1 four leaf shamrock and have the kids try and find it.

All ages
Leprechaun mischief
While the children are out playing or before they arrive make some silly changes in the room like putting things out of place, hiding things, leaving gold chocolate coins, etc. Leave green footprints. Blame it on the leprechaun when they come in. Explain all about St. Patrick's day and leprechauns.