7 fun St. Patrick's Day Activities for Kids

Children look forward to celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day! They get to wear as much green as they can find and search for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with their friends. But were you aware as to why we celebrate this day?

According to history, St. Patrick was born in Britain and was kidnapped and enslaved in Ireland at the age of 16. He later escaped and became known for spreading the word of Christianity throughout Ireland. Legend has it that he used a shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to others, and that is why people where green.

St. Patrick was believed to have passed away on March 17, 461, and on this day, we now get to day dream about finding a pot of gold while enjoying delicious Irish foods and obsessing over the color green!

There are a ton of fun Saint Patrick’s Day activities that you and your little ones can enjoy together! The following are a few of our favorites!

The Leprechauns Have Arrived!

This one if one of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day activity ideas! Let your creativity run free with this one. What is more fun than gold chocolate coins sprinkled across their bedroom floor with tiny leprechaun foot prints left on the ceiling? Your child would be ecstatic to wake up to find treasures that leprechauns left behind.

Depending on your budget and if your child is a light sleeper or not, there are many things you can do to get your child smiling with glee on St. Patrick’s Day! Think about the themes that make your child think of this holiday. Pots of gold, rainbows, four leaf clovers, tiny leprechauns with bright orange beards.

Decorate their bedroom, the living room, or even your front lawn. There are leprechauns living underneath the clovers in your front lawn, right? Tiny foot prints? Use green washable paint or some mud and a small doll shoe and leave tracks on the floors and on the walls.

Shamrock Jell-O Jigglers

Kids love Jell-O! Especially when it is green and in the shape of a shamrock. This is one of the simplest St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids. All you will need is:

• A box of green Jell-O (usually lime flavored)
• A medium sized bowl
• Boiling Water
• A 7 ½ x 11-inch glass baking dish
• A shamrock shaped cookie cutter (can find at your local Wal-Mart or at many local stores)

Here, you will follow the directions on the back of the Jell-O box, with the exception of one important step. The box will instruct you to add cold water to your mix. For the jigglers, you will not want to follow this step, that way you can maintain a thicker consistency when cutting the shapes.

Once the Jell-O mixture is complete, go ahead and refrigerate the gelatin until it is firm (usually takes up to three hours). Once firm, you will be able to cut the shapes and transfer them onto a plate to serve. Whipped cream and green sugar sprinkles are optional! This recipe will typically create 24 adorable shamrocks!

Mom, I Want to Look Like a Leprechaun Today!

It is time for some fun St. Patrick’s arts and crafts. Your kids are festive and want to show off their awesome orange beard at school! Help your kids create their own mask with some simple household items! You will need:

• A ridged paper plate
• Bright Orange Washable non-toxic paint and a paint brush
• Green, black and yellow construction paper
• Safety scissors
• Glue stick or non-toxic liquid glue
• Single hole punch (optional)
• Fishing line or string (optional)

The paint will take the longest to dry and therefore should be done first. We recommend laying down some newspapers and wearing some clothes that can get a bit messy before getting started. Begin by painting the bottom of the plate orange. Once dry, take a cereal bowl and a pencil and draw a circle in the center of the plate.

Next, you will want to fold the plate in half and cut a slit in the center of the circle. This will allow you to safely begin cutting out the center of the plate. Once complete, go ahead and cut a thin rectangle and a half a circle from the green construction paper. This is what you will be using as the foundation of the hat and should be proportionate with the beard.

Next, you will cut a thin rectangle of the black construction paper for the strap that holds the gold “buckle” in the center of the hat. Next, you will cut out a rectangle using the yellow construction paper and then a smaller rectangle from the center of that rectangle to form the buckle. Once complete, go ahead and assemble all of the pieces of the hat using the glue.

Next, you will want to glue the assembled hat to the orange beard that you created from the paper plate. Now you can cut slits around the perimeter of the orange plate for texture. You can also use a hole puncher to create holes on either side and some fishing line or string to create a strap, so your little leprechaun can wear it all around school!

There is a Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

There are plenty of Saint Patrick’s Day games that you and your little ones can enjoy together. While chasing an actual rainbow may not always be feasible, there are ways to create your very own rainbow at home! One of the simplest ways is to grab a CD and a flashlight and place them in a dark room or cubby.

The garage could be a great place for this! You will want to shine the flashlight on the CD and have the CD propped up in a way that a rainbow reflects on the wall. This is where your ultimate pot of gold will be! Find some plastic black cauldrons at your local convenience store and send your little ones on a search all throughout your yard and home for some gold.

You can even get the neighbors involved with this one and make it a massive hunt! Sprinkle gold chocolate coins and change in hidden yet easy to find areas (you don’t want your dog to find these later!). The one that spots the rainbow first, gets the ultimate prize!

Lucky Charm Relay!

Get creative with your St. Patrick’s Day game ideas! Are your kids notorious for picking out all the marshmallows from their Lucky Charms? Here’s your chance to put their skills to work! To get started, you will need:

• A large bowl
• A small bowl
• Plastic spoons
• Two short tables

The object of the game is to have each player collect each different type of marshmallow one by one from the large bowl of cereal and drop them off in a small bowl on the other side of the room without dropping them on the ground.

The catch? They can not use their hands! Each participant will need to hold the plastic spoon by the handle between their teeth and scoop the marshmallow and carefully balance the spoon in their mouth and drop it off in the opposing bowl. The first person to complete the series of marshmallows wins!

Pot O' Gold Slime

Slime is always fun to play with! Especially when it is glittery. You may even already have many of the ingredients already in your home. The following is what you will be needing:

• 6 oz bottle of clear Elmer's glue
• 1/2 table spoon of baking soda
• 1 table spoon of contact lens solution
• Few drops of gold acrylic paint
• fine gold glitter
• Mixing bowl

Combine all contents together in mixing bowl and knead with your hands until you reach your preferred consistency. You can also use green glitter or split the batch in two and have one batch of gold and one batch of green and then have fun mixing the colors together. Slime is too sticky? Add more contact solution.

Rainbow in a Jar

Your little one will not believe this one! While this science experiment is fun and easy to do, please be careful that your child does not attempt to drink the liquid. We advise that you store the jar in an air-tight container and display it away from their reach for them to enjoy from a far. The following are the ingredients and steps. Your rainbow will consist of five colors and will be stirred in separate bowls before added in the order listed below:

1. Purple: ¼ cup honey, 1 drop of red and a drop of blue food coloring, stir and pour into jar.
2. Blue: ¼ cup blue dish soap - squeeze into jar to match the amount of the purple layer.
3. Green: ¼ cup water, two drops of green food coloring and stir. You will want to tilt the jar and slowly pour in the liquid.
4. Yellow: ¼ cup olive oil - Tilt jar and carefully pour in the liquid.
5. Red: ¼ cup rubbing alcohol, add a few drops of red food coloring, stir. Tilt jar and carefully pour in the liquid.

Do you have any great ideas to share? Post your favorite games, crafts and recipes in the comments on our social media channels! Facebook and Twitter: @YourHomeID

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