St. Patrick’s Day activity

The calendar inspires today’s play-of-the-day with some kids St. Patrick’s Day fun activities. After all, leprechauns and kids both love to play. And laugh and play tricks.

First thing in the morning, find something green to wear. Green is the color of shamrocks and, of course, the Emerald Isle.
Maybe kids can help make a batch of green play dough. Play dough is really quite a treasure for play. Kids can roll, squish, smoosh, pat, twist, stretch, shape, and even cut. It’s highly sensory, appealing to touch, sight, and if you add a few drops of something like peppermint, to the sense of smell.

At snack time, make a dish of green treats. Kids can help wash celery, cucumber, and broccoli and stir up a tasty dip. Leprechauns love to play tricks. Mix up some green jello and when it’s ready try the trick of eating jello with a fork. What other yummy green things are there to eat?

In the book, Harold and Purple Crayon, everything is purple. For this day, let kids draw and color with green crayons and markers. They might want to paint with green too.

Where do we find treasure? At the end of a rainbow, of course. Give kids a box of chalk and let them color a rainbow on the sidewalk or deck. Don’t forget the pot of gold. Hopefully, there will be a warm, golden sun to brighten the day. Maybe there will be rainbows in the sky as well as on the ground.

Treasures need to be counted. Bright, shiny buttons are fun to count, so are cheerios or rainbow fruit loops. What else might you have for counting?

Read some stories about leprechauns and Ireland. One of our favorites is Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute. Does Tom get some leprechaun treasure?

If the weather isn’t playing a terrible trick and covering the ground with white, kids can go outside and gather some nature treasures for making a pot of fairy soup. Bits of grass, small twigs, pine cones, early flower petals, and some tiny rocks for seasoning could attract leprechauns, fairies, and other wee creatures out to play.

Hope your St. Patrick’s Day is full of treasure with these kids St. Patrick’s Day fun activities. Are you keeping your eyes wide open for spotting a leprechaun?

Just as one pot can hold many pieces of gold, St. Patrick’s Day has many different ways for kids to have fun. All the fun can help with early development and kindergarten readiness. Here are some ideas to start:

Wear something green today. Kids can look and find some clothing that’s green.

Have a green snack, like guacamole and chips, or green veggies like broccoli and celery with a dilly dip. The Irish love tea, you could invite a friend for a tea party.

Play with green playdough or plasticine. Include some yellow to make pieces of gold. Count the gold to see how much there is. For help with counting, roll out the numbers.

Build with green blocks or green Lego and Duplo bricks. Or use other blocks and things to make a Leprechaun trap.

Leprechauns like to hide their gold. Kids can hide some treasures for others to find. Or hide themselves!

Read some stories about St. Patrick’s Day.

Put on some lively music and dance a jig.

Go outside to see what might be green. Some areas may have bits of green where the snow has melted. Are you lucky enough to have an early spring? Warm places have lots of green.

Kids can paint a picture with just green, or all the colors of the rainbow.

Bend and twist some green, fuzzy pipe cleaners into all kinds of different shapes.

Go to the park and pretend the slide is a rainbow. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow could be a great big hug.

These are a few suggestions for things to do. Not all of them will appeal to or be appropriate for all kids. Leprechauns are amazingly creative and love to play. As children play, they are learning more about themselves and the world around them. No matter what the day, that’s worth celebrating. What will you do for fun today?