Seven Simple St. Patrick’s Day Activities And Ideas For Kids

Whether you are Irish or not, whether you can spell claddagh or you can’t, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day can be fun, as well as good cultural exposure for your children. So here are some St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids of all ages.

If you have younger kids, here are some fun ways to spice up the day. You can do some or all, or pretend a Leprechaun visits during the night. Here is a good backstory:

1. Set a Leprechaun Trap

Explain there are Irish elves called Leprechauns who love (chocolate) gold coins so much that if they don’t find them in the house on St. Patrick’s Day, they will get mad and leave things a mess. So you need to capture one!

Have the kids make a Leprechaun Trap (see my post here) to see if they can trap a Leprechaun. Anything they can think up and imagine is always a great thing too. Just find empty coffee containers, empty cereal boxes, empty oatmeal jars or empty shoe boxes, construction paper, tape or glue, scissors, markers or crayons, stickers, etc. Then use items like fake gold (chocolate gold coins are good), lucky charms cereal, or anything that would ‘lure the Leprechaun’ to the trap.

Have the kids set up the traps before they go to bed. While they are sleeping, leave evidence behind like green confetti, maybe muss up the house a bit (or more so than usual!) Open some kitchen drawers, and leave green napkins hanging out. Turn over a chair. Maybe even leave Leprechaun footprints outside or using flour on the floor. Color the toilet water green pretending it must be Leprechaun pee-pee. (Kids love that!) Then hide chocolate gold coins around the house. When the kids wake up, they will see the empty trap, but the fun ‘destruction’ (and chocolate) the Leprechauns left behind in their hasty escape!

Here are some other ‘Lucky” activities to do on or before St. Patricks Day.

1. Serve green eggs for breakfast. Just use food coloring. I prefer food coloring without artificial dyes, but it’s all a personal preference! This (affiliate) food coloring on Amazon is an option!
2. Lucky Charms cereal snacks are fun! Pack for the lunch box or as a fun ice cream topping for dessert!
3. Wear green of course!
4. Make a Leprechaun Hat. Just cut out a strip of construction paper that fits the circumference of their head, and have them decorate it with stickers, markers, pom-poms, glitter, etc. Just get an (affiliate) big, bulk, craft kit from Amazon.
5. Make rainbows with colored paper or draw them with colored markers or crayons. Or make shamrocks to hang around the house. I like this (affiliate) 100 piece assorted construction paper pack on Amazon.
6. Play Irish Music in the house.
7. Make Irish Soda Bread! This is a fun recipe from the Great British Bakeoff Show. Or check out my recipe! Have the kids help!
8. Play St. Patrick’s Day Bingo or do an educational St. Patrick’s themed printable.

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An as an FYI, leprechauns are not the only Irish elves…they have lesser-known cousins called Clurichauns that drink too much and will ruin your liquor cabinet if you get on their bad side! (But that is a post for another day.)