You’re in luck. It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day!
Though a silly celebration for some, there’s no doubt about it: little ones love all things shamrocks, rainbows, and leprechauns!
Whether you’re decked out in green and gold or dressed for an ordinary day, you can make St. Patrick’s Day memorable for your kiddos with minimal effort. (Or maximum effort, if that’s more your style.)
Try out these seventeen St. Patrick’s Day activities for toddlers, preschoolers, and even your children in elementary school!
1. Bake a Rainbow Cake
This cake may look complicated, but it’s easier to make than you might think! Divide mixed-up white cake mix into six bowls. Drop food coloring into each bowl, then pour each mixture into six round or square cake pans.
Once the layers are baked and cooled, spread white frosting onto each one and stack. Cover the cake with more white frosting, then place rainbow candies or sprinkles on top!
2. Wear a Homemade Hat
If your child is short on green-colored clothes, this quick and easy shamrock hat will do the trick! All you need is a paper plate, green paint, and scissors.
Fold the paper plate in half, and cut around the edge. Once you’re close to the end, begin cutting a shamrock shape into the center of the plate. Unfold the plate to reveal your homemade shamrock hat, then use paint, markers, or crayons to color it green!
For more detailed instructions and images, click here.
3. Mix Potions in Pots of Gold
Make a little magic with some fun and fizzling St. Patrick’s Day science! In small black pots, add a few drops of food coloring. You can stick to green or opt for every color of the rainbow!
Pour white vinegar into each pot, then scoop in a spoonful of baking soda. Watch the potion bubble up and spill over! Stir in some gold glitter or coins for extra sparkle.
Click here for detailed step-by-step instructions.
4. Make Shamrock-Shaped Cookies
This one’s a breeze—and you get a delicious dessert out of it! From scratch or a pre-made mix, whip up some sugar cookie dough. Roll it out, then use shamrock cookie cutters to cut your cookies. Bake, decorate, and enjoy!
5. Set a Leprechaun Trap
Everybody knows that your only chance to catch a leprechaun is on the night before St. Patrick’s Day. And to catch one, you must first make a trap!
It could be a decorated shoebox, pile of popsicle sticks, or even made from LEGOs. Let your little one’s creativity run wild!
For leprechaun trap ideas, click here.
6. Dance to Irish Music
What toddler doesn’t love to dance? Turn up the tunes and show off your best Irish jig! Bagpipes, traditional Celtic music, upbeat Irish jigs—those St. Patrick’s Day songs are sure to lift your spirits.
7. Play with Gold Play Dough
Get nitty and gritty and gold! Play with play dough that sparkles for St. Patrick’s Day.
Mix two cups of flour, half a cup of salt, and two tablespoons of cream of tartar in a bowl. Add two tablespoons of cooking oil and some food coloring to the center. Mix it all together with one cup of water, then sprinkle in some gold glitter!
For even more fun, set out some gold beads, gold coins, gold pipe cleaners, and other shiny trinkets your child can mold into their play dough.
8. Serve Up a Green Snack
You don’t only wear green on St. Patrick’s Day—you eat it, too! Use spinach and other leafy greens to make green smoothies, steam some broccoli, or slurp some green Jell-O. Yum!
9. Mix Up Mess-Free Rainbow Paint
Fingerpainting without the mess? Um, yes! Let your little one fingerpaint in a mess-free, sensory way with this rainbow in a bag.
On white cardstock, squeeze paint into a rainbow shape. Carefully slip the cardstock into a clear gallon-sized plastic bag. Close the bag completely, then let your child squish and mix the paint!
Click here for more detailed instructions and images.
10. Search for a Leprechaun’s Trail
Toddlers touch just about anything they can get their hands on. It’s one of the many ways they learn about the world around them!
Pour food-colored rice into a plastic bin. Mix gold coins, shamrock shapes, rainbows, and other St. Patrick’s Day trinkets and toys into the rice. Let your little one explore the bin and discover every treasure!
For more details on dying rice, click here.
11. Fingerpaint a Rainbow
If you don’t mind a little mess, bring out every color of the rainbow and put paint on paper! Rather, put paint on your little one’s hands—then on paper.
Your kiddo can dip their fingers into paint and make rainbows, or they can spread paint onto their hands to make rainbow handprints! Either way, their creation is sure to be fridge-worthy.
12. Craft a Green Collage
If you’re not interested in cleaning up a paint mess, here’s a craft project that’s plenty of fun—without the paint.
Print or cut out a shamrock shape. Offer your child a variety of green pieces they can glue to the shamrock shape. This can include ribbons, buttons, magazine clippings, sequins, and so much more!
13. Assemble Green Discovery Bottles
Who says science and St. Patrick’s Day can’t mix? In plastic water bottles, create combinations of liquids like baby oil, hair conditioner, corn syrup, and water. Then add elements like glitter, pony beads, coins, and food coloring.
What will float? What will sink? What textures are there? Your little one will love watching these discovery bottles!
For detailed assembly instructions, click here.
14. Pour a Bowl of Lucky Charms
Start the morning strong with the leprechaun we all know and love! Treat your child—and yourself—to a sweet and sugary bowl of beloved Lucky Charms. After all, they’re magically delicious!
15. Squish Some Shamrock Slime
If your little ones love sensory play, they’ll be all smiles after squishing this shamrock slime!
Slime can be made in many ways, but some standard ingredients include school glue, baking soda, and water. You can add even more sensory fun by mixing in confetti, glitter, sequins, and other tiny trinkets!
Click here for a variety of shamrock slime recipes.
16. Make a Leprechaun Mask
With paper plates and a little paint, your kiddo can become a leprechaun! Cut the center out of one paper plate, then paint the rim orange. Cut a second paper plate in half and paint one half green. Cut the center from the other half, paint it yellow, then paint the rim black.
Fashion a hat from the green piece, then use the black and yellow pieces to create a buckle. Glue the hat to the orange plate, then add a rainbow ribbon to the sides. Finally, spread orange paint onto your kiddo’s hands, stamp them onto paper, then cut them out and glue them to the bottom of the orange plate.
Use the rainbow ribbon to tie the mask around your kiddo’s head. You’ve got a little leprechaun in your house, now!
17. Splatter Paint a Shamrock
This shamrock is what you get when Jackson Pollock and St. Patrick combine! Simply print and cut a shamrock shape, then use a paint brush to splatter shades of green onto it.
Let it dry, then hang your little one’s masterpiece on display!
Troomi believes in the limitless potential of children to learn, do, and become anything! From shamrock splatter painters and rainbow cake bakers to responsible phone users with healthy technology habits, our kid-safe smartphones are the key to that transformation. Click here to learn more about how Troomi can support your child in every stage of their development!