Monthly NEWSletter
Twiggle Magazine

Sign Up for Our Twiggle Magazine Newsletter!

Themes

Next New Theme

Summer 09
Bees

What Our Subscribers Say:

KidsSoup Membership Info

Only $2.15 a month!
More than 4,200 resources at your fingertips! Age-appropriate preschool to kindergarten theme-based printable lesson plans, crafts, activities, worksheets, emergent reader booklets, and other quality educational resources for children ages 3-7. New themes and resources added each month!

Free St. Patrick's Day and Leprechaun Activities and Printables

Have fun with your children celebrating St. Patrick's Day and have a leprechaun visit your classroom or your house. Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they are thought to be shoemakers. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold. It is believed that they bury their gold in secret places only Leprechauns can reach, or that the pot of gold is hidden at the end of the rainbow.

The Leprechaun Visit

The night before St. Patrick's Day, do some harmless pranks and mess up the family room (or classroom) after your children are in bed. Think of as many silly things as you can that your children will notice in the morning. Leave little gold coins or gold nuggets (beans sprayed golden) lying around. Hide a scroll (letter from the leprechaun) for your children to find. Read the letter together and tell your children about the mischievous leprechauns and their pot of gold.

Have children search for the gold coins or nuggets that the leprechaun left behind and put them in a bowl. Ask children to estimate the number of gold coins there are in the pot. Count the coins with the children, taking the opportunity to introduce and teach the math concepts same, one more, and one less.

After cleaning up after the leprechaun, have children write a letter to the leprechaun asking him about his life and to please clean up next time he plays in your house. Discuss how you could catch a leprechaun and make a leprechaun trap together. Use items around the house like a shoebox, a clean can, paper rolls, strings, sandwich bags, etc. Be creative and have fun. Don't forget to decorate the trap and to add bait.

Scavenger Hunt

Before your children return from school (or the next morning), close the trap and place inside it a piece of a rainbow and shamrock with a clue from the leprechaun. Print other clues onto the other pieces of the rainbow and hide them in the room. After following each clue, your children will find some of the leprechauns pot of gold—a bag of chocolate foil-covered coins!

If you are lucky enough to capture a leprechaun, dont take your eyes off him or he will disappear. Happy leprechaun hunting . . .

Clover Everywhere
Shamrocks are three-leaved clovers. If by chance you find a four-leaf clover, you are thought to be lucky!

Free St. Patrick's Day Crafts and Printables

Shamrock Finger Painting

Cut a piece of paper into a shamrock shape. Put a squirt of yellow finger paint and a squirt of blue finger paint on each child's paper. Let the children experience making the color green.

St. Patrick's Day Bracelet Craft

Cut a 1-inch ring from a paper roll and make a cut to make an opening. Paint ring green and let dry. Fold green paper and cut three heart shapes. Glue heart shapes on the ring to create a shamrock.

St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Bracelet	Leprechaun Connect the Dots	Shamrock Hunt Printable	Leprechaun Letter	St. Patrick's Day Activity

Shimmering Shamrocks
Cut shamrock shape out of green craft paper and have children put glue around the edges and sprinkle with salt or sugar.

Shamrock Collage
Glue three small paper plates together to form a shamrock shape. Have children add different green medias (dried split peas, green maccaroni, tissue paper, green paper scraps, yarn, etc.)

Green Vegetable Printing
Assortment of green vegetables such as green peppers, celery, cucumbers, etc. Wash and cut vegetable and cut in half. Provide green paint and let children have fun printing.

Coffee Filter Shamrocks
Cut shamrock shape out of coffee filters. Mix yellow paint and water and place mixture in a small container. Do the same for blue. Let children use eyedroppers or brushes to drip colors on the filter shape. The colors will run together and to make green. This makes beautiful shamrocks decoration.

Other Great Preschool and Kindergarten St. Patrick's Day Theme Activities and Links:

St. Patrick's Day gift baskets are a great way to surprise a lucky Irishmen. Gift baskets customized for St. Patrick's Day are a nice treat for anyone, even if you aren't Irish.