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LEPRECHAUN PUPPET
Find a St. Patrick’s Day greeting card that has a picture of a leprechaun on the front.
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Cut out the leprechaun picture and let your child decorate it by gluing on gold glitter. |
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Tape a plastic straw to the back of the picture for a puppet handle. |
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GREEN MAGIC |
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Set out a piece of finger painting paper for your child. |
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Place a glob of yellow finger paint on one side of the paper and a glob of blue finger paint on the other side. |
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Have your child finger paint with the colors. |
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Your child should soon discover the magic of mixing blue and yellow paint together.
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SHAMROCK PLACEMAT
Invite your child to make a holiday placemat.
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First set out a sheet of white paper and a shamrock cookie cutter. |
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Have your child make shamrocks all over the paper, by placing the cookie cutter on the paper and drawing around it with a green crayon or marker. |
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You could also give her some holiday stickers to stick on her placemat. |
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To preserve the mat, you could cover it with clear Contac paper or have it laminated at a copy shop. |
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SHAMROCK ACTIVITIES – You will find a number of Shamrock Art Activities at the Art Station, under Spring Art. |
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LEPRECHAUN GOLD SEARCH (Problem Solving)
Collect some shiny pennies or chocolate coins covered with gold foil to use for “Leprechaun Gold”.
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Hide the gold outdoors or inside where your child can easily find it. |
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For fun clues, spray-paint some small stones gold and arrange them in a pathway for your child to follow when going on his search. |
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WEARING O’ THE GREEN (Color discrimination)
Explain to your child that it is customary to wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day.
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Let him choose a green article of clothing to put on for the holiday. |
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Or tie a green ribbon or piece of yarn around his wrist. |
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When you go out, encourage her to look for green items others are wearing in honor of St. Patrick. |
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ST. PATRICK’S DAY STICKER GAME (Directional Correspondance)
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Find an interesting magazine picture that takes up most of a page and cut it out. |
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Set out several St. Patrick’s Day stickers. |
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Then give your child directions for placing the stickers on the picture such as, “Put the leprechaun sticker under the tree,” or “Put the shamrock sticker next to the house.” |
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When all the stickers have been used, ask your child to tell you where she placed each one. |
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LEPRECHAUN LEGEND
Explain to your child that there are many stories about the magical little characters called leprechauns. It is said that they are hard to spy and very hard to catch. But if you should catch a leprechaun, they say, he will have to show you where his pot of gold is buried.
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Have your child tell you how he might try to catch a leprechaun. |
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Or have your child pretend to be the leprechaun and have her tell you where she might hide her gold.
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LEPRECHAUN PUPPETS
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Have your child use the puppet she made from the art section for telling Leprechaun stories or for singing Leprechaun songs, such as the one below. |
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I’M A LITTLE LEPRECHAUN
Tune: “Mary Had A Little Lamb”
I’m a little leprechaun,
Leprechaun, leprechaun.
I’m a little leprechaun
On St. Patrick’s Day.
See me dance a little jig,
Little jig, little jig.
See me dance a little jig
When I come out to play.
Elizabeth Scofield
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MAKING RAINBOWS – go to the Discovery Station for ideas for making your own rainbows.
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MAKING GREEN – mix blue and yellow food coloring to make the color green.
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RAINBOW KABOBS
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Cut red strawberries, orange oranges, yellow bananas, green melons, blue blueberries, and purple grapes into bite-sized pieces. |
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Have your child thread the fruit onto wooden skewers to make a rainbow kabob. |
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ST. PATRICK’S DAY APPLESAUCE
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For a little “Leprechaun Magic”, spoon some yellow applesauce into a bowl. |
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Next, add a drop of blue food coloring |
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Invite your child to stir the applesauce and watch as it turns into a green fruity treat.
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GREEN PEPPER SHAMROCK
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Mix sliced green onions with cottage cheese. |
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Slice a green pepper side-ways making shamrock shaped wedges. |
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Place a pepper shamrock shape on a plate and fill in the shape with the cottage cheese mixture. |
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After your child has seen the shamrock shape, you could cut up the pepper wedge to make it easier to eat with the cottage cheese. |
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GREEN LIMEADE
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Use a favorite recipe to make regular limeade. |
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Let your children help you squeeze the limes. |
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If you wish you could add a couple of drops of green food coloring for really green limeade. |
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IRISH SODA BREAD
Here is a recipe for Irish Soda Bread that you can make for your children.
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup margarine
1 cup skim milk
½ cup raisins or currants
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Use fingers to mix in margarine. Stir in milk and add raisins or currants. Knead dough briefly, then shape into a round, flat loaf and place loaf in a greased pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes. Cut bread into wedges and serve warm.
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