I posted most of these last year before St. Patrick’s Day, but I just had to post them again for anyone who missed them last year. There are so many fun ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day that don’t have to cost a lot of gold coins!
Leprechaun Visits
Starting a few days before St. Patrick’s Day, a little leprechaun visits our house each night while the kids sleep! He makes mischief of all kinds…spreads shamrock confetti on the floor. buries himself in a bowl of Lucky Charms, dyes the toilet water green, leaves chocolate coins for the kids, and puts green things in unusual places. I bought a little $3 leprechaun statue from Target who serves as our sneaky guy…you could find a little leprechaun statue or stuffed toy at party stores or really, you don’t even have to have a leprechaun…he may just make his mischief and leave at your house!
Three Words: Green Food Coloring
Use green food coloring generously on St. Patty’s Day! Green Eggs and milk for breakfast, green noodles for lunch with green cupcakes for dessert, and green mashed potatoes with your shepherd’s pie at dinner! Serve with some green fruits (kiwi, grapes) and vegetables (cucumber, green pepper, green beans, etc) and you’ve got an all-green menu!
Lucky Pennies
Check out these adorable downloadable templates from Pumpkin Petunia to make your own lucky pennies to hand out on St. Patty’s Day. Best of all…they are FREE to download and only cost a penny and the cost of your paper and ink. These make great party favors for children and adults!
Shamrock Hunt
For this fun activity, hide shamrocks in your yard (or inside the house if the weather doesn’t cooperate) and have your kids hunt for them! I always hide a little pot of gold (chocolate coins) as a bonus, too. We have a bag of plastic shamrocks that we got at Brookside Party a couple of years ago that I hide, but you could easily make your own out of cardboard. This one gets them out and running around and is a nice warm-up for Easter Egg hunting!! 🙂
Fruit Rainbow
I made this cute fruit rainbow for a snack at my son’s class St. Patty’s Day celebration and it was a HIT! Just get out a big platter and arrange different colored fruits into the shape of a rainbow (I used strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, kiwi, and purple grapes). Then make a “cloud” of marshmallows and place a pot of “gold” (chocolate coins or banana slices) at the end of the rainbow. While fruit can be expensive, this is a quick and easy way to provide a healthy and festive snack for kiddos at school or at your St. Patty’s Day party. You could even make little individual rainbows for your kids’ lunch!
Potato Stamps
Use a couple of raw potatoes, slice them in half, then cut out shamrocks, four-leaf clovers, or circles for gold coins from the sliced end of the potatoes. Let your kids dip the potatoes into green and yellow paints and stamp them onto paper to make St. Patty’s Day cards or posters. For a tutorial, go here. Cost for this one? Just the price of a potato or two!
Irish Heritage Museum
If you aren’t quite up for the parade on St. Patrick’s Day but want some family fun, head to the Kansas City Irish Heritage Museum at Union Station. They have a Family Fun Day on St. Patrick’s Day from 11-4 that includes face painting, crafts, potato painting, and Irish music and dance! Cost for each activity starts at $1. We went last year and it was really fun!
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Erin go Braugh! Have a great time celebrating this week!