Are You Ready For St. Patrick’s Day?

This year St. Patrick’s Day is on March 15th (this Saturday)… Are you ready? Just in case you find yourself behind the eight ball, here are some easy and fun ideas for St. Patrick crafts that you can do with the kids.

Irish Neck Tie - This St. Patrick’s Day tie is quick to make and a lot of fun to wear! In fact, you probably won’t get it off your kids even after St. Patty’s because they are so fun and silly.

Stuffed Shamrocks - Fold a section of a large paper bag in half and cut 2 identical shamrocks out. Staple them together all the way around, leaving a hole. Stuff newspaper inside the hole to puff up the shamrock. Staple the hole shut. Paint green and sprinkle with green glitter while still wet. Let dry. Use a hole punch to make a hole in the top and tie a piece of yarn at the top to hang.

Rainbow Streamers - Bring in some rainbows and maybe even some good luck with these streamers. Have a parade, or put on some Irish music and dance. The kids will know what to do with them!

My Little Pot o’Gold - This project developed out of the tradition in some families of setting a Leprechaun Trap… where you decorate the bottom of a shoebox and set it up on a stick to trap a Leprechaun on St. Patrick’s Day. If you catch one, he’s supposed to leave you some “gold.” We decided to make these little pots for him to put the “gold” into.

Shamrock Wands - Cut 3 identical hearts out of green construction paper (about 2-3 inches across). Glue the tips together so that they look like a shamrock. Use glitter glue to make designs on the shamrock if desired. Glue on a craft stick and some streamers to make a wand.

Textured Shamrocks - Cut a shamrock out of green construction paper, or you can use a template like this one. Glue on pieces of macaroni. You can also glue on other things like rice, beans, glitter, packing peanuts, tissue paper, color the macaroni, etc.

Blarney Stone - Fine a good sized rock about the size of your child’s fist, wash it, and paint it green. While it’s still wet, sprinkle with green or gold glitter.