Make or buy sugar cookies, and decorate them for St. Patrick’s Day. Spread them with white frosting, and then use tubes of decorating gel and colored candies to add shamrocks, rainbows, and pots of gold. This is also a good opportunity to teach your kids the order of colors in a rainbow. If you bake the cookies in advance, decorating them can be a fun activity for the whole family to do together.
Have a green dinner: Serve as many green foods as possible (salad, green beans, and pea soup are all healthy choices, or add green food coloring to foods to get the tint you want). For dessert, Use mint chocolate chip ice cream to make “leprechaun milkshakes.” You can also make a shake by adding some peppermint extract and green food coloring to vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Here is an activity that is great for talking about shapes and making a cute St. Patrick’s Day craft at the same time. Using black construction paper, cut out a 4-inch square. Then cut a rectangle about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. Glue the square to the rectangle to form a top hat. Using green construction paper, cut out three small hearts. Glue them onto the hat with the points together to form a shamrock. Cut a small green rectangle and add it as the stem. You can use glitter pens to write names and further decorate the hats. Add a magnet to the back to hang on the refrigerator, or just hang it on the wall for decoration.
Kids love scavenger hunts, so why not have them search for a pot of gold? Write clues on shamrocks cut out of green paper. If you have more than one child, you can either have them work together, or set up separate hunts for each child. The clues should lead them to the place where you have hidden the pot of gold. So, you don’t have a real pot full of gold to give away? Be creative with your prizes. You can use yellow M&Ms, or candy in gold colored wrappers, like chocolate coins. You can also use gold jewelry for the prize. Use toy jewelry for small children, and a nicer watch, bracelet, or necklace for older kids. Yellow or gold colored hair accessories, stickers, t-shirts, and hats can also fill your “pot of gold.”
Little children might enjoy a special present left by a “leprechaun”-look for St. Patrick’s Day party favors like little hats or pots, and fill with small prizes. Leave these out on St. Patrick’s day for the kids to discover. Warning: If you do this once, expect to do it each year!
Sprinkle “leprechaun dust” (aka gold glitter) around the house, so everyone can tell a leprechaun visited!
St. Patrick’s Day can be a lot of fun. With good food, crafts, games, and your imagination, you can go beyond the wearing of the green to celebrate with your family.
Denise Sanger is the owner of NewCoolToysOnline.com which features a fantastic selection of outdoor toys and outdoor play toys for kids of all ages including toddler outdoor toys. The company is located in sunny Florida and may be reached at 877-950-7665.
Simple Christmas Decorations to create at Home
|
|
handprint growth chart This artful growth chart awaits parent-child collaborations as time marches on. The chart can track the progress of up to four children, as bigger and bigger handprints indicate heights on the rise in nontoxic, water-based white paint (included). May be personalized with up to two lines of 25 embroidered characters. Includes two hooks for hanging and a black marker. In tomato, marigold, light moss… |
|
|
5×7 JUMBO ~ DAD’S KIDS Landscape Picture Frame ~ Laser Cream Marble Mat with Fruitwood Stained Oak Frame $21.99 JUMBO 5″x7″ Dad’s Kids Landscape Keepsake Picture Frame ~ Fruitwood Stained Oak Frame with Laser Cut Cream Marble Matboard. We custom make these frames and mats to fit your 5×7 photo/picture image without cropping. Frames are Sanded and Fine Finished. Includes frame, glass, cream marble laser cut insert, E-Z Bendable tabs to access photo, easel back and wall mount ready to display…. |
|
|
5×7 JUMBO ~ GRANDMA’S KIDS Landscape Picture Frame ~ Laser Cream Marble Mat with Fruitwood Stained Oak Frame $21.99 JUMBO 5″x7″ Grandma’s Kids Landscape Keepsake Picture Frame ~ Fruitwood Stained Oak Frame with Laser Cut Cream Marble Matboard. We custom make these frames and mats to fit your 5×7 photo/picture image without cropping. Frames are Sanded and Fine Finished. Includes frame, glass, cream marble laser cut insert, E-Z Bendable tabs to access photo, easel back and wall mount ready to display…. |
|
|
Kids Just Wanna Have Fun Care Package $39.99 Don’t all kids just wanna have fun? Well, give them what they want for goodness sakes. These crazy fun crayons are itching to deliver their fun filled activities and sweet treats to your favorite kid. Includes: |
|
|
Kids Just Wanna Have Fun Care Package $40.99 Don’t all kids just wanna have fun? Well, give them what they want for goodness sakes. These crazy fun crayons are itching to deliver their fun filled activities and sweet treats to your favorite kid. Crazy Crayons gift box |
|
|
Traditional Christmas Cooking, Crafts, & Gifts $1.87 Traditional Christmas Cooking, Crafts, & Gifts |
|
|
Christmas Crafts (Kids Can Easy Crafts) $3.48 Kids can create international Christmas crafts with construction paper, felt, recycled cards and wrapping paper, and other inexpensive materials. More than a dozen fun one-of-a-kind gifts and holiday decorations that beginner readers can make with little or no adult help. |
|
|
Victorian Christmas Crafts: A Treasury Of Gifts, Ornaments, And Other $6.18 Victorian Christmas Crafts: A Treasury Of Gifts, Ornaments, And Other |
|
|
Victorian Christmas crafts: A treasury of gifts, ornaments, and other $6.98 Victorian Christmas crafts: A treasury of gifts, ornaments, and other |
|
|
Glorious Gifts (Rodale’s Treasury of Christmas Crafts) $1.39 Glorious Gifts (Rodale’s Treasury of Christmas Crafts) |
|
|
One-Hour Christmas Crafts for Kids $9.98 One-Hour Christmas Crafts for Kids |
|
|
Crafts for Kids $12.95 To give a preschooler plenty of crafting fun, just grab some felt, sequins, buttons, bows, beads, paper, and this fabulous collection of international projects. With more than 50 colorful things to create, including holiday cards, gifts, and decorations, there’s something to appeal to every child. For Christmas, celebrate with tree bag ornaments or a gingerbread house. Dress up a Thanksgiving table with a cornucopia. Display Easter eggs in a papier-mache bowl. A decorated mug makes a perfect Mother’s or Father’s Day gift, and a bat and spider chain adds a spooky touch to Halloween. Other projects are inspired by festivities from around the world. |
|
|
Christmas Gifts of Good Taste: Festive Recipes and Easy Crafts (80 Gif $14.87 Christmas Gifts of Good Taste: Festive Recipes and Easy Crafts (80 Gif |
|
|
Creative Christmas Crafts: 56 Festive Ideas for Gifts and Decorations $6.5 Creative Christmas Crafts: 56 Festive Ideas for Gifts and Decorations |
|
|
Christmas Crafts & Entertaining (Fun Projects & Gifts plus Great Recip $1.23 Christmas Crafts & Entertaining (Fun Projects & Gifts plus Great Recip |
|
|
Christmas Crafts (Fun Holiday Crafts Kids Can Do) $3.98 Christmas Crafts (Fun Holiday Crafts Kids Can Do) by Fay Robinson Published in 2004 by Enslow Elementary |
|
|
Christmas Crafts $21.92 Christmas Crafts |
|
|
Crafts for Christmas $4.89 Crafts for Christmas |