Saint Patrick's Day brings back happy memories for me from when I was a child. One that stands out? The day I arrived at school to find out a leprechaun had come to visit our class in the middle of the night, making a wild mess of everything.
He'd tipped over chairs and hung streamers from the ceiling. He left behind green footprints that we followed through the school halls until we stopped at a chest filled with candy.
Such a magical memory!
While my children are not old enough to be in school yet, I still want to celebrate the holiday with them in memorable ways! So we came up with these three easy St. Patrick's Day crafts, perfect for the preschool-sized leprechauns!
Pot O' Gold Rainbow Hand
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This is fun for kids to make, and a great keepsake for you or to give to grandparents! I just love little handprint crafts.
What you need:
- Posterboard or large sheet of paper
- Red, orange, yellow, green, and blue paint
- Black paper
- Plastic coins
- Hot glue
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How to make it:
- Cut out a pot or cauldron shape from the black paper and set aside.
- Stripe each finger (and continue down the palm!) of the child's hand with each separate paint color.
- Press the hand onto your paper to make the rainbow.
- Glue the pot under the rainbow.
- Hot glue coins to the pot.
The cutest leprechaun face
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This leprechaun face is easy to make and your child will love wearing it around the house ... sure to make you laugh!
What you need:
- White paper plate
- Black, yellow, and green construction paper
- Orange marker
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Glue
Instructions:
- Cut the middle out of the paper plate.
- Color the plate orange.
- Cut a hat shape out of green paper. Embellish with a cutout gold buckle, shamrock, and black band.
- Glue shapes together to create your finished hat.
- Glue the hat onto the paper plate.
Optional: You can also add a hole punch to each side and attach the hat to the child's head with elastic or string.
The end of the (cereal) rainbow
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The great thing about this colorful craft is that kids can practice everything from fine motor and scissors skills to colors. Plus they can have fun sneaking a few marshmallows and cereal treats!
What you need:
- Colored cereal
- Mini marshmallows
- Paper (cardstock or even poster board work best because of the weight of the cereal and coins!)
- Black construction paper
- Glue
- Plastic gold coins
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How to make it:
- Draw where the cloud goes. Glue mini-marshmallows in the cloud area.
- Draw and cut out the pot from the black construction paper, then glue it into place.
- Separate the cereal into colors then glue into the shape of a rainbow, ending in the pot.
- Glue down gold coins at the top of the pot!
Greta Tafelski lives in Crawford County, Pa.
