Maybe you have even more time this year to create a trap?
originally posted on March 13, 2019
St. Patrick’s Day… if you are really Irish it’s HUGE. If you aren’t, it’s like the ugly stepsister to Christmas; just a day you wear green and have a beer. Sometimes you might make corned beef or participate in a pub crawl to try to find some Irish in your blood, but mostly you are feeling lucky if you put on your four leaf clover socks.
But for kids, holidays are EVERYTHING. If you can buy decorations at your local Target, then the holiday is worth celebrating! The leprechauns might not be as cheery as Santa and his elves, or as spooky as all the Halloween witches and zombies, but the cute little buggers are still fun and can be quite mischievous. With a holiday surrounded by promoting good luck, how bad can celebrating St. Patrick’s Day be?
First, as usual everyone needs a plan. If you spend only 2 minutes creating one you are more likely to follow through. If not, you will be trying to make gross looking green eggs on the 17th. Swing by the dollar section and get some headbands for the kids and some tacky looking centerpiece. There’s no need to go all out, House Beautiful usually doesn’t care about St. Patrick’s Day swag, so maybe you can give into the tackiness for once. Life doesn’t have to be Pinterest worthy all of the time. Save it for the big league Holidays.
There are several easy ideas you can do to surprise your kids with a leprechaun visit when they wake up on the 17th!
- Leave green food coloring in the toilet bowl surrounded by green candy.
- Make a mess of your kitchen or dining room chairs. Leprechauns have the reputation of wreaking havoc so the bigger the mess the better. Don’t feel like you have to live in the mess all day, have those kiddos clean it up after breakfast! This isn’t Christmas; chore time still happens!
- Leave a box of good, old fashioned Lucky Charms on the counter for the breakfast. Your kids will think this is a huge win. All kids like freeze-dried marshmallows and a lot of moms aren’t into buying them on a regular basis!
- Hang colored streamers and balloons from bedroom doorways. Leave a pot of gold (chocolate coins work great) with a note saying “You are the gold at the end of my rainbow!”
To up your St. Patrick’s Day game even more, attempting to catch a leprechaun is the way to go! Just like trying to see a glimpse of Comet and Cupid in the Christmas Eve skies, catching a leprechaun is prime kid glory. There are several ways to set homemade traps. From the simple card board box style to the more advanced gear and pulley systems. Let the kids use their imagine and be the inventors. Then as parents, work to adapt and help make their visions possible. If the kids are older, they might not need your help at all.
In my house, we are the card board box type. Sam wants to entice the leprechaun with gold coins and created his box with construction paper, tape and a little bling. He is assuming the leprechaun can read and left him a directional note.
To up your St. Patrick’s Day game even more, attempting to catch a leprechaun is the way to go! Just like trying to see a glimpse of Comet and Cupid in the Christmas Eve skies, catching a leprechaun is prime kid glory. There are several ways to set homemade traps, from the simple card board box style to the more advanced gear and pulley systems. Let the kids use their imagine and be the inventors. Then as parents, work to adapt and help make their visions possible. If the kids are older, they might not need your help at all.
In my house, we go with the cardboard box traps. Sam wants to entice the leprechaun with gold coins and created his box with construction paper, tape and a little bling. He is assuming the leprechaun can read and left him a directional note.
Caroline made her trap in her Kindergarten class. She worked hard to attract the little guy with a beautiful rainbow, “Free Gold” sign and a gold Mardi Gras necklace! (Good job being resourceful, Caroline!)
These three little beauties made a mess, but worked together on their trap. With construction paper and glue sticks, even the little one could help out. Coloring rainbows was their final step to get a leprechaun to come their way.
If you feel like you need to step up your game a bit and be a St. Patty’s Day OVERACHEIVER, check out what Tyler and Holdyn created for their little sister, Piper. Clearly, they have some mad skills (and a creative mother). Complete with rope, gold, candy and four leaf clovers they were able to catch a cute little guy for their sister. No wonder she thinks they both hung the moon. Swoon.
Add some lucky charms or chocolate coins as a prize if your kids don’t trap a leprechaun.
Merry Making comes in all shapes and sizes all year round. Kids are only kids once, no matter how busy and tired mom and dad might be. Making memories is special for everyone involved. It only takes a little creative, simple wonder!