The Craftiest Workshop

St. Patrick’s Day is another holiday that is very easy to build programming around.

I try to incorporate child interest into the books, songs, crafts and activities.

BOOKS

How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace; illustrated by Andy Elkerton

The Gingerbread man and the Leprechaun by Laura Murray; illustrated by Mike Lowery

The Leprechaun Under the Bed by Teresa Bateman; illustrated by Paul Meisel

Leprechaun on the Loose by Marcia Thornton Jones; illustrated by Cyd Moore

Ten Lucky Leprechauns by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook; illustrated by Jay Johnson

The Itsy Bitsy Leprechaun by Jeffrey Burton; illustrated by Sanja Rescek

SONGS & FINGERPLAYS

Five Little Leprechauns

^{(tune of Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the bed)}

I caught 5 little Leprechauns and gave them to my spouse

5 little Leprechauns he kept them in our house

He didn’t keep his eye on them and just as I feared

One little leprechaun went POOF! and disappeared

He Lived Under a Rainbow

^{(tune of BINGO)}

There was a little leprechaun

He lived under a rainbow

R-A-I-N bow

R-A-I-N bow

R-A-I-N bow

He lived under a rainbow

Each verse one letter changes to a clap until you are just clapping.

Five Little Shamrocks

Five little shamrocks growing by the door.

(Child’s name) picked one, and that left four.

Four little shamrocks, green as they could be.

(Child’s name) picked one, and that left three.

Three little shamrocks, sitting by my shoe,

(Child’s name) picked one, and then there were two.

Two little shamrocks nodding in the sun,

(Child’s name) picked one, and that left one.

One little shamrock for St. Patrick’s Day fun.

(Child’s name) picked it, and that left none.

Five Green Shamrocks

Oh Where? Oh Where Has My Leprechaun Gone?

^{(Tune of “Where oh where has my little dog gone?”)}

Oh where, oh where has my Leprechaun gone?

Oh where, oh where could he be?

I set a trap and I can’t find him.

Oh where, oh where could he be?

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For this song, print out and laminate a leprechaun.

Have the group sit in a circle and have one person sit in the middle and cover their eyes.

While the song is sung, one child in the circle will sit on the leprechaun.

When the song is done, the person in the middle uncovers their eyes and has to guess who is hiding the leprechaun.

CRAFTS

Leprechaun

A paper plate, orange paint, orange yarn, googly eyes and green/black/yellow paper.

You could cut out the middle of the plate and make this a mask.

Pot of gold rainbow

Cut strips of coloured paper, a pot, a cloud and some gold ribbon.

Have the children glue the items into a picture on their paper.

Fruit Loops Necklace

Provide each child with a bowl of Fruit Loops and a piece of yarn or string.

Tape one end to the table and wrap a piece of tape around the loose end for easier stringing. Now the children can easily feed Fruit Loops onto their necklaces.

Leprechaun trap

Offer shoe boxes, paper, markers, pipe cleaners and other loose parts. See what kind of trap the kids can come up with. If the children are younger, you could make a plan together and give each child something to work on.

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ACTIVITIES

Skittles rainbow experiment

Using a white plate, arrange skittles around the outside in a circle. Slowly pour warm/hot water over the skittles. The colour will start to leave the candies and create a rainbow.

Water walking rainbow

This works well with six 500ml mason jars. You put water in all of the jars. Add food colouring to three jars: the first jar red, the third jar yellow and the fifth jar blue. Roll up and bend a square of paper towel so that each is touching the water in two jars. The jars will create a circle. Soon the colours will start to move up and into the jars beside them with only water; the colours will combine to create new colours.

Leprechaun Yoga

A fun gross motor activity done in partners.

Search for gold coins

Hide a certain number of gold or lucky coins (plastic is better but paper would work) in the room. Have a sheet numbered with the number of coins. As the children find a coin, they place it on a number on the sheet so you know how many are left. Once all the coins have been found, you could give everyone a chocolate coin as a prize.

SENSORY

Green silly putty

Mix 2 Tbsp corn starch and 1.5 Tbsp green liquid dish soap for each child

If too sticky add a bit more corn starch. If not holding together, add a bit more soap. It should stretch without breaking.

Each child can mix their own, play with it and then take it home in an empty apple sauce cup put in a plastic baggie.

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It is hard to see in the pictures but I used green palmolive and there was a bit of a green hue to the putty.

Sensory bin

As inviting as this presentation looks, without it being in a container, this becomes a mess really quickly. I would provide a container with a base of green lentils or dyed chick peas then add some of these loose parts. If you keep a sensory bin over a week, you could change out the loose parts that are in it to keep it interesting.

These are just some of the ideas that you could use that are centered around St. Patrick’s Day.