St. Patrick's Day crafts and activities for kids

St. Patrick's Day on March 17 is a fun excuse for green crafts, rainbows, pots of gold and a little leprechaun mischief. These St. Patrick's Day crafts for kids are easy, colorful and perfect for home or the classroom. You will also find games, snacks, a leprechaun trap idea and free printable rainbow pages to color.

What is St. Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day celebrates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Today it is celebrated around the world with parades, music, dancing and lots of green. Shamrocks, rainbows, leprechauns and pots of gold are its best-known symbols. Talking about Ireland, its flag and its traditions is a nice way to add a little learning to the fun.

St. Patrick's Day crafts for kids

1. Handprint shamrocks. Paint three green heart shapes or handprints in a clover shape and add a stem.
2. Paper plate rainbow. Paint stripes on half a paper plate and add cotton wool clouds at the ends.
3. Pot of gold. Paint a paper cup black and fill it with yellow paper or foil coins.
4. Leprechaun hat. Roll green card into a tall hat with a black band and gold buckle.
5. Rainbow collage. Sort paper scraps by color and glue them in arches, or decorate a rainbow coloring page.
6. Shamrock stamps. Cut a green pepper in half; the bottom makes a clover shape when stamped.
7. Green slime. Older children can make green slime (with adult help).
8. Shamrock garland. Cut green hearts, glue them into shamrocks and string them up.
9. Rainbow streamers. Glue colored ribbons or tissue strips to a paper plate cloud.
10. Leprechaun beard. Cut an orange paper beard and stick it on a paper plate face.

Make a leprechaun trap

Building a leprechaun trap is a favorite St. Patrick's Day tradition, and it is a great engineering project.

1. Start with a shoebox or cereal box.
2. Decorate it with green paper, rainbows and gold.
3. Build a ladder from popsicle sticks leading to the top.
4. Cut a hole in the top and cover it with paper, so a curious leprechaun might fall in.
5. Put gold coins or chocolate coins inside as bait.

In the morning, the trap is empty, but the leprechaun has left green footprints, a few coins and maybe a tiny note. Children love this, and older kids enjoy designing more complicated traps with ramps and doors.

St. Patrick's Day games

• Green scavenger hunt. Find ten green things around the house.
• Gold coin hunt. Hide gold coins and let children find them.
• Shamrock hopscotch. Draw shamrocks instead of squares.
• Pass the pot of gold. Like pass the parcel, with gold coins inside.
• Rainbow relay. Teams race to collect items in each rainbow color.
• Irish dancing. Put on Irish music and try some jigs.

St. Patrick's Day snacks

• Rainbow fruit plate. Strawberries, oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries and grapes in rainbow order.
• Green snacks. Cucumber, grapes, kiwi, broccoli and green apples.
• Pot of gold cups. Yogurt cups with banana coins on top.
• Shamrock sandwiches. Cut sandwiches with a heart cutter and arrange three as a clover.

Learning activities

• Rainbow science. Make a rainbow with a glass of water in the sun or a garden hose spray.
• Color order. Learn the rainbow colors in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
• Counting coins. Count gold coins, add and take away. Our counting worksheets and money worksheets are a good follow-up.
• Ireland facts. Find Ireland on a map, learn about its flag and listen to Irish music.
• Writing. Write a short story about a leprechaun or describe where you would hide your gold.

Crafts by age

Toddlers

Handprint shamrocks, sticking green paper on a shamrock shape, pepper stamping and coloring big rainbows.

Preschool

Paper plate rainbows, pots of gold, shamrock garlands and a simple leprechaun trap with help.

School age

Detailed leprechaun traps, rainbow science, Irish history facts and leprechaun stories.

St. Patrick's Day in the classroom

Teachers can set up a rainbow craft station, hide gold coins for a classroom hunt, and leave little green footprints on desks in the morning for a magical surprise. Combine crafts with rainbow color sorting, coin counting and writing prompts such as "If I caught a leprechaun, I would..."

Free printables

Our rainbow coloring pages are perfect for St. Patrick's Day crafts and decorations. Pair them with hearts for shamrock crafts. All pages are free to print on US Letter or A4.

More spring ideas

St. Patrick's Day is the start of spring celebrations. See our spring crafts for kids and Easter activities for kids for more ideas.

St. Patrick's Day at home: a simple plan

You can turn St. Patrick's Day into a fun family day with very little preparation.

• The night before: build the leprechaun trap together and set it by the door.
• Breakfast: green pancakes (a drop of food coloring in the batter) or a rainbow fruit plate.
• Morning: check the trap, follow the green footprints to a few hidden coins.
• Afternoon: crafts at the kitchen table, such as handprint shamrocks and paper plate rainbows.
• Evening: Irish music, a little dancing and a story about a clever leprechaun.

Wearing something green is part of the fun too. Let children pick a green T-shirt, socks or a homemade shamrock badge. If you do not have anything green, a paper shamrock pinned to a jumper works perfectly.

Rainbow crafts all spring

Rainbows suit the whole of spring, not just March 17. Keep the rainbow crafts up through April showers and add raindrops, umbrellas and puddles for a spring weather display.

Frequently asked questions

What are easy St. Patrick's Day crafts for toddlers?

Handprint shamrocks, green pepper shamrock stamps and coloring big rainbows are easy and fun for toddlers.

How do you make a leprechaun trap?

Decorate a shoebox, add a popsicle stick ladder, cut a hole in the top covered with paper and put gold coins inside as bait.

What can kids learn on St. Patrick's Day?

Rainbow colors, counting coins, a little about Ireland and its traditions, and engineering skills when building leprechaun traps.