5 Sensory Activities for St Patrick's Day

St Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate in the classroom. Today I’m sharing 5 sensory activities for St Patrick’s Day that I’m almost willing to guarantee your students will love!

1. St Patrick’s Crime Scene

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how much I love a good old crime scene – and so do my students! This St Patrick’s Day crime scene is always a bunch of fun – and yes, I’m 100% that person who pulls it out year after year to re-use with my students.

In this crime scene, students have to follow the clues to work out which leprechaun messed up the classroom! The clues are all sensory based – smell, taste, touch etc.

Click here to read all about it. Or download a copy here.

2. Lucky Charm Soup

Fill up a water tray with water – or milk if you’re feeling brave! – and add some Lucky Charms. You can even set students the task of looking for specific marshmallow pieces in the cereal to pull them out – or dish up some cereal for those lucky leprechauns!

3. Rainbow Slime

If you’re feeling up to it – put your students into groups to make different color slime. Then put them altogether at the end to make rainbow slime! To make it extra creative, throw in some shamrocks and gold coins for students to move through the slime to find!

4. Frozen Gold!

Fill a bowl or tray with water, and throw in some gold coins, glitter, and even shamrocks if you want! Just add anything St. Patrick’s themed. Put it in the freezer and leave to freeze overnight. The next day, pull it out, and remove the ice from the bowl/tray. Have students use tools – or think up ways – that they can crack through the ice to try and dig out the gold coins.

5. Leprechaun Spaghetti Hunt

My students always love playing in spaghetti. Simply dye some spaghetti green and pop it in a sensory bin. I love to hunt around for some St Patrick’s Day edible treats – or even just some non edible themed items – and pop them in. Along with scissors, spoons, forks and anything that students can use to work their way around and through the spaghetti – especially for students who may be hesitant to put their hands straight in.

Bonus Sensory Activities

If you’re looking for some more sensory activities you can do this St Patrick’s Day, try these;

1. Shamrock Sensory Bin 🌿

🛠 Materials: Green rice or lentils, gold coins, plastic shamrocks, small scoops, and tongs.
✨ How to Play: Let students dig, scoop, and explore different textures while searching for hidden shamrocks or gold coins. You can encourage sorting, counting, and fine motor practice!

2. Rainbow Oobleck 🌈

🛠 Materials: Cornstarch, water, food coloring (in rainbow colors).
✨ How to Play: Mix cornstarch and water to create a gooey, non-Newtonian substance. Let students explore the changing textures as they poke, squeeze, and stir the colorful oobleck!

3. Leprechaun Treasure Hunt 🏆

🛠 Materials: Sensory bin (or sand tray), gold coins, small shamrocks, textured fabrics.
✨ How to Play: Hide small gold coins in a bin filled with rice, kinetic sand, or shredded paper. Students can use hands, tweezers, or scoops to find the treasure and practice sensory exploration and fine motor skills.

4. St. Patrick’s Day Scented Playdough 🍀

🛠 Materials: Green playdough, peppermint extract, gold glitter.
✨ How to Play: Let students squeeze, roll, and shape their own shamrocks and gold coins using scented playdough. The peppermint scent adds an extra sensory experience, helping students engage their sense of smell!

5. Fizzy Pot of Gold Science ⚗️

🛠 Materials: Baking soda, vinegar, yellow/gold food coloring, small container.
✨ How to Play: Fill a small pot or cup with baking soda and drop in gold food coloring. Have students pour vinegar over it and watch the fizzy reaction! It’s a fun, hands-on visual and auditory sensory experience.

6. Rainbow Water Beads Exploration 💦

🛠 Materials: Water beads in rainbow colors, clear bin, small scoops.
✨ How to Play: Soak water beads in advance and let students squish, scoop, and sort them by color. The soft, slippery texture makes this a great calming sensory activity for students with sensory processing needs.

7. Shamrock Shake Sensory Bottles 🧴

🛠 Materials: Clear bottles, green glitter, water, oil, small shamrock confetti.
✨ How to Play: Fill bottles with green glitter, water, and oil to create calming sensory bottles. Let students shake and watch the shamrocks float, helping them self-regulate and relax.

8. St. Patrick’s Day Sound Shakers 🎶

🛠 Materials: Empty plastic containers, dried beans, gold beads, small bells.
✨ How to Play: Fill containers with different items and let students shake them to explore different sounds! Compare the loud vs. soft noises and have a mini parade with students shaking their instruments!

9. Green Slime Exploration 🟢

🛠 Materials: Clear glue, liquid starch, green food coloring, shamrock confetti.
✨ How to Play: Let students mix and stretch their own St. Patrick’s Day slime! Add shamrock confetti or gold glitter for extra fun. The sticky, stretchy texture is great for sensory play.

10. Rainbow Gross Motor Pathway 🏃‍♂️

🛠 Materials: Colored floor mats, tape, printable rainbow signs.
✨ How to Play: Set up a colorful sensory movement path where students jump, stomp, and crawl through the colors of the rainbow. This helps students with proprioception, body awareness, and movement regulation.

These St. Patrick’s Day sensory activities provide multi-sensory engagement, helping special education students explore textures, sounds, movement, and colors in a fun and meaningful way! 🍀🌈✨