St Patrick's Day Activities for Kids

St. Patrick’s Day is a fantastic opportunity to bring fun, creativity, and learning into your classroom or home! Whether you’re celebrating with crafts, sensory play, movement activities, or themed games, this holiday provides countless ways to engage young learners while exploring Irish culture and traditions. Below, you’ll find some engaging and hands-on activities that will make your St. Patrick’s Day extra special for kids. 🍀🌈

1. Art Therapy

We LOVE art therapy sessions in our class, and when there are holidays or celebrations coming up, we theme our sessions for them! This week we done a St Patrick’s Day art therapy session and the children LOVED it! Read all about it here.

St Patrick's Day Art Therapy Lesson Plan

2. Leprechaun Crime Scene

Your students will love this St Patrick’s Day crime scene activity pack and the naughty leprechaun who has messed up the classroom! With this pack you will be able to create a crime scene where one of the leprechauns have messed up the classroom! Find out more here.

3. Rainbow Cupcakes

Remember when I said St Patrick’s Day was one of my favourite holidays to celebrate in the classroom? It’s not just for crafts – it’s for the baking opportunities too! We do mix it up each week in our class and alternate between sweet and savoury baking. But, we could not miss out on these adorable rainbow cupcakes for St Patrick’s Day! Read all about them here.

4. Free St Patrick’s Day Adapted Book

This free download includes 1 sentence building / adapted book where students have to look at the image of what the leprechaun is doing, then select the correct symbol to finish the sentence and match the image. Find it here.

5. Pot of Gold Paper Plate Craft

We are still working on some great St Patrick’s Day crafts in class and this is one of my favourite ones so far. You can’t really celebrate St Patrick’s Day without including a pot of gold somewhere! Read all about it here.

6. Leprechaun Paper Plate Craft

Today, we made this adorable leprechaun paper plate craft. We always bulk buy paper plates at the start of the year because they’re so inexpensive and they can be used in so many different ways throughout the year. Find out more by clicking here.

7. Leprechaun Handprint Craft

We LOVE to use our handprints to make crafts in our classroom, and this time we’ve made a leprechaun! Click here to view our finished craft and how we made it!

8. St Patrick’s Day Digraph Sorting

Your students will love working on their digraph sorting with this St. Patrick’s Day activity. Digraphs included are – ch, ph, sh, th, wh. Get it here.

Additional Ideas

DIY St. Patrick’s Day Snack Ideas 🥨

Get your students involved in fun, hands-on cooking with simple St. Patrick’s Day-themed snacks!

Shamrock Toast: Use green-tinted cream cheese and shamrock-shaped cookie cutters to make festive toast!
Rainbow Fruit Skewers: Let kids build rainbows using fruit (strawberries, oranges, bananas, grapes, and blueberries) and place marshmallows at the ends as clouds.
Leprechaun Trail Mix: Combine goldfish crackers, green M&Ms, pretzels, and cereal for a delicious themed snack.

St. Patrick’s Day Storytime & Music 📚🎶

Reading themed books and singing festive songs are great ways to introduce kids to Irish culture and traditions.

Book Recommendations:

How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover by Lucille Colandro
The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day by Natasha Wing

Songs to Sing:

“I’m a Little Leprechaun” (to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”)
“Five Little Leprechauns” (counting song)

St. Patrick’s Day Movement Games 🏃‍♂️

Keep kids active and engaged with movement-based games that get them excited about the holiday.

Leprechaun Relay Race: Set up a fun obstacle course where kids have to race while balancing gold coins on a spoon!
Rainbow Hop: Place different colored mats or hula hoops on the floor and call out colors for kids to jump on.
Shamrock Freeze Dance: Play Irish music and let kids dance and freeze when the music stops!

St. Patrick’s Day Science Fun 🔬

Incorporate STEM learning into the holiday with a fun and simple rainbow experiment.

Rainbow Walking Water Experiment: Set up cups of water with food coloring (red, yellow, and blue) and place paper towels between them. Over time, kids will watch the colors blend and form a rainbow!
Fizzing Leprechaun Pots: Use small pots filled with baking soda and gold glitter, then let kids pour vinegar over them to create a magical fizzing reaction.

Rainbow Art and Crafts 🎨

Get creative with St. Patrick’s Day-themed crafts that encourage self-expression and fine motor development.

Torn Paper Rainbow Collage: Provide colored construction paper and let kids tear and glue pieces to create their own rainbow.
Shamrock Sponge Painting: Cut out shamrock-shaped sponges and let kids dip them into green paint to make fun patterns.
Pot of Gold Craft: Use paper plates, black paint, and gold glitter to create a pot of gold masterpiece!

Leprechaun Treasure Hunt

Turn your space into a magical treasure hunt where kids search for gold coins and leprechaun clues!

How to Play: Create clues or riddles leading to different hiding spots, where kids will find gold coins, small prizes, or rainbow-themed objects. You can make it a team challenge or have students work individually to complete the scavenger hunt.

Why It’s Great: Encourages problem-solving, teamwork, and movement while keeping kids engaged and excited!