Back when I was an in-home child care provider, I attended a training that was focused on play-based learning. The speaker told us all about this really fun experience she’d had with her children, all centered around St. Patrick’s Day, only they called it, “Leprechaun Day.” Thinking about mischievous leprechauns seems to be more exciting for those young at heart. I agree. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered there is actually a day in May called Leprechaun Day. I guess that means you can use these activities in March for St. Patrick’s Day and in May for Leprechaun Day. Score!

In all reality, though, you can use any of these activities at any time when you want to have fun and add some color into your life. 

Activities for St. Patrick’s Day and Leprechaun Day

Spray Bottle Painting

Materials:
Acrylic Paint 
Spray Bottles 
Paper or Shirts

Note: We used only the three Primary Colors (Red, Blue, Yellow) because I wanted to add some science into the fun. We would discover the Secondary Colors (Orange, Green, Purple) when the other colors would mix together. 

Instructions:
1. Mix the acrylic paint (one color per bottle) with water into the spray bottle so that it is easily sprayed. Our colors were extremely muted because we had more water than paint. If I were to do it again, I would add more paint for a bit more vibrant colors. 

2. We chose to spray paint our white t-shirts so that we could wear our artwork. Whichever medium you choose to use to receive the spray paint/water, make sure that it is on a safe surface. The colors may stain whatever else they touch. 

3. Spray to your heart’s content to create a colorful masterpiece! 

Floating Shaving Cream Rainbow

Materials:
Clear Bowl, half-filled with water
Shaving Cream, on top of water
Pipettes
Liquid Water Colors

Instructions:
1. Using the pipettes, collect the water color of choice and drip onto the floating shaving cream.  

2. See the rainbow in the shaving cream and the magic in the water below! 

Leprechaun Snack

Materials:
Fruit Loops-type cereal (rings of color)
Frosting of choice
Sprinkles
Plastic spoon

Instructions:
1. Using the plastic spoon, spread the frosting onto each ring of cereal.

2. Add sprinkles for fun and more color. Enjoy! 

As always, these activities can be modified to best fit in your life and with the ages of your children. We had the most success with ages 3 years and up, but even the younger ones loved watching and participating in small bits. 

We’d love to know how your tries went when you do any of them. Feel free to share with us!