Do you have a little leprechaun? I do! Why not try out some of our favorite St Patrick’s Day activities this March! These St Patrick’s Day art and crafts, science and sensory play ideas for preschoolers are also awesome for kindergarten and first grade too! Hands-on preschool learning activities are the best way to learn and play all in one!
Set Up A St Patrick’s Day Theme
Welcome Spring with St Patrick’s Day crafts and playful science activities! You might wonder, why I put so much emphasis on holiday activities. Kids love to learn but not always by doing the same exact activity again and again.
Play and learn with these easy to set up and inexpensive St Patrick’s Day activities and ideas that everyone will enjoy! Who doesn’t love the magic of rainbows, leprechauns, and pots of gold!
Adding specific St Patrick’s Day colors (like green and gold, and rainbows) and accessories (gold coins and little black pots or shamrock confetti) will allow young kids multiple opportunities to play and learn. I have always found that kids love these ideas!
Make green slime, explore eruptions and chemical reactions, build leprechaun traps, and so much more!
We also have fun with rainbow science experiments because little leprechauns love rainbows!
St Patrick’s Day Books For Preschoolers
When selecting books for preschoolers, consider colorful illustrations, simple language, and engaging storytelling. These St. Patrick’s Day books offer a mix of entertainment and educational value for young readers.
“The Itsy Bitsy Leprechaun” by Jeffrey Burton: This charming board book is a St. Patrick’s Day twist on the classic nursery rhyme “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” The Itsy Bitsy Leprechaun encounters various elements of the holiday, including rainbows and pots of gold.
“How to Catch a Leprechaun” by Adam Wallace: In this imaginative and playful book, children will enjoy the clever attempts of various characters trying to catch a leprechaun. The rhyming text and colorful illustrations make it an entertaining read-aloud for preschoolers.
“The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day” by Natasha Wing: This St. Patrick’s Day adaptation of “The Night Before Christmas” follows a group of children as they set traps to catch a leprechaun on the night before St. Patrick’s Day. The rhythmic text and engaging story make it a preschool favorite.
“The Story of Saint Patrick’s Day” by Patricia A. Pingry: This simple board book provides an age-appropriate introduction to the history and significance of St. Patrick’s Day. It covers the basics of who St. Patrick was and why the holiday is celebrated.
“There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover!” by Lucille Colandro: In this humorous and cumulative tale, the old lady swallows various St. Patrick’s Day-themed items, leading to a surprising and festive conclusion. The repetitive text makes it a fun and engaging read for preschoolers.
“Green Shamrocks” by Eve Bunting: “Green Shamrocks” tells the story of a little leprechaun who plants shamrocks in hopes of finding a pot of gold. The book explores themes of patience and kindness, making it a valuable addition to St. Patrick’s Day reading.
“The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day Ever!” by Teddy Slater: In this joyful story, the town comes together to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a parade, music, and a festive feast. The book features delightful illustrations and a lively narrative that captures the spirit of the holiday.
Free Printable St Patrick’s Day Activity
A leprechaun trap is perfect for a fun St Patrick’s Day activity at any age. Download the free leprechaun trap guide here.
St Patrick’s Day Activities For Preschoolers
Click on the titles below to learn more about each activity and how to set each one up for play and learning.
Science
Sink The Pot: How many coins will sink the Leprechaun’s pot? Set up this fun sink or float experiment for a fun water play St Patrick’s Day activity.
Discovery Bottles: 6 ideas for science discovery bottles you can make with a St Patrick’s Day theme. A fun and easy way to explore simple science like suspension, viscosity and magnetism.
Rainbow Fizzing Pots: Baking soda and vinegar reaction, rainbows, and color mixing for preschool St Patrick’s Day play!
Fizzing Coin Hunt: Go on a science-filled gold coin hunt with an easy baking soda and vinegar reaction that kids love!
Math
Counting Gold Coins: Use plastic gold coins as counting manipulatives. Create a pot of gold by drawing or cutting out a pot shape and placing it on a poster board. Scatter gold coins around the pot, and encourage children to count and place the correct number of coins in the pot.
Rainbow Sorting: Cut out different shapes in various colors, corresponding to the colors of the rainbow. Ask children to sort the shapes by color and place them on the matching color of the rainbow.
Shamrock Patterns: Cut out shamrock shapes in different colors. Create simple patterns using the shamrocks (e.g., green, green, blue, green, green, blue). Have children continue the pattern by placing the corresponding colored shamrock next in line.
Leprechaun Hats Measurement: Create leprechaun hats using strips of construction paper and circles for the top. Provide children with various objects (e.g., building blocks, craft sticks) and ask them to measure the height of their leprechaun hat using these objects.
Dice Roll and Clover Count: Use a large foam die with numbers on each side. Draw or cut out clover shapes in different sizes. Have children roll the die and count the number shown. Then, they can place the corresponding number of clovers on a designated area.
Sensory Activities
Green Rice Sensory Bin: Green colored rice makes for an awesome St Patrick’s Day sensory bin! See here for step by step instructions to dye rice. Add in some gold coins and it is easy to put together this sensory bin that toddlers will love too!
Shamrock Sensory Bin: Create a sensory bin filled with green materials and shamrocks. Include items like green rice or pasta, shamrock-shaped foam pieces, and small St. Patrick’s Day-themed toys.
St Patrick’s Oobleck: Set up a treasure hunt for coins with our easy oobleck recipe. Not only is homemade oobleck a fun sensory activity, it’s also makes for awesome sensory science.
Rainbow Rice Sensory Bin: Dye rice in different colors of the rainbow using food coloring or liquid watercolors. Place the colored rice in a shallow tray along with St. Patrick’s Day-themed toys or small items for scooping and pouring.
Rainbow Spaghetti Play: Follow our easy step by step instructions to dye cooked noodles in a rainbow of colors.
St Patrick’s Day Slime: Make a simple batch of green slime or gold glitter slime, and provide it for sensory exploration. Add gold glitter or small plastic gold coins to represent the leprechaun’s treasure.
Ice Melt Coin Hunt: Add gold coins and other theme items to a large container of water. Freeze and then use to set up a simple sensory bin. Go on a treasure hunt for gold coins as the ice melts.
Shaving Cream Coin Hunt: Messy sensory play and a coin hunt all in one! Hide gold coins in a mound of shaving cream for easy St Patrick’s Day fun for little ones!
Shamrock Playdough: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with our easy homemade playdough recipe and playdough activities. Kids love hands-on play and it works magically with young leprechauns.
Rainbow Foam Playdough: Here is a 2 ingredient, colorful sensory playdough with shaving cream! Make it in a rainbow of colors for a totally awesome texture for little hands to squeeze and squish.
Free printable build a rainbow playdough mat
Art & Crafts
Tape Resist Rainbow Art: A super simple rainbow activity that preschoolers will enjoy doing! Our tape resist rainbow art is easy to set up. Plus, they will have the opportunity to learn about the tape resist art process.
Rainbow In A Bag: Make a rainbow in a bag for a simple and mess free sensory painting activity for kids.
Rainbow Coloring Page: Look for a free printable rainbow template and coloring page for kids. A fun way to introduce the colors of the rainbow.
Coffee Filter Rainbows: Combine rainbow theme art and science for the perfect STEAM activity this season. This rainbow craft is great for even the non-crafty kiddos.
Shamrock Splatter Painting: Try a fun and easy process art activity for St Patrick’s Day. Get the printable shamrock and drip or splatter green paint for St Patrick’s Day preschool art.
Games
St Patrick’s Day Bingo: Play St Patrick’s Day bingo with our free printable bingo cards. Great for preschoolers because the bingo cards are picture based with well known St Patrick’s Day images.
Bonus: Trap A Leprechaun
Can you catch a leprechaun? Build a leprechaun trap from simple supplies. Whether you use LEGO or recyclables, kids of all ages can participate. Check out our planning page to help you get started.
Printable St. Patrick’s Day STEM Pack
Over 100 pages of easy-to-use STEM activities will make your prep and planning time a cinch! Cheap supplies, easy to set up and clean up, and full of hands-on fun!
- 25+ St. Patrick’s Day science activities and STEM projects for kids that are easy to set up and fit into your available time, even if it’s limited!
- Printable leprechaun theme STEM activities that are simple but engaging for home or classroom. Perfect for K-2 and beyond but easily adaptable to many skill levels.
- Includes simple background science explanations to share with kids while they explore hands-on and playful experiments, projects, and activities such as simple physics and chemistry concepts.
- Engaging St. Patrick’s Day STEM activities pack with theme activities, journal pages, and design process steps! Learn about the design process and think like an engineer while you design and build a Leprechaun Trap!
- Easy to gather supplies makes these STEM activities ideal when you have limited resources available. Try the leprechaun launcher or rocket! Solve codes and puzzles, too.
- Additional STEM activities Include the tallest gold coin tower challenge, brick building challenges, math task cards, and screen-free coding activities.
- Bonus fun pack includes games and activities to round out your St. Patrick theme activities, such as I Spy, bingo, matching, Would You Rather cards, board games, word puzzles, and more! Perfect for parties, too!
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