St. Patrick's Day- Shamrocks/ Pot of Gold/ Leprechauns

Book Ideas: Lucky Tucker by Leslie McGuirk
"When Tucker the terrier wakes up on Saint Patrick’s Day, he gets off on the wrong paw. Nothing is going his way until he rolls in a bed of clover —- a bed of four-leaf clovers, that is, which just happens to belong to a leprechaun! Lucky Tucker! From snatching a falling scoop of ice cream to wrestling with his best friends to getting a whole box of new toys, Tucker is now the luckiest dog around!"

Hooray for St. Patrick’s Day! By Joan Holub
"It's Saint Patrick's Day, and time to join in the celebration. Children can lift the flaps for interactive fun as they see the children in this book make holiday crafts, taste traditional Irish food, perform a play about Saint Patrick, and even march in a Saint Patrick's Day parade. As an added bonus, they can search for the hidden leprechaun on each spread."

Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute
"Clever Tom Fitzpatrick thinks his fortune is made when he captures a leprechaun and forces him to reveal the hiding place of his gold, but the leprechaun is clever too."

Leprechaun’s Gold by Pamela Edwards
"Old Pat, a kindhearted harpist, and his ill-spirited companion, Young Tom, set off to compete in a contest for the title of the finest harpist in Ireland. When Young Tom recognizes that Pat is truly a better musician, he spitefully breaks one of the strings on Pat's harp. With the help of a leprechaun friend, Old Pat is able to compete in the contest. This classic Irish legend is a lesson about the power of kindness and good deeds."



That’s What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting
"The three leprechauns have a job to do. They must race to where they've buried the pot of gold and dig it up before the rainbow comes. The clouds are already gathering, so there'll be no time for mischief along the way. But, the three clever fellows can't resist having a little fun. For, in addition to putting a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, mischief is what leprechauns do!"


Activity Ideas:

Idea #1: Pots of Gold Math

Read one of the stories and then practice some basic math with this counting and number recognition activity.


Print off the pot outline and trace onto black construction paper. Cut out the pots and glue on half sheets of cardstock or construction paper. Write numerals on each pot using a white crayon (choose numbers that child needs practice on). If you would like to save these for future use, you may want to laminate the cards or cover them in clear contact paper.

Give your child some yellow playdoh, a rolling pin, and a small circle cookie cutter (our playdoh set came with a small sized circle, but you could use a soda bottle lid or film canister etc..) Give them the pot cards and have them put the right amount of "gold coins" in each pot (see top photo).




Idea #2: Leprechaun

Read one of the stories and then color, cut, and glue together a silly leprechaun. For older preschoolers, you can have this be an activity to practice their fine motor skills, using scissors. Click here to print the leprechaun coloring pages.

Idea #3: Shamrock Sorting

Read one of the books and then practice the concept of size using the words small, medium, and large. You will need to cut out shamrocks in three different sizes and let your child sort them under the right words. Here is a shamrock outline if you want to print it.




Idea #4: Lucky Charms Graphing

Read one of the stories and then practice counting, sorting, and recording information using Lucky Charms cereal.

First you will need to make a simple chart of all the marshmallows.

Give your child the chart and a small bowl of cereal. Have them sort and count the different marshmallow shapes and decide which had the least and the most.



Idea #5: Find the Four leaf Clover game

Read one of the stories and then play a little hide and seek game using shamrocks. You will need to print out a bunch of 3 leaf clovers and one 4 leaf clover. Send your child out of the room and hide them. Your child has to find the 4 leaf clover. To print a 4 leaf clover click here. To print a 3 leaf clover print here.