st. patrick’s day for kids :: a {simple} snack, craft and game

Whether you’re Irish or not, it’s always fun to have a little holiday celebration in the middle of what can be a cold and rainy month. Here are a few quick and easy ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with your kids!

Snack. It doesn’t have to be all about green food coloring on St. Patrick’s Day. I decided to focus on finding the gold at the end of the rainbow in this little snack. I made a quick “rainbow” of fruits and veggies and added a cloud of popcorn on one side and some chocolate gold coins, a Rolo and a Hershey kiss for the gold on the other side. I just used what I had on hand–a nicer mom might sub out marshmallows for the popcorn and kiwi or green grapes for the broccoli.  Green smoothies, healthed up shamrock shakes, green eggs and ham or green pancakes (I add some kale puree for the color) are other fun snacks.

Craft. Again, I kept with the rainbow theme. A quick little watercolor rainbow can be fun for kids of all ages. My kids love it when I get out the paint. And I just learned that if you sprinkle the watercolor paints with salt, the colors are supposed to blend together a bit–making it look more like a real rainbow.  I think my little guy had his colors too far apart for us to see the effect of this.

Game. Here we’re focusing on the gold at the end of the rainbow. I just hid some coins around the house and let the kids have a great time trying to find them. I wrote down how many of each coin I hid just so the kids could keep track of how many were left. I may have forgotten where I hid a few, but I don’t have any babies who will put things in their mouths anymore, so I’m okay with it! If you do have young ones and are worried about choking hazards, you may want to make a list of all of your hiding spots!

I have a few friends who go all out with the leprechaun–he comes to their house making messes, turning the toilet water green, leaving a trail of glitter and writing messages on the windows.  If this is fun for you, go for it!  I can barely keep up with cleaning my house as it is, so I’ll leave the green glitter at the store for the rest of you!

I realize that none of this celebrates the true meaning behind St. Patrick’s Day or why it is celebrated.  It’s just meant to be something fun and maybe a bit out of the ordinary.  Do you do anything fun with your kids on St. Patrick’s Day?