3 Last Minute St Patrick's Day Activities
sensory play, loose parts and playdough!☘️
Happy St Patrick’s Day to all who celebrate! ☘️
This post is a little later than I had originally anticipated but prepping St Patrick’s Day themed lessons for my students this week reminded me of some really simple themed activities I did with my children when they were younger.
I’ve recreated some of those today, ready for when my children get home. After all, play doesn’t have an age limit.
I haven’t bought anything specifically for these activities, instead choosing to use recycling, loose parts and open-ended toys.
Playdough
I used our basic playdough recipe, then added green food dye to make a St Patrick’s Day themed invitation to play.
This activity is a great way to work the fine motor skills, because picking up the pony beads is really quite tricky!
I like to present play dough invitations on a wooden platter so that the children can decide how they want to play with the materials.
Use the photo above as inspiration, but you can sub in other small loose parts such as sequins and pompoms.
Download our basic play dough recipe below:
Sensory Play Tray
This photo is from three years ago, before my youngest even started school! For this sensory play activity, I used dyed chickpeas, buttons and magnetic rainbow chips1.
The idea was to collect all of the rainbow chips and add them to the golden treasure chest (in reality, an old ‘pirate’ craft from years before!)
Click on the button below to find out how to make the rainbow chickpeas, or alternatively, substitute for rainbow rice, lentils or cereals.
Leprechaun Trap
The Leprechaun trap is such a fun activity because it can be used with a variety of age groups.
For pre-schoolers, present a variety of loose parts, open ended materials and recycling on a large tray, then invite them to create the Leprechaun ‘trap.’
For older students, invite them to view the materials first, then create a plan sharing their design. This also leads into a writing activity that encourages children to use adjectives to write about the trap.
More details on this activity for home educators and school students will be shared on my brand new page,
shortly.If you enjoyed these activities, please share with a friend and tap the ❤️
Small pieces can be a choking hazard / safety risk so always supervise very young children closely and avoid using small pieces with children who still put everything in their mouth.