Fun Activities for Wee Ones on St. Patty's Day

The Shamrock Stomp

Put on some music, like an Irish jig or reel, and invite your child to dance along with you. Or hold your baby in your arms or on your lap while you move to the music. Encourage children to come up with a variety of ways to move to the music.

• Cut out large shamrock shapes from green construction paper.
• Tape the shamrocks to the floor.
• Start the music and have your child move and jump from shamrock to shamrock.

This is a fun way for your youngster to express himself on St. Patrick's Day and great way for practicing large motor skills.

Masking tape on the floor can be another entertaining movement game. Stick the tape on the floor to make a design, such as a zigzag, a circle, triangle, or a star. Let your child move along, over and around the lines as she pleases.

Lucky Rainbow

Leprechauns are always searching for their pot of gold under the rainbow. Your toddler will be fascinated playing with this lucky rainbow streamer craft. It's a good way to introduce colors.

• Cut the center out of a paper plate.
• Cut long pieces of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple crepe paper streamers. Each streamer should be about two-three feet long.
• Staple a rainbow of streamers onto the paper plate.

You now have a colorful streamer to help your child celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

How About a Little Magic?

The legend of the leprechauns states that if a decorated treasure box is left empty under the moon, the leprechauns must fill the box with gold, jewels, or gifts.

Try this fun craft activity with your kids! Have your child decorate an empty box with paints, stickers, and other embellishments. Just before bed, help your child place the finished box on a windowsill where the moon will shine on it. Once your child is asleep, the resident leprechaun can fill the box with small treasures, such as foil-covered chocolate coins, costume jewelry, and trinkets.

Funky Green Collage

Green is the color of the month. How many art materials can your child find to make a green picture collage?

Take a sheet of construction paper or poster board and get creative with green materials to make this holiday collage. Think past paper and glitter, and look for scraps of fabrics, buttons, tinsel, sequins, faux jewels, and so on.