Looking for St. Patrick’s Day activities for preschoolers, toddlers, or big kids in elementary? I have you covered right here – the last two are our all time favorites!! These are my top 15 St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Preschoolers and Big Kids! And guess what?! They’re low prep and lots of fun!
BEST St. Patricks Day Activities for Preschoolers, Toddlers, and Big Kids:
1. Q Tip Painted Rainbows
Grab a muffin tin, add paint and some q-tips, and leave it out for your child to explore and create! Offering unexpected items (like Q-tips instead of paint brushes!) can spark kids’ interest – we love this for self expression, resetting after a rocky stretch, or to make festive rainbows this month!
2. Play Dough Tray
Gather some loose parts (like beads, pompoms, gold coins, pipe cleaners, or plastic bears). Put the pieces out in a muffin tin with some play dough for your child to tinker with and explore.
3. Cotton Ball Painted Rainbow Paper Plates
Grab a muffin tin, fill it with paint, add cotton balls clipped on clothespins (yes really), leave it out for your child to discover and explore (we made rainbows on paper plates, but any paper or surface could work!)
4. St. Patrick’s Day Creation Station
Round up festive supplies and set them out on a serving tray. We used tape, glue, markers, paper, scissors, and stickers for our tray. You can set up the materials on whatever you have! This is a chip and dip tray from Dollar Tree circa 2010 – super fancy!
5. Froot Loop Rainbows
Grab two marshmallows, a pipecleaner, and Froot Loops for this easy snack/craft!!
Full instructions to make Froot Loop Rainbows here!
6. Letter or Word Building Sensory Bin
Write letters on the magnetic tiles in dry erase marker – it wipes clean no problem. Then fill a bin with rice and letters. Let your child explore and match the letters to their magnetic tiles to build words.
7. St. Patrick’s Day Shaving Cream Paint!
Mix green food coloring with shaving cream in a muffin tin – use it to paint the shower!
8. Pipe cleaners + beads!
String green beads onto green cleaners – make patterns, jewelry, or bend to create shapes.
9. Fruit rainbows
10. St. Patrick’s Day LEGO Bath
Toss green LEGOs into the bathtub – let them dry on a towel when you’re done!
11. DIY Cookie Cutter Wrapping Paper
Tape paper to the table with painters tape (you can use butcher paper or a paper grocery bag cut open!), stamp with a shamrock cookie cutter, let dry, and use as wrapping paper.
12. EASY St. Patrick’s Day Soup
Dye water and add loose parts for kids to explore! Add spoons and scoops for kids to mix, stir, and transfer the water and materials.
13. St. Patrick’s Day Bubble Foam
Make bubble foam (2:1 ratio water and baby soap, blend with a hand mixer) – add spoons or cups for scooping and exploration.
14. Green Rice Tinker Tray
Set out a variety of materials in a cupcake tray along with a tray of rice. Invite your child to scoop, dump, and explore the materials. This is fine motor development in all its glory!! Your child is developing all the tiny muscles that will be needed for letter formation and writing in the years to come!
15. DIY Coloring Page
This is easy peasy, and it’s a weekly go-to in our house!! Tape down giant paper. Draw simple St. Patrick’s Day themed images in black marker, and set out materials for your kids to color it in. You can adapt this to any theme or high interest topic for your kids!
16. Hair Gel Sensory Bag
Fill a gallon bag with hair gel, and add green food coloring. Tape down to the table with thick tape (we like the wide painters tape). Invite your child to write letters, draw shapes, or explore with the sensory bag. You can also add pompoms to move around in the bag.
17. Addition Sensory Bin
Put a green sensory bin filler in a tray (we used chickpeas colored green). Write addition facts in a muffin tin – your child can solve and math the numbers to solve. Adaptable to whatever materials you have on hand!
18. Build Leprechaun Houses
Grab a shoe box and decorate it for any leprechauns who may be passing through this week and will need a place to sleep!
19. Leprechaun tricks for St. Patrick’s Day
I dye water green and pour it in the toilet on St. Patrick’s Day – it’s a silly tradition my kids love. They say the leprechaun forgot to flush the toilet. You can also drop green food coloring in the milk, kitchen sink dish water, or anywhere else that will give your kids a laugh!
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