Leprechaun Hat....getting ready

We are days away from the hunt for Lucky the Leprechaun.  We are getting our disguises ready!

Hat made from a piece of construction paper folded in half, cut sides to look like a hat.  Only two staples needed on the brim of the hat.  Glue black strip and gold buckle and add their Irish name.
Leprechaun Spotters are made from 2 toilet paper rolls staples together with string attached to hang around their neck.

Hope this tricks the leprechaun!

(Not so sure why my leprechauns are so serious!)

Rainbow Mosaic

Every Spring I head to the store and get party streamers to match the colors of the rainbow. I make streamers for kids to dance with, door decorations and this year we practiced cutting them up in small pieces to make a mosaic.Afterr cutting up the pieces, we "painted" the glue on the rainbow using a sponge brush. Then we pressed the colors of the rainbow on the glue.  The cotton balls were the finishing touch. 

My older son is planning on using his rainbow as part of his leprechaun trap. (Pictures to follow)

For more rainbow activities, check out past March or St. Patrick's Day posts. Have a colorful day!

"Hands" Down cutest Lucky Clover

 In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d keep this project O’SIMPLE!  Yes, a lucky clover using only green paint or giant ink pad and cardstock or blank canvas.  Tip: have wet wipes close and paint outside or on a washable surface.  This creates less stress for you!

What makes this craft so special is the Irish Blessing you can add:

For each petal on this shamrock

This brings a wish your way,

Gook luck, good health, good friends, and happiness

For Today and Everyday!

March 17, 2014

(Modify text to fit your project- see photo)

St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, maybe because I married into an Irish name (O’Daniels) or that I love the magic of leprechauns and rainbows.  There are so many fun ways to celebrate this day with your wee ones.  I like to leave notes from Lucky, the Leprechaun starting March first.  I encourage my son to write back and see if Lucky leaves us any clues to his pot of gold. We go on nature walks and listen for the tapping of shoemaking in the grass from the leprechauns, listen to Irish music and dance the jig.  On St. Patricks Day, I decorate the house with rainbow streamers, go on a hunt for Lucky and eat Lucky Charms.  Sometimes the toilet water is green!  You never know what mischief Lucky has in store for us!

I have lots of other ideas found on the left found under St. Patrick's Day.

How do you like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day???

Leprechauns Have Arrived!

For Mommy and Me class information, click here: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2013/02/spring-has-sprung-classes-start-april.html

Looking in the tall grass

Today we found evidence that the leprechauns have arrived in Moraga!  In fact, we must have been close because they left behind their hats and some gold coins. The silly leprechaun left a trail of gold coins (yellow circles cut from construction paper), which we had to follow.  Along the way we came across foot prints, wild turkey, trash, and clovers - lots and lots of clovers.  However, we did not find the lucky four leaf clover.  I have a feeling the next few days we will be looking for those tricky wee leprechauns.

We found their footprints!

Counting the leaves

We found some treasure and their hats!

For more St. Patrick's Day fun, check out some of my past posts.  Look at the Activities on the right and click on St. Patrick's Day.

Spiral Rainbow Cookies

I saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it.  I made them for my son's class in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday (March 2).  However, after making these, I realized they would be perfect for any occasion.  You could pick the colors you need for Christmas, 4th of July, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, or even the colors of your soccer team,...

The best part was that this activity is VERY kid friendly.  My five year old son and 10 year old neighbor helped to make these colorful and delicious cookies!  They were busy forming the dough into grape size balls, rolling, and dipping into the sprinkles.  They loved seeing the colors mix.  Each cookie is different!

I have attached the link to the sugar cookie recipe and directions for the rainbow spirals.  I hope you and your kids have fun making these yummy treats!

The sugar cookie recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-sugar-cookies/ 

Rainbow Pinwheel Cookie recipe:  http://www.soudersstudios.com/recipes/rainbow-pinwheel-cookies.php

The only thing we did differently was that we only had 4 colors of the food coloring.

finished product

rolling and making spiral

St. Patrick's Day O'FUN

Individually wrapped treats in the pot

Don't let this St. Patrick's Day go by without a hunt for the gold with your kids.  There are so many different ways you can do it and they are ALL fun!  Here are some ideas to put in your pot of gold.  I take my black cauldron from Halloween and fill it with bright yellow tissue paper.  Then I wrap up treats in yellow tissue paper and tie.  That way each child gets the same number of coins/treats.  Some treat ideas include plastic gold or green coins, small bottle of bubbles in colored containers, chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil, Hershey kisses or nuggets (most contain almonds so check for nut allergies), Reese's Rollo (chewy caramel inside), peanut butter cups.  Just check out the candy isle for other ideas.
*NO suckers or hard candy.  Children are excited and the last thing you want them to do it run around with hard candy - CHOKING HAZARD!

 

Leprechaun Disguise

1.  Follow the Green String:  Each child has their own string that they have to follow.  Along the way you can place coins on the string, wrap it around trees, under chairs, or over benches.  At the end will be the surprise.  If it is a larger group, you can do one string and all the kids follow.  This is good your younger kids.
2.  Have clues written on green shamrocks and the kids have to follow them to get to their pot of gold.
3.  The Letter Hunt:  perfect for ages 4-6 and they LOVE IT!   http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2011/03/hunt-for-golden-letters-st-patricks-day.html

Easy Decorations:  Hang party streamers the color of the rainbow from your doorways.  The kids have to walk "through the rainbow"! (more ideas for using the streamers: http://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=5912000420279799351&searchType=ALL&txtKeywords&label=St.+Patrick%27s+Day

Easy activity:  Rainbow Bracelets:  use pipe cleaners and kids string fruit loops on the pipe cleaner for make a bracelet.  Good thing to do until everyone is ready for the hunt.

Snacks:
Snap peas, green grapes, lucky charms/fruit loops, kiwi, cucumbers, rainbow sherbert or mint and chip ice cream.  Be sure to serve ice cream in "wee" sized bowls and "wee" spoons found at your local ice cream store (the ones used when you sample the flavors).  I have been looking for mini ice cream cones, but have not found any yet. 

Have Fun!

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Rainbows on March 10th

Come celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Rainbows with your wee ones (18 months - 4 years) at the Moraga Library, Saturday March 10th from 10:00-10:50.  Miss Diana will be leading this fun, interactive Parent and Me class. We will be talking about color, playing Irish games, rainbow dancing, and marching with musical instruments while spending the morning creating happy memories with your wee ones.  Be sure to have your child wear some clothing that represents their favorite color of the rainbow.

Parent and Me Class Theme: St. Patrick's Day and Rainbows
When: Saturday, March 10 from 10:00-10:50
Where: Moraga Library: 1500 Saint Marys Rd  Moraga, CA 94556
Age: 18 months to 4 years
Cost: Free

MARCH and Green Food Coloring

Green food coloring is a must during the month of March!
For a healthier alternative try spinach juice, all the color, no taste. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-ways-to-make-organic-diy-food-coloring.html

March 2 is Dr. Suess' Birthday.  Don't forget to read, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and make some green eggs for breakfast.  Just a few drops of green and whisk before cooking.  A fun and memorable breakfast.

"I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am"

March 17 is St. Patrick's Day.  You never know where you might see some clues that those clever leprechauns visited your house.  A few drops of green in your child's milk or even in your toilet bowl.  Silly Leprechauns!

March 20 is the first day of Spring.  Make a batch on homemade play dough and add green food coloring.  Click here for easy directions: http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2010/08/playing-with-playdough.html

More St. Patrick's Day Fun

Who doesn't love the idea of finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or finding a wee little leprechaun hiding in the grass.  They are so many fun things to do for St. Patrick's day.  Here are only a few...so have fun and may the luck of the Irish be with you!

1.  Leprechaun Paper Plate Art

2.  Rainbow Art using Do-A-Dot Markers  Younger children can just "dot" the paper with any color and design.  Older children can fill in a picture of a  rainbow using the correct colors. (see photos)

3. Rainbow Dancing - Purchase party streamers for all the colors of the rainbow and cut 2 feet strips.  Staple the colors together and folded an index card over to make it sturdy.  The kids used the rainbow streamers to dance to the music.  This is fun to do when playing the "freeze" dance.  The streamers sound like wind when the kids move around. 
4.  Chocolate Gold Coins - have your child estimate how many coins are in the pot.  Sort the cons according to size.
5. Don't forget the hunt! http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2011/03/hunt-for-golden-letters-st-patricks-day.html

Hunt for the Golden Letters - St. Patrick's Day Fun

After all this talk about leprechauns and rainbows, we thought it would be fun to go on a hunt to find the Pot of Gold!  

1.  I had prepared the gold coins ahead of time.  I took gold (or yellow) card stock, cut them into 2 inch squares and cut off the corners to create the coins.  I then wrote the letters of the alphabet on the coins.  One side capital letters and the other side lower case.  I scattered the letter coins all over the grass.

2.  The kids made a pot of gold and rainbow basket to hold all the gold they find.  I cut a sturdy white paper plate in half and the kids colored the back of the plates black.  I took another sturdy paper plate, cut it in half and took one side and cut to make an arc.  The kids then colored it to look like a rainbow.  I stapled the rainbow arc into the pot.

3.  Once they were done with their baskets, we headed outside to look for the leprechaun.  They were so surprised and excited to find gold all over the grass.  They quickly scooped up the gold and put inside their baskets.

4.  After all the gold was collected, we came back inside to sort through all their letters.  The kids said this was the best day ever!!!!

Sun + Rain = RAINBOWS

After singing Mister Golden Sun and If All the Raindrops, it seemed only appropriate to celebrate the weather with RAINBOWS!

Have fun singing this song with your child as they use their rainbow streamers to create the shape of a rainbow.

Rainbow, rainbow
Rainbow 'round me.
Rainbow, rainbow
Rainbow 'round me.


The grass outside my window
Is green as green can be.
Fiddle dee dee
Outside my window, 
The grass is as green can be.


Rainbow, rainbow
Rainbow 'round me.
Rainbow, rainbow
Rainbow 'round me.

The car outside my window
Is red as red can be.
Fiddle dee dee
Outside my window, 
The car is as red can be.

Continue the song using all the colors of the rainbow.
It is a fun way to teach colors and it encourages your child to become more aware of their environment.

The following song helps you to remember the colors in a rainbow:


Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
These are the colors in a rainbow.