St. Patrick’s Day is an exciting time for preschoolers to celebrate with colorful crafts, interactive games and creative storytelling! And you can bring learning into the celebration.
Check out these easy and fun activities for St. Patrick’s Day in your preschool classrooms!
1. Lucky Charms Graphing
Objective: Teach sorting, counting and graphing in a fun and tasty way.
Provide each child with a small bowl of Lucky Charms cereal and ask them to sort the marshmallows into different piles by shape. Then, guide them in creating simple bar graphs on paper to compare their marshmallow counts.
How to set it up:
- Print pre-designed graphing worksheets to make the process easier for little ones.
- Allow children to snack on their sorted groups once their graphs are complete — it’s a sweet reward for a job well done!
Educational Benefit:
This activity introduces basic math concepts like sorting, charting, and early data visualization.
2. Leprechaun Traps
Objective: Foster creativity, teamwork and engineering skills.
Challenge children to design and build their own leprechaun traps using building blocks, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and other craft supplies. Give them cardboard shoe boxes as a base and all the green glitter and shamrocks their hearts desire!
How to set it up:
- Read a story about leprechauns beforehand to spark their imaginations.
- Encourage teamwork by pairing children up to build their traps collaboratively.
- At the end of the activity, surprise them by “messing up” their traps while they’re away and leaving green footprints or notes from the mischievous leprechaun!
Educational Benefit:
This STEM-based activity promotes innovation, teamwork and spatial reasoning.
3. Shamrock Math Games
Objective: Develop early math skills like counting, sorting and pattern recognition.
Use green and gold shamrocks for counting and sorting activities. For an extra challenge, introduce pattern recognition exercises using shamrock stickers or felt sheets in alternating colors.
How to set it up:
- Provide small trays where children can group shamrocks by size, color or texture.
- Create cards with simple patterns such as green-gold-green. Encourage kids to replicate them using their shamrocks.
- For advanced learners, create simple addition and subtraction exercises using the shamrocks as manipulatives.
Educational Benefit:
These activities build foundational math concepts, including pattern recognition and number skills.
4. Rainbow Art Projects
Objective: Boost creativity while exploring the colors of the rainbow.
Give the children an opportunity to make their very own St. Patrick’s Day rainbow crafts. Provide various materials like tissue paper, watercolor paints, colored cotton balls or crayons. Assign them the task of creating a vibrant rainbow.
How to set it up:
- Use construction paper cutouts of pots of gold to add to their rainbows.
- Incorporate glitter or foil for a magical touch to their artwork.
- Hang the finished rainbows around the classroom as festive decorations for the week.
Educational Benefit:
This activity nurtures artistic expression and reinforces knowledge of colors.
5. Rainbow Treasure Hunt
Objective: Enhance problem-solving and motor skills while exploring colors and hidden treasures.
Create a classroom-wide treasure hunt by hiding gold coins (plastic or paper) and shamrocks around the room. Provide each child with a rainbow “map” in which each colored band corresponds to where they can find items hidden in differently colored areas of the room.
How to set it up:
- Decorate “treasure chests” to hold chocolate coins or small toys as a reward.
- Use colored construction paper on walls or furniture to designate search zones such as the “red zone” or “green zone.”
- Give clues like, “The gold coin is hiding under something orange” to encourage problem-solving and exploration.
Educational Benefit:
This game reinforces color matching, following directions and critical thinking skills.
You Don’t Need Luck With a Daycare App!
St. Patrick’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to combine fun and education in your preschool classroom. These activities provide age-appropriate ways for children to develop vital skills while engaging with the exciting holiday theme.
Parents like getting crafts, but they love keeping up to date with what their kids are doing in real time!
With the Procare child care mobile app, you can keep families involved by showing them their children’s day-to-day activities (such as making St Patrick’s Day crafts!) through photos and videos.
Procare’s robust child care management solution has enhanced family engagement functionality and through the child care mobile app, you can immerse parents into their children’s day-to-day activities.
You can share daily activities, videos, photos and newsletters with parents. Plus, you can use the app for easy, two-way communication and keep parents engaged with calendars to promote upcoming events!
