Kids (and let’s face it, teachers) love an opportunity to celebrate, so here are some St. Patrick’s Day–themed crafts to try for the holiday. While a good craft is always fun, some of these activities also incorporate math and literacy skills. We especially love anything that includes green, green, and more green (think green play dough). You’ll also find plenty of shamrocks, rainbows, and pots of gold! Check out our complete list of the best St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids.
1. Painted rocks
Go on a nature walk with your students to collect rocks, then get to work spicing them up for St. Patrick’s Day. Be sure to use acrylic paints if you plan to put them outside since other paints will wash off with the rain or snow. Add a little social-emotional learning to this project by having your students spread them around their neighborhood or school grounds to promote kindness.
Learn more: Just a Little Creativity
2. Shamrock salt painting
First, use white glue to draw shamrocks on paper. Then have your students sprinkle salt over the glue and shake off the excess. Finally, have your students paint them with watercolors before the glue dries.
Learn more: Rhythms of Play
3. Paper plate rainbow
This rainbow mobile is just so cute! You will need paper plates, poster paints, string, green construction paper, glue sticks, and cotton.
Learn more: Cutesy Crafts
4. Leprechaun puppet
You can pre-cut pieces out of card stock if you’re doing this craft with younger grades, but older kids can cut their own. In addition to card stock and paper bags, you will also want to have some orange yarn, buttons, googly eyes, and maybe some cute shamrock stickers.
Learn more: Colorado Parent
5. St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin
Fill some plastic bins with water, then load them with fun St. Patrick’s Day–themed items like gold coins and green foam shamrocks. Provide your students with scoops of some sort to have fun fishing items out of the bins.
Learn more: Happy Toddler Playtime
6. Shamrock bookmarks
Use the free printable below to create coloring sheets for your students to color and attach to green card stock so they can have their very own shamrock bookmark. You can also attach some pretty green ribbon to the top to really jazz up those bookmarks. St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids that inspire reading are some of the best!
Learn more: Carla Schauer
7. Play dough fun
You can make green play dough for your classroom from a number of different recipes, but store-bought will work just fine too. Find some fun, green St. Patrick’s Day–themed items for your students to use with their play dough.
Learn more: Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
8. Friendship bracelets
Need a St. Patrick’s Day craft in a hurry? Then this is the craft for you! This is so easy to throw together since all you will need are some green pipe cleaners and beads.
Learn more: Marin Mommies
9. Froot Loop rainbows
Equal parts tasty and cute, this rainbow will be sure to delight your students. Keep extra marshmallows and Froot Loops on hand since your little chefs will want to sneak a few!
Learn more: Accessible Chef
10. Rainbow chain
Regardless of whether you made a chain to count down to your favorite holiday or your birthday, most of us probably remember making something similar. We especially love that all you will need is construction paper, glue, scissors, and staples.
Learn more: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
11. St. Patrick’s Day wreath
Cut a wreath shape out of cardboard and let your students paint shamrocks and tissue paper with dot markers (less mess than regular paints). Finally, put it all together for a cute gift for someone at home.
12. Marshmallow shamrock stamps
This craft is so simple but so cute. Grab some jumbo marshmallows and green paint, then let your students get to work.
Learn more: The Pinterested Parent
13. Edible necklace
Have your students practice their cutting and writing skills on the shamrocks, then have them string their necklaces together. Again, be sure to have extra Froot Loops on hand for snacking!
Learn more: Hands On as We Grow
14. Skittles rainbow experiment
What better time to do this fun craft that doubles as a science experiment than during your St. Patrick’s Day celebration? Your students will get a kick out of tasting and seeing the rainbow!
Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands
15. Leprechaun hat pencil holder
You will need a toilet paper roll (or something similar), some green yarn, and green, black, and gold card stock to create this adorable cup holder. Kids will love displaying all their pens, pencils, and other personal items in their new creation.
Learn more: Big Family Blessings
16. Pot of Gold writing prompt
St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids can incorporate writing prompts as well! Get your students thinking about what they would do if they found a pot-’o-gold.
Learn more: Sparkling in Primary
17. Leprechaun trap
No list of St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids would be complete without a leprechaun trap. Have your students bring in a box from home or save all those Amazon boxes so they can be put to good use! Provide students with paint, Popsicle sticks, stickers, and anything else you think they might like to use to trap those pesky leprechauns!
Learn more: Crafting a Fun Life
18. Sight word shamrocks
Cover a box with green construction paper, write sight words on the top, and then cut slits in them using scissors or a knife. Finally, write sight words on shamrocks, tape them to a Popsicle stick, and insert them by the correct word.
Learn more: Homeschool Den
19. Gold coin sorting
St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids can be fun while also teaching math! Have your students draw and cut some pots out of black card stock, then practice writing numbers on each pot. Provide the kids with a bucket of gold so they can fill their pots with the correct number of coins. We especially love these pretend gold coins from Amazon.
Learn more: Preschool Plan It
20. Shamrock plant
Download the printable to create this oh so cute 3D shamrock plant with your students.
Learn more: Kids Craft Room
21. Rainbow music makers
This project is not for the faint of heart since the prep and materials needed are extensive, but the end result is totally worth it. This craft can be equally effective as an art or music project since the sound of the rice inside the toilet paper roll makes for a nice instrument.
Learn more: Happy Mothering
22. Rainbow lacing
Have your students use a hole punch to create a design in a green paper plate, then let them string rainbow yarn throughout. Besides being a cute craft, this project is great for working on kids’ fine motor skills.
Learn more: Kids Craft Room
23. St. Patrick’s Day wands
Kids will definitely love making these lucky wands. You’ll need wooden dowels, gradient rainbow yarn, green felt, and gold ribbon. Have a variety of ribbons and yarn on hand so the kids can really personalize them.
Learn more: One Savvy Mom
24. Rainbow binoculars
Have your students tape or glue two toilet paper rolls together and then have them decorate them with strips of different-colored paper. Add some shamrocks and ribbon for good measure.
Learn more: Crafty Morning
25. Color by number
Everyone loves a good color by number so why not incorporate this cute printable into your March activities? This is the perfect activity for early finishers.
Learn more: All Kids Network
26. Mosaic paper shamrocks
St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids are the perfect opportunity to work on patterns! Provide your students with a variety of papers for them to cut into squares and use to decorate their shamrocks.
Learn more: Happiness Is Homemade
How will you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in your classroom? Share in the comments below.
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