Tag: St. Patricks’ Day

Puffy Shamrock

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This easy shamrock makes the perfect good luck charm for your front door this St. Patrick’s Day!

Older kids can trace a shamrock shape themselves on green cardstock, but I took care of that part for Travis and helped him cut out along any tricky curves.

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Originally the plan was just to cover it with green pom poms and we had quite an assortment: small ones, medium ones, and sparkly ones!

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As soon as Travis saw some wiggle eyes in our craft bin, though, he knew our shamroock needed them, so those got glued on first.

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He began adding drops of glue and filled in all the remaining space of the shamrock with pom poms, sometimes having fun with a pattern (“3 sparkly, 1 plain!”), and sometimes just in random order.

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He was very precise about filling in any tiny gaps with the small pom poms near the end.

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Once the glue dried, I added a loop of green ribbon on the back so we could hang it from the doorway. Here’s hoping for the luck of the Irish!

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Rainbow Craft Challenge

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Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Travis’s art challenge from Highlights magazine was to make a rainbow using tissue paper, glue, and… anything from the recycling bin!

So of course first we had to dump everything from the bin onto the floor. Travis loved going through the pile, including boxes and tubes and cans that we didn’t ultimately use for the project (some of which became props for his games all afternoon).

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A pizza box was the largest piece of cardboard available so that became our base. We glued down blue tissue paper for a quick background.

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I had bought tissue paper in every color of the rainbow, and assumed we would tear these into tiny pieces. But Travis had other ideas, and I loved watching him twist a sheet of each color into a rope, then glue these in rainbow order.

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A black bottle cap made a pot of gold and white tissue paper glued on to a container lid became a puffy cloud. Clever!

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Here’s hoping we have some extra luck whenSt. Patrick’s Day rolls around next week.

Leprechaun Lollipops and St. Patrick’s Day Fun

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We’re getting in the mood for all things green here in honor of St. Paddy’s Day. Confession: I have not a drop of Irish blood in me, but I’m obsessed with Ireland, so I love making this holiday special for Travis.

This year, we had so much fun with this lollipop idea from Parents magazine. First, insert lollipop sticks into kiwi slices.

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Place 1 bar of vegan white chocolate (such as Charm School Chocolate) in the microwave for about 30 seconds, until melted.

Dip each kiwi slice in the white chocolate, then press into a dish of green sprinkles.  Alternatively, try yellow (gold) sprinkles or rainbow color, which also fit with this holiday theme!

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Transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper and chill in the fridge for about 5 hours, or until set.

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While we enjoyed this Emerald Isle treat, we also did a little learning! Travis’s class has been working a lot on tracing letters at school, so we did a St. Patrick’s-themed word trace.

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Writing and spelling is so much fun with this St. Patrick’s Day Word Tracer worksheet! For more educational resources, visit Education.com!

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Travis was so proud of his ability to follow along, since the letters were smaller than his school worksheets. He loved discovering that this word spelled “luck!”

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Finish off the St Paddy’s snack with a video clip of Irish dancing or a quick rundown of Irish symbols like the shamrock or the pot of gold.

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March Magic

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This year, mom and dad got a little impish (leprechaun-ish??) to make some magic! Here are a few cute suggestions for on or around St. Patrick’s Day.

Travis has been learning about leprechauns at school, so I told him that while he was sleeping they might make some mischief!

Meanwhile, adults: Paint rocks with gold paint, and while the paint is wet, immediatlely sprinkle with gold glitter. Let dry.

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Hide the rocks around the house, then tell your children the leprechauns have visited and hidden gold!

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What else have the naughty elves been up to? Instead of making shoes, they’ve mixed them all up! Mess up all your family member’s shoes and then set the clock and see how fast your kids can match up the pairs.

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Finally, I strung up a rainbow outside. Use yarn or cording thread in all the colors of the rainbow, and wind it around your yard.

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Your child now gets to go on a treasure hunt – maybe they won’t find a pot of gold, but be sure to leave a mini prize at the end of each string!

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What have the leprechauns gotten up to in your house? Please share in the comments!

Eat the Rainbow

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In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we whipped up this meal featuring every color of the rainbow! You can mix and match different components, or serve them over a few days leading up to St. Pat’s.

Red & Orange Salad

Red Orange Salad

Thinly slice one red bell pepper, one orange bell pepper, and 1 red apple. Toss with 1 cup matchstick cut carrots. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil,  2 tablespoons cider vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (Note: Bigger kids and adults might also like a little spice – try adding 1/2 teaspoon cumin or 1/4 teaspoon paprika).

Yellow & Green Pasta

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Cook 12 ounces fettuccine or linguine according to package directions, adding 1/2 cup frozen peas toward the end of cooking. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and sauté 1 package Gardein chick’n strips and 1 cup sugar snap peas until heated through. Combine the chicken mixture, pasta, 1/2 cup plain non-dairy yogurt, 1/4 cup reserved cooking water, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. My son preferred this served in separate components on his plate!

Green Smoothie

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In a blender, combine 1/2 cup plain non-dairy milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup fresh baby spinach, and 1/4 cup mint leaves; process until blended. Add 1/2 a green apple, 1 frozen banana, and 1 tablespoon agave nectar; process until smooth. Drink through a green straw of course!

Blue & Purple Parfait

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For dessert, toss 1 cup mixed blueberries, blackberries, and purple grapes with 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Layer the fruit in parfait glasses with vanilla non-dairy yogurt. This also makes a yummy breakfast treat!

Want even more fun? Eat green snacks all week, like roasted edamame, kale chips, or green olives.

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Shamrockin’ Rolls

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These clever clover-shaped rolls came to us from Family Fun magazine, the perfect baking project just before St. Patrick’s Day!

Recipes like these are fantastic for engaging multiple ages of kids in the kitchen. The biggest kids will want to help with every step, from mixing ingredients to kneading the dough to shaping the rolls. Meanwhile, toddlers and babies need not be excluded from the fun! Sit them in a high chair with a small portion of dough to play with, and let the games begin. I loved sitting my son in his Oxo Tot Sprout high chair when he was still too little to help with recipe steps, and so I was quite pleased to see it included in a recent review of the best high chairs, which selected winners from among eight of the most highly-rated chairs.

And now that he’s moved on to his big boy table, he’s standing on one of his chairs to help me out right at the kitchen counter!

Ingredients:

  • 3 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 packet rapid rise yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup warm plain non-dairy milk (between 110 and 115 degrees F)
  • 10 tablespoons melted Earth Balance butter, divided
  • 2 Ener-G eggs
  1. Combine the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the milk, 6 tablespoons butter, and Ener-G eggs; add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring to form a dough.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly foured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for 1 and 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.
  3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Punch the dough down and let it rest for 5 minutes. Divide in half. Working with one portion of dough at a time (and keeping the remaining dough covered), roll into a 4×8-inch rectangle. Cut the dough lengthwise into 6 strips. Working with one portion at a time, stretch into a 19-inch rope.Shamrock Roll (3)
  4. Twist the rope into a three-leaf clover (make a figure eight, then loop the dough up for the top leaf, and let the end hang down as the stem.
  5. Repeat with the remaining dough to form 12 shamrocks. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.
  6. Brush the tops of the dough with the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

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Puffy Paint Shamrocks

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Painting green shamrocks is all well and good, but why use regular paint when you can use puffy paint?

To make the fun mixture, simply mix together shaving cream, glue, and green food coloring.

Before you make the paint, either trace or draw shamrock shapes onto paper. Use a thick cardstock, so the paper doesn’t tear.

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I wish I could tell you we measured out the ingredients for our puffy paint, but instead we had a lot of goopy, inexact fun. First we squirted shaving cream into plastic cups.

We added a healthy pour of glue into each – perhaps 2 tablespoons per cup? Stir the mixture together well.

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At first, we tried adding green food coloring to one cup. Oddly, this tinged the puffy paint very yellow, key lime at best. Travis’s favorite part of the whole craft was adding more and more food color and trying to get a greener shade.

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My little mixologist!

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Meanwhile, I used green paint in a second cup. This gave us a very pale pastel green – nice for springtime, though not true Kelly Green!

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Once you have the color you like, paint over your shamrocks.

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No points for neatness, of course.

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It only took a couple of hours for the paint to dry, and Travis loved how puffy and soft it was to the touch.

 

Dot Paint Shamrocks

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We’re pretty crazy about St. Patrick’s Day around here (despite not being Irish!), so be on the lookout for several shamrock-themed crafts and recipes this week. In this first version, kids will love the reveal of the shamrock shape after they finish dotting their paint!

First, cut out a shamrock, either free-hand or using a template.

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You can tape the shamrocks down to construction paper or poster board, but we actually did ours on foam board – this allowed us to later use it as a sign at our town’s St. Patrick’s parade.

Now you have two ways to dot paint around the shamrocks. First, there are good old dot paints.

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For a novelty version, set out a tray of green paint and use pencil erasers to make small dots.

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We liked doing both, to compare the big and little dots side by side.

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Once you’ve finished dotting, peel up the shamrock shapes – voila! The silhouette is left behind. Now off to the parade!

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Sensory Rainbows

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I haven’t a drop of Irish blood in me, but I’ve always adored Ireland – the literature, the music, the wit, the music, the scenery… Did I mention the music? So I wanted to bring a little luck of the Irish to our St. Paddy’s Day just for Travis’s enjoyment. Aside from making a rainbow snack, we put together this sensory rainbow while talking about the lore of the pot of gold that waits at the end. Now I just need to find a green shirt for Travis to wear!

I drew a line for each color of the rainbow on poster board, and set it aside.

Then it was time to sort our supplies! For the best sensory experience, use a variety of items – we used buttons, pom poms, stickers, beads, pipe cleaners, and more. Travis helped sort, and I put everything into little paper cups by color.

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I decided it would be least confusing to glue on the items one color at a time, so first asked Travis to make drops of glue on the red line and presented him with our red cup of items.

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Once he grasped the idea of what we were doing, he was very determined and excited to decide where each item would go. It was a bit exhausting, so we didn’t finish all in one session, letting the glue dry in between.

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As you work, talk about the textures! Our beads were hard, our pom poms were soft, our buttons were smooth etc. As a final sensory touch, I glued on cotton ball clouds.

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Wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Over the Rainbow Snack

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There might not be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, but it still makes the perfect St. Paddy’s Day snack!

Spoon blueberry non-dairy yogurt onto a plate or shallow bowl and spread into a thin layer.

Top the yogurt with a rainbow of fruit – we used red strawberries, orange mandarin oranges, yellow bananas, green kiwi, blue blueberries, and purple grapes. A little sprinkle of shredded coconut at each end gave us puffy clouds.

Perhaps a few gold-wrapped candies could make an appearance as well…

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