Leprechaun Fun in the Classroom
St. Patrick’s Day Learning Games and Songs
Top ‘o the mornin’ to ye! It’s time for some St. Patrick’s Day learning games and songs! St. Patrick’s Day and leprechauns go hand in hand. Those little guys sure are mischievous! Since our wee little lads and lassies love them so much we just had to create learning games and songs that use these crazy guys! (Did you know that traditionally there are NO girl leprechauns? Whatttt????? Ye must be jokin’!!)
Classroom Fun on St. Patrick’s Day
It is so much fun to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with our Kindergarten and First Grade classes. Every year we “toss” our classrooms and blame “Lucky the Leprechaun” of course! We throw lots of green items on the floor like green Unifix cubes, green blocks, green math manipulatives, etc. because of course, Lucky only plays with green stuff! It’s always fun to turn all the classroom posters upside down, mix up the alphabet letters and calendar number cards, and rearrange the Word Wall Words (if they are not stapled to the wall and can be easily mixed around!) The kiddos go CRAZY when they see these things and it is good practice getting everything “back into its proper place”!
We turn the 2 classroom toilets green (why not!!) by putting a few drops of green paint in them and stirring them around with a small branch (we immediately throw in the garbage!) Be sure to do this AFTER your janitor has cleaned those toilets so he doesn’t freak out and/or undo your handiwork! We also dip our fingers into some green tempera paint and “walk” them around on the desks, cupboards, doorframes, DVD player, and the sidewalk outside leaving little leprechaun footprints! Be sure that whatever you put the paint on can be easily cleaned…..a fact I did NOT take into consideration the first year I did this with the cement outside our classroom door. The green paint could STILL be seen at least 6 years later although it faded a bit every year! Whew!
Lucky the Leprechaun always leaves us some gold-covered chocolate pieces like gold-foil chocolate coins or Rolos or those Hersheys’ Gold Nuggets to pay for his mischievous ways! If you can find your black cauldron from Halloween you can hide the candy in that and position the “pot of gold” somewhere visible but out of an obvious line of sight. Your students will have fun looking for the pot of gold! Have Lucky leave a note that apologizes for messing up the classroom AND gives clues to where to find his pot of GOLD! Yum!!
For a quick and easy treat make some Shamrock Shakes!
You’ll need some a blender, serving cups, mint chocolate chip ice cream or vanilla ice cream, some milk and green food coloring. Mix some ice cream with a little bit of milk to achieve the right milkshake consistency. Mix in a few drops of green food coloring until it is a lovely shade of Leprechaun green! Pour into small serving cups. This makes 2-3 cups. If your students don’t like to flavor of mint, use the vanilla ice cream instead. Delicious!!
St. Patrick’s Day Learning Song
As always, we have a fun St. Patrick’s Day Learning Song about Five Little Leprechauns that leap into a pot of gold at the end. The songbook comes with a mini-movie and printable activities. Click (HERE) to find it at our JK Singables TPT store!
St. Patrick’s Day Learning Games
In addition, we have a FREE Learning Game with High-Frequency Words. It comes in color and black/white and also has an EDITABLE version so you can add ANY words your students are learning at this time of year. It is so easy to prep and play! Place the word mat in front of 2-3 players and give each player about 12-15 Unifix cubes of their own color. The first player rolls a dice and goes to the ‘column’ under that number. He reads the bottom word and places his colored Unifix cube on that word. The next player rolls the die and finds her ‘column’, reads the word and places her colored cube on that word. When a player rolls the same number previously rolled, they read the next word going up the column. The first player to place their colored cube on the top row of any ‘column’ is declared the winner! Clear the board and play again!
Click (HERE) to find the Freebie at our TPT Store. There are also 6 ADDITIONAL game mats that go along with this Freebie! They also have B/W and EDITABLE versions and a Take-Home Directions Letter for parents. Click (HERE) to see this full product.
We have several other Learning Games that practice High-frequency words or C-V-C and C-V-Ce Word Families. Three of the 4 games come in EDITABLE versions. Click (HERE) to link to all our St. Patrick’s Day Themed products.
And one more thing….Did you know that leprechauns are a protected ‘species’ in Europe? Check out this sign that proves just that!
Faith and begorra! May the luck of the Irish be with you this fine month! We hope ye find that pot of gold at the end of your teaching rainbow!
