Grab Your Leprechauns, It’s St. Paddy’s Day Crafting Time!

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I decided earlier this year that 2021 would be the year of YES for me. Yes to everything – including celebrating all holidays in a big way. And that includes St. Patrick’s Day! Samantha is a perfect mix of my husband who is Italian and me who is Persian, so there’s very little Irish in her blood – but on St. Patrick’s Day EVERYONE is Irish! Parents – grab a green beer for you, mix up some green milk for the kiddos, turn on some Irish jig music and let’s get to the St. Paddy’s Day crafts!

Homemade Leprechaun Play Doh

We whipped up a batch of homemade PlayDoh – it turned out awesome and lasted a while (I was surprised because these things have the tendency to get hard quickly). This kind was really easy.

To make you’ll need:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup salt
  • Green food coloring
  • Green glitter (optional but duh)

Combine all the ingredients in a regular-sized saucepan. Stir well and cook over medium heat until the dough forms (it happens pretty quickly). Remove from heat and cool. Once cool, finish combining and add glitter. I added little themed treasures I found at Dollar Tree and Michael’s to it along with some cookie cutters. A super fun St. Paddy’s Day craft!

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DIY St. Patrick’s Day Rice Sensory Bins

How fun are these DIY St. Paddy’s Day rice sensory bins we made?! Making this rice is SO easy – and so fun! The official recipe is basically for every 1 cup of dry rice you put a tsp of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring…put it in a zip lock bag and shake to mix. You can do that… or you can just eyeball it like I did. I tossed a few cups of rice and several squirts of rubbing alcohol and food coloring in separate bags before shaking. To get more vibrant colors, use more food coloring. Once the rice is covered in color, spread on towels for a few hours to dry (the alcohol smell does go away). Toss in a plastic tote, toss in utensils, cups and treasures and have fun! I found most of these St. Paddy’s Day treasures at Michael’s and Dollar Tree. I spread out a giant plastic table cloth on the counter for easier play and clean up.

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Handprint Rainbow 

These pictures are from one year ago. I remember this moment and taking these pictures. It was March 16, 2020. Our world as we knew it was being flipped upside down. I felt scared, hopeless and completely overwhelmed by the unknown. As hard as it was, I slapped on a smile for Sam and we made this sweet little handprint rainbow. The rainbow reflected the hope, light and pot o’ gold that would eventually find us all. And it did. 

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Fluffy Leprechaun Smile

Leprechaun slime – but make it fluffy! Parents – you might want to grab that green beer while you help navigate this St. Paddy’s Day green mess.

To make the fluffy slime, mix together:

  • 2/3 cup white school glue
  • 2-3 cups shaving cream (we used more like 4-5 cups)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1.5 tablespoon contact solution
  • Green food coloring
  • Glitter (we used a ton of glitter – like, two entire bottles)

Mix with a spoon but eventually it’s 1,000 times easier to just use your hands. A couple tips: 1) You will need WAYYYY more than 1.5 tablespoons of contact solution. We ended up using a ton more. The contact solution is the activator so it’s super important. 2) Speaking of contact solution, make sure yours has boric acid and sodium borate in the ingredients list- these are what brings the ingredients together to form the slime. 3) Did I mention you do NOT need to dump entire bottles of glitter in it? But it was more fun that way. Toss in some cute little St. Patrick’s Day coins for added surprises!

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Green Shaving O’ Cream 

All you need are two ingredients to make this amazing GREEN, MESSY, FUN!!! Shaving cream + food coloring! I eyeballed the food coloring, folded the color in and insta fun! Pro tip: keep it from going everywhere by putting it on a cookie sheet – and if you have light-colored countertops, pop it on a trash bag so the counters don’t get stained! I added a few green jewels too I found on our art cart.

St. Patrick’s Day Slime

I mean, is it really a holiday if you aren’t making slime? This is the best recipe for St. Paddy’s Day slime I have found. 

Ingredients: 

  • 6 oz Clear Glue
  • 1 tablespoon Glitter
  • 1 Tablespoon of water
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons of contact solution

Directions

  • Using a spoon, mix glue with glitter
  • Mix in water and baking soda
  • Mix in contact solution as an activator. You’ll notice slime consistency will start to form and become firm. Keep stirring and manipulating the slime. Add additional contact solution if it’s still too sticky (pro-tip — you’ll need WAY more contact solution than what this recipe calls for).

Eventually you’ll get a jiggly slime!

Samantha O’DeCastro 

These are some of my favorite things to make. For these leprechauns all you need are orange pom poms and some paper to make a little leprechaun cap. I’d recommend using hot glue to stick on the pom poms — works a ton better than regular school glue. 

Handprint Leprechauns and Handprint Shamrocks 

Time to get messy with this one (as if the others haven’t been!) I love hand print crafts – it’s such a cute little reminder how small our kiddo’s hands once were. My days are super limited with these types of crafts – Sam is way more into grabbing paint brushes instead of using her hands. I still bribe/force them on her for as long as I can! The shamrocks are pretty self-explanatory – three hand prints and add a stem. For the leprechauns, paint the kiddo’s fingers orange and palm skin-toned and slap down on a piece of paper. Add eyes and a little hat and you’re good to go! 

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Green Pepper Shamrocks

While I thought this St. Patrick’s Day activity was super clever, Sam complained the entire time because “the green peppers smell horrible.” If your kids are not dramatic like Sam, make instant shamrocks by slicing a green pepper in half and dipping in green paint! Just add glitter and a stem!

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Green Pile O’ Pancakes

I have a million memories growing up of my mom going all out for holidays as well – including St. Patrick’s Day. She’d whip up green pancakes and green milk for us every year. Sam and I put our own spin on these green pancakes this year by adding whip cream and Lucky Charms marshmallows. Yummo!

Watercolor Shamrocks

I eyeballed and cut out a shamrock shape on white paper and grabbed a black marker and the watercolors. Sam practiced making different types of lines across the shamrock and then she painted each section with a different color watercolor. Smaller versions would be cute too – you could make a little homemade shamrock garland. 

Rainbow Science Experiment

We traded arts and crafts for a rainbow science experiment! Fill little cups (we used these darling pot o’ gold cauldron) about 3/4 with baking soda and mix in food coloring. Once complete, pour in white vinegar into each and watch them fizzle! I recommend doing it on a baking sheet and adding a trash bag or plastic table cloth under it (I always have these plastic $1 table cloths on hand from the dollar store!)

Don’t miss a minute of the fun — follow us on Instagram @BusyInGroveCity as Samantha and I craft our way through the year! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! For additional St. Patrick’s Day Crafts, check here!

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Amanda Decastro
Amanda DeCastro has called Columbus, Ohio home her entire life. She currently lives with her husband and four-year-old daughter Samantha in Grove City, where they love to share everything there is to do south of Columbus and beyond on their Instagram handle @BusyInGroveCity. In addition to sharing their favorite things to do around town, Amanda and Samantha stay busy making kids crafts - and they truly live by the motto “the messier the better!” When Amanda isn’t shuttling her daughter from activity to activity, she can be found working part-time at Spectrum News 1 OH where she heads up community relations. An elementary school principal’s wife, Amanda is also involved with the South-Western City Schools Educational Foundation board and serves on the advisory committee for the South-Western City Schools Career Academy Interactive Media Design program. A Capital University grad, she is also involved with her alma mater serving as a frequent guest speaker and mentor for current public relations and marketing students.