By this point, you have certainlyl learned the importance of fostering imaginations and creating meaningful memories. Your environment is close to enticing a leprechaun to search for gold, but what kind of mischief can a leprechaun get into?
Here is a list that our leprechaun, Lucky O'Shamrock McGee has done along with a few things I have heard about. After the list are random photos of Leprechaun Days gone by! Enjoy!!! Feel free to add your fantastic ideas in the comments! It's so awesome to learn from each other!!
- Lucky O'Shamrock McGee is not happy that we try to trap him. So he leaves a HUGE mess. Every green toy, marker and crayon is scattered all over the room complete with teensy weensy shamrock confetti and larger shamrocks (I find great things at www.discountschoolsupply.com )
- Some years Lucky even has gotten into the green paint and left us a message on the table....
- Green footprints are found all around the room
- Some years he leaves us a teeny tiny note (I print it out using a size 3 font so we need to use a magnifying glass to read it)
- Lucky magically turns the toilet water green. My favorite thing to do is as the water fades back to clear, I add more food coloring in the TANK (not in the toilet bowl itself). When you add it to the tank, it's the next person's flush that will cause the water to turn colors!! Last year the water turned every color of the rainbow (it was BEYOND exciting!!!)
- Lucky always leaves us some green fingernail polish and tatoos which is always a hit!
- I know one leprechaun (Lucky has not done this) that leaves a "magical leprechaun treat" in a ziplock bag. This treat comes with directions to "dump the magical powder into a bowl and add milk. Watch what will happen!". It is Jello brand pistachio pudding mix. The mix is white, but when you add milk, it magically turns GREEN!!
- Another leprechaun I have heard of leaves a trail using rainbow colored yarn and has notes attached to the yarn leading the children to a pot of gold. (I'm thinking Lucky O'Shamrock McGee might give this idea a try this year!)
 |
 |
 |
| Our trap....we put Skittles inside the trap. Every year, the Skittles are gone....and there is always a teensy tiny piece of a torn green jacket left in the trap! (We assume Lucky must tear his coat when he's trying to escape from our trap!) |
 |
 |
.JPG) |
.JPG) |
| Magnifying glasses are a necessity when looking for leprechaun clues! |
.JPG) |
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG) |
| One year Lucky even left behind an entire pot of gold!!! |
.JPG) |
| Lucky ALWAYS turns the toilet water green!! The best part?!! It continues to turn back to green throughout the day causing all the excitment to be reborn! (I just keep a bottle of food coloring in the bathroom, then, when I go in, I put it in the tank...so the next child to flush is the one to witness the water magically change to green!!) |
 |
| Last year, Lucky managed to change the toilet water to EVERY color of the rainbow!!! (I tell you what....this was a BLAST!!! And created such excitment and imaginations were flourishing!) Jack, pictured, at one point was down on his knees so he could get a better look at where the water was coming from....trying to figure out how Lucky was doing it!! Inspiring curiosity! LOVE IT!! |
Now go....have some Leprechaun Day fun with the children in your life!!
1) Create a colorful, rainbowish environment. How? Explore the wonderful world of color! Use a variety of materials...traditional and non-traditional. If you missed Part 1 and Part 2 or Part 2.5 of this series, make sure to check them out for a few of my favorite color exploration opportunities.
2) While creating a leprechaun-enitising environment, read some leprechaun books and sing some leprechaun songs:
BOOKS:
- The Luckiest Leprechaun by Justine Korman (my personal favorite!!)
- Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk retold by Gerald McDermott
- Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute
- Looking for Leprechauns by Sheila Keenan
SONGS:
There are a great selection of songs all over the place. The songs that have become our favorites are from CC Circle Time (great songs and fingerplays for all occasions!!):
- "I'm A Teeny Tiny Leprechaun"
- "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Leprechaun"
- "Leprechauns Can Dance a Jig"
All three of these are HITS with my kids! Check CC Circle Time out!!
3) Be prepared for super fun day by loading up on shamrocks of all sizes (to toss all over the place), green things, tatoos, green fingernail polish and green food coloring!!
Build imaginations, make meaningful memories and have fun!!! Remember this entire series is full of learning opportunities that can be used ANYTIME....NOT just at St. Patty's time!! The activities mentioned in Parts 1, 2 and 2.5 are full of learning: small motor skills, large motor skills, creativity, cause and effect, problem solving, trial and error, taking turns, patience, sharing and building self esteem!!
Build imaginations, make meaningful memories and have fun!!! Remember this entire series is full of learning opportunities that can be used ANYTIME....NOT just at St. Patty's time!! The activities mentioned in Parts 1, 2 and 2.5 are full of learning: small motor skills, large motor skills, creativity, cause and effect, problem solving, trial and error, taking turns, patience, sharing and building self esteem!!
