Crafts For Preschoolers: St Patrick’s Day

St Patrick’s Day is fun to celebrate with children, and really lends itself to crafts. Here are some ideas for St Patrick’s Day crafts you can do with your kids.

1. Lucky T-Shirt

You and your kids can wear this craft on St Patrick’s Day. Here’s what you’ll need:

* White t-shirts
* Green fabric paint
* 3-D green fabric paint (“puffy” paint)
* Heart-shaped stamp (you can cut one out of a sponge or buy a foam one at a craft store)

Lay each t-shirt you are decorating on a flat surface. Use the heart stamp and fabric paint to create shamrock shapes – the points of three hearts meet in the middle. Put as many shamrocks as you like on the shirt. Then, outline the shamrocks with the 3-D paint and add a stem. Allow it to dry overnight, and wear it for luck!

2. Pot o’ Gold with Rainbow Streamers

Hang this one up to brighten the room on St Patrick’s Day. Here’s what you’ll need:

* Black card stock or craft foam
* Yellow card stock or craft foam
* Tissue paper in rainbow colors
* Glue (you can use white glue if you use paper; but you’ll probably need a hot glue gun if you use craft foam)
* Yarn or ribbon for hanging

First, cut out a pot shape from the black card stock. Use about half the sheet to make the pot. Then, cut round coin shapes from the yellow card stock. Glue them along the top of the pot to look like gold coins heaped up over the edge. Next, cut tissue paper in long strips, one strip for each color of the rainbow. Make the strips 18-24 inches long. Glue them to the back of the pot so that they hang down below it. Glue a loop of yarn or ribbon to the back of the top and hang.

3. 3-D Shamrock

These make nice centerpieces for the table. You’ll need:

* Scissors
* Green card stock
* Shamrock pattern to trace (or you can draw it free-hand)

Trace or draw the shamrock onto the green card stock and cut it out. Using the cut-out or template, trace and cut another shamrock. It’s important that they be exactly alike. Now cut a slit up from the bottom of one of the shamrocks, starting in the middle of the stem and going up about halfway. On the other shamrock, cut a slit starting at the top center and down to the middle. Slide the two together along the slits.