7 Fun St. Patrick's Day Activities to do with Your Kids ...

What kid doesn’t love to eat cookies? Any kid will have fun baking some treats they can eat and share with loved ones. A basic batch of sugar cookies is easy to do and once baked, you can decorate them for St. Patrick’s Day. Use green frosting and white sprinkles or tint your cookie dough with green food coloring and cover them with white frosting. Use a shamrock cookie cutter to make your cookies even more festive.

I did this with my kids last year and they absolutely loved it! Start by cutting a trap door in a cardboard box. Then have your kids decorate the trap with colored paper, cutouts, glitter and whatever other St. Patrick’s Day décor catches your eye. Then while your kids sleep, leave little bits of evidence that a leprechaun was there, but he got away. Gold coins, glitter or shamrock beads are great options.

There are a couple of fun ways to make shamrock stamps to make fun wall hangings with your kids. Hot glue three wine corks together, then dip them in green paint and stamp them on white paper. Or cut a bell pepper in half from side to side. The resulting shape is very similar to a shamrock and you can use it to stamp paper. This craft is really fun for toddlers and preschoolers.

This is a fun way to count down the days to St. Patrick’s Day or just make something fun to hang in your house as you celebrate. Cut strips of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple paper and create a paper chain rainbow with them. Attach a pot of gold made from construction paper on the end and you’re done.

Kids of all ages will get a kick out of slinging paint. Start by hanging a large piece of butcher paper on the wall or, even better, the fence outside. Let your kids dip their paintbrushes into various shades of green paint and flip the paint all over the paper, a la Jackson Pollack. Once dry, cut large shamrocks from the paper and hang them all over your house. Be sure you use washable paint so you can clean up when you’re done.

There are plenty of green foods to choose from, so having a green meal is a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with your kids. Tint milk green and serve it over cereal with a kiwi for breakfast. Serve green veggies, such as celery, bell pepper and green beans, with ranch dressing for lunch with a shamrock shaped sandwich. For dinner, have green tinted pancakes with syrup and Granny Smith apples. Your kids will love it!

This one will take a bit of planning and is something you’ll do to surprise your kids. Have your significant other, your parents or a friend take your kids out to do something for an hour or so. Tell them you are going to get groceries (just a small white lie). Then, while they are gone, scatter shamrock confetti and green crepe paper all over the house. Put a couple drops of green food coloring in the toilet water and leave stacks of coins somewhere. Pretend like you’re arriving home at the same time as your kids, then pretend shock when you see what the leprechauns have done to your house.

How will you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with your kids this year?