- Leprechaun slime search for the pot o’ gold.
Sensory play is more fun with slime! Start by making an easy batch of slime together: 1/2 a cup of child-safe glue (clear or white both work, depending on the “look” you want) and a 1/2 cup of water. Mix away! Add food coloring or green glitter to give it that Leprechaun look. Pour 1/4 cup of liquid starch and keep stirring until the liquid transforms into a blob of slime. Finally, knead in some toy gold coins or other “treasure” that your child can work to find and pull out for more fine motor fun.- Mixed media rainbow art.
Here is one where your creativity can adapt the activity according to your child’s interests. Draw or print a large rainbow on paper (here is a good template). Gather your desired décor for the rainbow: gem stickers, star stickers, mini pom poms, beads, dot paint or even Skittles. Whatever you choose, make sure you have all the colors of the rainbow. Get it started with one color and encourage your child to continue to fill in each section of the rainbow.- Shamrock cookie-decorating.
Get your kids involved in the kitchen with a simple cookie-decorating activity. Start with sugar cookie dough, a shamrock cookie cutter and green icing, then put your child to work with the toppings! Place a few different sprinkle options out in front and demonstrate how to decorate before handing over the reins to their little fingers. While most may end up on the floor or in their mouths, the act of placing each sprinkle on top of a cookie (or a green spinach muffin, should you choose) should be enough to get them excited.- St. Paddy’s Day sensory sorting box.
What reminds you of St. Patrick’s Day? Sequined shamrocks, gold coins, green pom poms, rainbow balls, St. Patrick’s Day necklaces, dry spinach pasta, shredded green paper…you name it, you can add it to this themed sensory box. Give your kiddo a variety of spoons and tongs, plus a few bowls or cups for sorting the various items. Talk to him or her about the texture and colors and what they mean to the holiday. This activity is great for children learning to use the pincher grasp, while also teaches them about colors, size and shape.- Shamrock stamping art.
Did you know sliced green bell peppers resemble clovers? Give your kid a new art experience by using them to “stamp” clovers onto a sheet of paper, cardboard box or gift bag. Peppers usually have three lobes or four (perfect for a four-leaf clover!), so check out the curves of the sides and bottom before choosing your new “supplies” at the market. To begin, cut the pepper in half and shake it out to get rid of any loose seeds. Your child can use the stem as a handle to dip the flat sliced edge into green paint before stamping it onto the paper. Once stamped, you can add another dash of green paint or marker to the bottom to draw on a shamrock stem.- Four-leaf clover lacing. Lacing may require a little more skill than some of the other activities and this version is great practice for kiddos. The parent’s job is to first draw a large clover onto a sheet of green construction paper or cardstock, then cut it out. If you want something a little more sturdy, you can also laminate it before using a hole punch to add holes around the edges. Have your child practice lacing a shoelace in and out of the holes; the curves will add a new challenge for them. Once finished, have them decorate it however they wish!
- Holiday-themed story time.
We’re always big fans of using story time for learning and St. Patrick’s Day is no different. There are a number of sweet and silly books out there for this holiday, so choose according to your child’s interests. For instance, if you kiddo is already a Pete the Cat fan, check out Pete the Cat: The Great Leprechaun Chase. If rhymes and songs are appealing to your child, he or she might like The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day Ever. There are also St. Patrick’s Day adapted books available, which offer a nice way to practice identifying color, location, sequencing and more.- Emerald Isle water sensory bin.
We love water play and Spring is the perfect time to bring it back into the rotation. Either outdoors, in a big bathtub or on a large towel, fill a giant bin with water and add some drops of green food coloring. Drop in some gold coins or St. Patrick’s Day-themed rubber duckies, then give your kiddo various cups, spoons and scoops and let the playtime begin! By pouring the water and scooping out the coins, your child can work on motor skills by also learning about liquids and volume. Pro tip: if you want to skip the green food coloring and add a cleaning element to the mix, pick up the Rainbow Fun bar from Lush. This non-toxic Playdoh-like soap is not only fun to mold in the tub, but the green bar will turn the water green!- Lucky Charms lineup.
It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without Lucky Charms! Pour the cereal into a big bowl and have your child pick out the marshmallows to sort and line up on a sheet of paper. Talk about the different shapes and how they are associated with the holiday. You can also use this sensory experience to have your child discover the scents, feelings and of course, tastes.- Tried and true coloring books.
For kids who love their crayons and paints, it’s hard to go wrong with coloring books. Talk about the meaning behind the pictures and let them color away. It gives the children a chance to practice holding a writing tool, learning colors, and drawing straight lines and circles, which is great school preparation, in addition to entertainment. While some of the activities may be a bit advanced for kids still working on their developmental milestones, we like Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Coloring & Activity Book for Toddlers & Preschool, even if just for coloring.
HeidiSongs Teaching Resource
This week I am going to share with you some fun things for March, including a St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun guided drawing lesson and a new free downloadable game. So buckle up, here we go!
Guided Drawing Leprechaun Lesson
I started drawing up the directions for this lesson while sitting on the plane from LAX to Columbia, on my way to SDE’s South Carolina Kindergarten Conference, and then finished it in Chicago at the IL ASCD PreK/K Conference! (Both conferences were GREAT, by the way!)
Since it has been a really long time since I had posted a guided drawing lesson freebie, I thought it would be a fun to post another timely one here. If you do this with your students, I would love it if you send me a photo of their completed pictures, or post one on Facebook or Pinterest and let me know that it is there!
My wonderful job share partner and my aide did this lesson with my little ones while I was gone this week and then sent me the pictures. Aren’t they cute? I wish I could have been in two places at once so that I could have done it all!
My aide told me that it would have been easier for them, though, if she had started them off with the right size of hat, because some of them started off with a very tiny hat, and that made it hard to continue. So you may want to lightly trace small square onto a piece of paper and xerox it for them ahead of time. Then just have them trace it with their marker or black crayon to get started, and you’ll be off!
Leprechaun Sight Word Game
I actually created this game in 2011, but didn’t quite get it finished in time to put it on my blog before St. Patrick’s Day! I promptly forgot all about it until someone on Facebook asked me where it was posted a few weeks ago, so I started looking. (We had been brainstorming rhymes for this game on my HeidiSongs Facebook page, and she remembered it from that!) Anyway, long story short, I couldn’t find it on my blog because I had never posted it! So here you go!
To prepare the game:
1. Duplicate the leprechaun cards. Write the sight words that you want to practice on the sign that the leprechaun is holding. Also copy the pot of gold that is on the instruction sheet. You may want to laminate it or cover it with clear packing tape to make it more sturdy, because these things tend to get quite wrinkly.
2. To play, have the children hide their eyes while you hide the pot of gold under any leprechaun’s picture. Then children all chant, “Leprechaun, leprechaun! Truth be told! Leprechaun, leprechaun! Where’s your gold?” The children may then take turns naming the word that they think the pot of gold is hiding under, and lifting that word to check. The game ends when someone finds the pot of gold under his or her word of choice. Then play again.
Shamrock Sight Word Surprise
If you didn’t see this fun little item in 2011, you might want to download it out and give it a try! It’s just a little water color resist with a sight word written in it with white crayon ahead of time! The children use water color paints to paint over the top of the picture, and then the sight word appears! Be sure to use a cheap white crayon to write the word, such as Roseart. The nice Crayola brand crayons tend to show up ahead of time and then the kids can see the word on the paper before they start painting. I wrote four different words on the papers and then mixed the papers up before putting them in the art center for the children. When the papers were dry, I used them to drill the kids on the sight words. Naturally, you’ll want to choose the words your kids need to work on the most. Click here to visit the blog where this download is posted. It is near the bottom of the post in section five.
Another idea, – Leprechaun Traps!⠀I stopped assigning this several years ago due to the wide discrepancy between those students who got LOTS of help at home, and those that got NONE (and brought in nothing.) It’s hard on those little ones when they realize what their parents are NOT doing! Anyone else have this problem?
Check out my Pinterest board for more ideas!
As always, happy teaching!
Heidi 🙂
P.S. Don’t forget all our videos are available to STREAM on UScreen, FREE for the first 30 days! It’s an awesome way to bring some EASY, active learning to your students during this time, and they can always cancel right before they are ever charged, like on day 29! Check out the info page on our website for more info!
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Our directed drawing packets include step by step directions to draw and writing papers!
More Monsters
Fall Drawings
Halloween 2
Halloween Spooky Drawings
Start with a Circle
Start with a Square
Back to School
Alphabet Drawing
School Bus
First Drawings
My Second Drawing Pack
Ocean Drawings
Rainbow Drawings
Caterpillar Garden
Spring Feb-April
Pet Drawings
Love Monster
Shape Friends
Valentine Panda Drawing
Valentine Bee Drawing
Valentines Day
Winter Mouse
Nov Dec Jan Drawing
Santa Calus Drawing
Christmas Drawings
Summer Directed Drawings
My First Summer Drawings
Summer Fun Directed Drawing
Beach Fun Drawing
Funny Ice Cream Drawing
May June July
We Love Earth
Spring Garden
My Third Drawing Pack
Snail Home Drawing
Fat Cat Drawing
Super Sweet
Farm Animal Drawings
Australian Animal Drawings
Fruit Drawings
Australian Animals
Jungle Directed Drawings
Blends
Monster Drawings
Cute Drawing
More Back to School Drawings
Summer Drawing
More Alphabet Directed Drawing
Easter Directed Drawing
Elf Drawings
Ha-bee Day
A-Z of 2D Shape Drawings
Leprechaun
Alligator Directed Drawing
Sweet Swarm of Bees
Cute Pig
Shape Fox
Cute Apple Drawing
Winter Bear Drawing
The Rainbow Ducks
Snowman Drawing
My First Easter
Gingerbread Man
Butterfly Drawing
Ladybugs on a Leaf
Ladybug on a Flower
Egg Basket
Easter Bunny Drawing
Big Pig
Owl Moon
Hug a Bug
Funny Pumpkins
Extra Papers
Writing Poster
Flowers
Ocean Whale
Ice Cream
Dinosaur Drawing
2D Shapes
Blue Yabby
Starfish
Pineapple
Drawing Book Covers
Make a drawing book for your students by gluing a cover to a scrap book or folder! Here are some free ones we’ve made for you:
- Lovely Drawings book cover
- My Big Book of Drawings
- My Little Alphabet Drawing Book
- Christmas Drawing Book
10 Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Kids with Autism
- Leprechaun slime search for the pot o’ gold.
Sensory play is more fun with slime! Start by making an easy batch of slime together: 1/2 a cup of child-safe glue (clear or white both work, depending on the “look” you want) and a 1/2 cup of water. Mix away! Add food coloring or green glitter to give it that Leprechaun look. Pour 1/4 cup of liquid starch and keep stirring until the liquid transforms into a blob of slime. Finally, knead in some toy gold coins or other “treasure” that your child can work to find and pull out for more fine motor fun. - Mixed media rainbow art.
Here is one where your creativity can adapt the activity according to your child’s interests. Draw or print a large rainbow on paper (here is a good template). Gather your desired décor for the rainbow: gem stickers, star stickers, mini pom poms, beads, dot paint or even Skittles. Whatever you choose, make sure you have all the colors of the rainbow. Get it started with one color and encourage your child to continue to fill in each section of the rainbow. - Shamrock cookie-decorating.
Get your kids involved in the kitchen with a simple cookie-decorating activity. Start with sugar cookie dough, a shamrock cookie cutter and green icing, then put your child to work with the toppings! Place a few different sprinkle options out in front and demonstrate how to decorate before handing over the reins to their little fingers. While most may end up on the floor or in their mouths, the act of placing each sprinkle on top of a cookie (or a green spinach muffin, should you choose) should be enough to get them excited. - St. Paddy’s Day sensory sorting box.
What reminds you of St. Patrick’s Day? Sequined shamrocks, gold coins, green pom poms, rainbow balls, St. Patrick’s Day necklaces, dry spinach pasta, shredded green paper…you name it, you can add it to this themed sensory box. Give your kiddo a variety of spoons and tongs, plus a few bowls or cups for sorting the various items. Talk to him or her about the texture and colors and what they mean to the holiday. This activity is great for children learning to use the pincher grasp, while also teaches them about colors, size and shape. - Shamrock stamping art.
Did you know sliced green bell peppers resemble clovers? Give your kid a new art experience by using them to “stamp” clovers onto a sheet of paper, cardboard box or gift bag. Peppers usually have three lobes or four (perfect for a four-leaf clover!), so check out the curves of the sides and bottom before choosing your new “supplies” at the market. To begin, cut the pepper in half and shake it out to get rid of any loose seeds. Your child can use the stem as a handle to dip the flat sliced edge into green paint before stamping it onto the paper. Once stamped, you can add another dash of green paint or marker to the bottom to draw on a shamrock stem. - Four-leaf clover lacing. Lacing may require a little more skill than some of the other activities and this version is great practice for kiddos. The parent’s job is to first draw a large clover onto a sheet of green construction paper or cardstock, then cut it out. If you want something a little more sturdy, you can also laminate it before using a hole punch to add holes around the edges. Have your child practice lacing a shoelace in and out of the holes; the curves will add a new challenge for them. Once finished, have them decorate it however they wish!
- Holiday-themed story time.
We’re always big fans of using story time for learning and St. Patrick’s Day is no different. There are a number of sweet and silly books out there for this holiday, so choose according to your child’s interests. For instance, if you kiddo is already a Pete the Cat fan, check out Pete the Cat: The Great Leprechaun Chase. If rhymes and songs are appealing to your child, he or she might like The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day Ever. There are also St. Patrick’s Day adapted books available, which offer a nice way to practice identifying color, location, sequencing and more. - Emerald Isle water sensory bin.
We love water play and Spring is the perfect time to bring it back into the rotation. Either outdoors, in a big bathtub or on a large towel, fill a giant bin with water and add some drops of green food coloring. Drop in some gold coins or St. Patrick’s Day-themed rubber duckies, then give your kiddo various cups, spoons and scoops and let the playtime begin! By pouring the water and scooping out the coins, your child can work on motor skills by also learning about liquids and volume. Pro tip: if you want to skip the green food coloring and add a cleaning element to the mix, pick up the Rainbow Fun bar from Lush. This non-toxic Playdoh-like soap is not only fun to mold in the tub, but the green bar will turn the water green! - Lucky Charms lineup.
It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without Lucky Charms! Pour the cereal into a big bowl and have your child pick out the marshmallows to sort and line up on a sheet of paper. Talk about the different shapes and how they are associated with the holiday. You can also use this sensory experience to have your child discover the scents, feelings and of course, tastes. - Tried and true coloring books.
For kids who love their crayons and paints, it’s hard to go wrong with coloring books. Talk about the meaning behind the pictures and let them color away. It gives the children a chance to practice holding a writing tool, learning colors, and drawing straight lines and circles, which is great school preparation, in addition to entertainment. While some of the activities may be a bit advanced for kids still working on their developmental milestones, we like Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Coloring & Activity Book for Toddlers & Preschool, even if just for coloring.
If you really want to get in the spirit and your child’s sensitivities are not an issue, you can also dress in green clothes and play some Irish music during these activities in order to make the moment more festive. Does your family take part in special St. Patrick’s Day games or traditions? Share with us and other parents on the Hopebridge Facebook page.
If your kid likes these ideas and is ready for more, check out even more year-round, easy sensory activities on the Hopebridge blog.
We work on skill-building activities like these and more in our centers, plus target even more functional, social and communication skills during our centers, so if your child could use more support building their independence, reach out to us for autism testing or an ABA evaluation.
