Instructed painting St Patrick’s Day

March 16th, 2020 marks the day we closed our studio for COVID-19 for three months. We had prepared lots of fun crafts for St. Patrick’s Day. These crafts remained out in our dark & empty studio until the end of June when we finally were able to re-open. So, it is extra fun this year to finally see kids getting to do our St. Patrick’s Day crafts in the studio! We’ve shared some of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day crafts below. We have something for every age group. Let us know if you try any of these projects at home!

St. Patrick’s Day Process Art

The preschoolers and I made a little St. Patrick’s Day process art. Given just a few materials, the preschoolers were unleashed to create art as they pleased. It just so happens that the materials I provided them pair nicely with the upcoming “green” holiday.

I love the way the student’s art sparkled in the light once finished. As with other process art activities, this one lends itself to the making of art, rather than a specific product that might be achieved with a craft. Each student’s artwork turned out differently, each one interesting and unique because of it’s differences.

Join me regularly via subscribing to Stay At Home Educator by email, Facebook, Twitter @StayAtHomeEdu, and Pinterest. This post may contain Amazon affiliate links.

Materials

• blue and yellow washable tempura paint
• heavy card stock
• liquid school glue
• gold glitter

I laid out the materials on the preschool table and invited my students to begin painting as they pleased. Being that I only offered two colors, blue and yellow, their palette was limited, but that was ok. By limiting the colors available, the students learned a little about color theory, as they quickly found out that when they mixed blue and yellow paint on their paper they got green.

Each student’s card stock quickly became filled with vigorous blue and yellow brush strokes, resulting in layers of color and a range of green hues. Some students were heavy on the yellow, thus getting more bright green, while others were heavy on the blue, thus being more blue-green.

Soon, students began to notice that as the paint left in the palette was also changing colors.

And some student then choose to mix the two colors in their palette rather than on their paper.

Once their papers were covered in paint, they added liquid school glue.

Some students chose to do dollops of liquid school glue, while others made circles, and others yet made squiggly lines. Again, this is process art, so there is no wrong way. Once dried, the glue would give their paintings a wonderful addition of interesting texture.

Finally, we added gold glitter. For this, we added “big” glitter, as the bigger the glitter pieces the more it would sparkle. With the mixture of blue, yellow and green background, the gold glitter was reminiscent of gold a leprechaun might find.

These are some of our finished products:

I adore how that glitter sparkles!

For some of my favorite books about process art for preschoolers, check them out below!

I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.

How To Draw A Leprechaun

What You’ll Need:

• Pencil/Eraser
• Drawing Paper
• Markers
• Colored Pencils or Crayons

Instructions:

1. Use a pencil with an eraser to sketch your Leprechaun. Use our step-by-step guide below.
2. Outline your pencil lines with a dark colored marker.
3. Fill in your Leprechaun with color. Use a mix of markers, crayons and colored pencils.
4. Don’t forget to add details in the background such as rainbows and gold coins!

Shamrock Paper Marbling

What You’ll Need:

• Shaving Cream
• Gold & Green liquid watercolors
• Toothpick
• Popsicle stick (or something similarly shaped)
• Scissors
• Cardstock or watercolor paper (we love this paper by Canson)
• Tray – you can use a basic craft tray like this one or use a rimmed baking sheet
• Pencil

Instructions:

1. Spray shaving cream into your craft tray.
2. Squeeze small drops of liquid watercolor onto your tray.
3. Using a toothpick, carefully swirl colors around. Be careful not to mix too much or you’ll lose the swirl patterns. Continue until you have lots of fun and swirly patterns.
4. Stamp your cardstock paper face down onto the shaving cream patterns. Peel the paper up. Use a popsicle stick to scrape off the extra shaving cream.
5. Once all of the shaving cream is removed, sketch a shamrock shape on your marbled paper using a pencil. Use our step-by-step guide or design your own.
6. Cut out your shamrock.

Green Rice Sensory Bin

What You’ll Need:

• White rice
• White vinegar
• Food coloring
• Scoopers – these are great for helping build fine motor skills
• Gold coins
• Container – large plastic storage tubs work great, especially the ones meant for under the bed storage. Busser tubs are also great for sensory play!
• Tray – you can use a basic craft tray like this one or use a rimmed baking sheet

Instructions:

1. Scoop 1 cup of white rice into a plastic container or a large resealable baggie.
2. Add 1 tsp of white vinegar and a few drops of food color to your rice. Seal container and shake vigorously.
3. Pour colored rice out on a tray and allow to dry.
4. Once rice is dry, add it to a bin or tray. Add gold coins and scoopers for some fun sensory play.