Mar 6, 2023

shamrock fun with our littles!

Monday, March 6, 2023

We’ve got some March entertainment for you and your Littles today!

Get ready for…

Today we look forward to sharing ideas

- our own and others we’ve gathered -

to celebrate St Patrick’s Day!

Laura and Laurie will both offer a few ways we plan to use this theme

filled with shamrocks, leprechauns, gold coins and rainbows

with our Littles of all ages!

We’ll even suggest a few celebratory options for

the Middles and other Grands in your life, too!

This was our sweet little lassie last year at 2 ½ months olds!

While I have no Irish blood flowing inside me, Little L has LOTS,

so St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated with lots of gusto!

Last year, when Little L was only a few months old, she dressed up for the occasion…

green is definitely her color! 💚

She was able to explore the holiday in a few fun ways as an infant…

💚 We could dangle rainbow scarves overhead!

💚 We could dance a jig together!

💚 We could shake coins in a jar! (her favorite!)

Little L’s reactions to sensory experiences like these always intrigued and amazed me! Hubby D and I could spend hours watching her response as her eyes tracked or got wider and then when the giggles began to creep in… oh my! So entertaining!

This year, Little L is an active toddler! Here are a few of the fun activities I’ve prepped for a visit we’ll be making soon!

☘️ Rainbow Coin Drop! ☘️

This activity reminds me of the one where Little L dropped Q Tips into a jar! As we all know, toddlers love dropping things into containers. You’ll need some gold plastic coins (I got mine at Dollar Tree) and an empty Pringles can (I decorated mine with rainbow gift wrap I had but you don’t need to follow this step). I then cut a slit in the top of the Pringles can lid, big enough for one coin to fit through. As always, you’ll need to watch your Little carefully so he/she doesn’t try to put the coins in the mouth! One by one, your Little will drop the coins into the rainbow tube! Your Little will love the “clink” sound made when each coin lands in the container! Empty and repeat as many times as your Little desires!

☘️ Shamrock Sensory Box! ☘️

Oh my goodness! I had such fun searching through the house, looking for green objects to add to this sensory box! I also made a quick trip to Dollar Tree and found so many fun St. Patrick’s day objects to include! (I added a rainbow headband, foam curlers, a scratchy sponge and a swimming noodle that I cut into 1 inch slices.) I can’t wait to see what Little L thinks of it all as she explores its contents… There is so much to see and feel and do!

☘️ Digging for a Rainbow! ☘️

I’m bringing some vanilla yogurt and green food coloring with me. I’ll mix a drop or two of green food coloring into the yogurt and then I’ll let Little L finger paint with the edible mixture! Perhaps we’ll add a few Lucky Charms into the mix but I’ll be sure to okay it with her mommy first!! To make this activity more fun for older Littles, it would be fun to hide a plastic gold coin in a bowl of green yogurt or simply add several of the coins to the finger painting experience!

☘️ I’m also bringing the good ole ice cube tray with me along with the colorful pom-poms and the rainbow scarves! I bought these scarves last year, and I have definitely got my money out of them over the last year!

☘️ I also purchased this St. Patrick’s Day book to bring with me. Little L loves the fingerplay, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, so I’m certain she’ll love this version.

We’ll probably use some of the strategies Laurie shared

in our recent post to make the book even more fun!

All of these items will fit nicely into my traveling Gramma bag…

Ready to go! Ready for fun!

I’m not Irish either, but I could never resist having some simple St .Patrick’s Day fun with our Littles when they were in preschool and then throughout their elementary years. After our Littles went to sleep on March 16th, my husband and I would sneak into their rooms and scatter handfuls of coins all over the floor and into the hallway. The pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters were the coins that had been collected in the change jar through the last year. Daughter A and Son D were at the right age where they understood money and were fascinated with it. They would sort it by types of coins, split it between the two of them and then they'd tuck it away in their piggy banks. Sometimes the leprechaun left their rooms topsy-turvy and turned their breakfast milk green (green food coloring). There was always a green snack (grapes, celery, graham crackers with green frosting) tucked inside their backpacks for school that day. Paper shamrocks were scattered throughout the house as well. A green outfit was always picked out the night before, and if a green shirt was not owned, I made sure there was a green necklace or paper shamrock pinned to their shirt the next day.

After all, the legend is -

if you don’t wear green on St. Patrick's Day,

you might just get pinched by a leprechaun!

In addition to the activities outlined above,

we’ve found the following festive and easy to replicate ideas online.

Feel free to tap on each link provided to learn more!

St. Patrick’s Day Jello Rescue from Teach Talk Inspire

The lime jello might find its way into Laura’s traveling Gramma bag, too! Your little one can certainly use his/her fingers to scoop out the coins and other objects, but having a set of plastic tongs available may make this activity extra fun… especially for older Littles!

St. Patrick’s Day Calming Bottle from My Home Based Life

This bottle would indeed be calming - even mesmerizing for little ones! This project would also be fun for older kids to help make and it could serve other purposes, too! Bottles like this make great timers, depending on how long it takes the objects inside to settle!

Shamrock Balance Beam from The OT Toolbox

This activity, for toddlers who are comfortable walking, helps our Littles improve attention and provides practice for better balance and posture!

Leprechaun Slime from Preschool Play & Learn

Whip up a batch of this easy clear slime recipe with green sequins! Your Littles won’t be able to wait to get their hands on it!

Rainbow Shamrock Suncatchers from There’s Just One Mommy

When it comes to St. Patty’s crafts, you just can’t beat shamrocks and colorful rainbows! This project combines the two ideas into one beautiful project! It’s easy enough for a toddler and fun for older kids as well!