Fun & Delicious St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Kids

St Patrick’s day is fast approaching, and we are so excited to share these St Patrick’s ideas for kids! We’ve partnered with one of our favorite food bloggers, Jessica at Savory Experiments, to bring you delightful food ideas to make your kids’ St Patrick’s day delicious. Plus, find fun St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids, including baking fun, educational ideas, and games little ones will love.

In this article, we’ll also help you think through ways to teach St Patrick’s day to kids.

Then, we’ll give you some of our favorite ideas for St Patrick’s day games and crafts. Yay!

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Green Snacks for School!

If you’re like most normal moms, you likely panic when you realize that you signed up to bring something green to your kids’ preschool or elementary class.

So, you rush to the grocery store and buy those iced cookies that come in various colors according to the holiday. They’re cute but kinda, well, blah.

If that’s you (hello, it’s me, too), there’s no judgment from us! We’re all about buying some green cookies from the grocery store if you need to. No shame in that game.

But! If you have extra time and you’re looking to up your game this St Patrick’s day, we’ve got you covered with recipes from Jessica at Savory Experiments (click the link to see Jessica’s lovely family and read more about her mission).

green cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

Here are our favorite green (or otherwise themed) snacks from Savory Experiments:

  1. Grasshopper Cheesecake bars–Jessica does dessert right, and kids will love these creamy GREEN cheesecake bars. So will you. And your partner. You’ve been warned.
  2. Ombre St Patrick’s day cupcakes–these cupcakes use a box mix as the base–what’s not to love about that?? Plus you can top them with an adorable gold chocolate coin to make them extra special for your family dinner or for your kid’s St Patrick’s day party.
  3. Rainbow Cupcakes–these cupcakes are SO CUTE. Again, you get to start with a box mix (we recommend funfetti for an extra rainbow-y experience, and you can also find gluten free funfetti if you need to be allergy friendly!). Jessica walks you through decorating these adorable cupcakes with rainbow candy belts and gold candy pearls, too.  
  4. St Patrick’s Day Dunkaroo Dip–what’s more fun than making your own 90’s-inspired Dunkaroo dip?? (Y’all remember that?). Not much! This delicious dip is fun for pretzels, fruit, cookies, whatever!
  5. Pot of Gold Puppy Chow–watch out, mamma, because this is addictive! If you don’t end up eating all of it while you’re making it (and if you need to, go for it!), put this puppy chow in individual shamrock baggies for a fun St Patrick’s day class treat.
rainbow cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

If you need more ideas for St Patrick’s day sweets, check out the 19+ BEST St Patrick’s Day Dessert Recipes over at Savory Experiments! You seriously can’t go wrong.

Teaching your Kids the Legend of St Patrick’s Day

Many of us adults enjoy St Patrick’s day traditions like green beer and pinching one another when we aren’t wearing green, but March 17th–the date our country celebrates all things Irish–has an actual storied history.

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and in the United States, most people celebrate St Patrick’s day as a secular celebration of Irish culture. Your child’s school will likely celebrate it this way, too.

What’s the Real Story of St Patrick’s Day?

But in Ireland, St Patrick’s day is a day to honor a man who was actually born in Britain in the late 4th century.

In the part of the story we probably don’t tell children, St Patrick was kidnapped at the age of 16 and sent to Ireland as a slave. Yikes.

Saint Patrick did eventually escape Roman slavery, but he returned to Ireland around 423 to convert the Irish to Christianity.

In the process, he established churches, monasteries, and schools for the Irish.

Ireland honors his memory and his contributions to Irish society every year with religious services and feasts.

Historically, these feasts lined up with the end of Lent, which meant that feasters imbibed lots of alcohol as a way to celebrate the end of the Lenten season. That part hasn’t changed much!

Secular feasts and parades became common in the United States in the eighteenth-century when many Irish immigrated to the U.S, and that brings us to the current moment!

Educational Ways to Celebrate St Patrick’s Day

While we likely won’t explain the whole Roman enslavement thing to kids, or the whole boozing thing, St Patrick’s day IS a great opportunity to get creative with your child’s education.

If you home school, or if you are helping out in your kid’s classroom on St Patrick’s day, these lesson plans are great for learning while celebrating.

All of these concepts can be adapted to fit a range of ages and learning styles, and they teach Irish culture in the process:

St Patrick’s Day Games for Kids

What better way to teach your child something than to turn it into a game? We don’t know of one, which is why we’ve compiled this list of easy-to-order St Patrick’s day games for you.

These games won’t break the bank, and the best part is that all the ones we have chosen are durable and can be used multiple times. Yesss.

Here are three games we love:

  1. Shamrock Bingo–this cute set comes with 24 St Patrick’s day bingo player cards and 441 marking chips. They’re also reusable, so make sure you collect them and put them away for next year when the kiddos are done playing.
  2. St Patrick’s Day Bean Bag toss–this bean bag toss game will help kids work on hand/eye coordination. It’s actually made of durable polyester, too, so use it again and again! 
  3. Felt Shamrock Tree Decorating–the best part about this is that you can let the kids decorate it AND it’s a super cute decoration for your party! It comes with forty detachable ornaments and is also reusable.

St Patrick’s Day Crafts for Kids

Every party needs a solid craft. Kids love them, and they are great for development!

Here are some cute ideas to incorporate either at home or at a school party. Please note that not all of these crafts are good for small children,

  1. Shamrock Charm Bracelets–if you have kids that you trust around small parts (read: not your toddler), these bracelets are pretty dang adorable. 
  2. Mustache Shamrock!–This delightful little foam shamrock dude is a great addition to any party. The kid includes four shamrocks to decorate, so order accordingly. Please also be aware that this craft contains small parts. 
  3. Leprechaun Trapping Kit–you can read the “Definitive Guide to Leprechauns and their Capture” (included in this kit!) to kids and then have them decorate their own trapping kit. So fun! 

For a super easy activity, Erica from Mom.Break has created this awesome St. Patty’s Day printable that your kids can color (and cut if they’re old enough!). Looking for more activities for the kiddos this Spring? Check out our article Spring Activities for Toddlers for tons of fun ideas!

What are some of your favorite delicious and/or educational St Patrick’s Day Ideas for Kids? Tell us in the comments!

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