Fun St. Patrick’s Day Traditions for Kids
St. Patrick’s Day is a great holiday to start some fun family traditions! Of course there are several traditions that nearly everyone observes- who wants to get pinched on St. Patrick’s day, right!? But there are other lesser known traditions that can be a lot of fun for your kids, and your whole family!
Fun St. Patrick’s Day Traditions for Kids
Catch a leprechaun
Help your kids try to catch a leprechaun by creating a leprechaun trap to set out the night before St. Patrick’s Day.
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Turn the River Green
While you may not have a river to turn green on St. Patrick’s Day like Chicago does you can make your own version of the tradition by turning your kids bath water green on St. Patrick’s Day. Simply use bath tint tabs to turn the bath water green.
Wear a Shamrock, then drink it down
Did you know that the tradition in Ireland is to wear a shamrock pinned to your shirt all day, then at the end of the day the shamrock is placed in the bottom of a cup? The cup is then filled with whisky, beer, or cider, and drunk alongside a toast to St. Patrick and/or Ireland. The shamrock is either swallowed, or thrown over the shoulder for good luck.
While this tradition isn’t going to be okay for your kids, there are some fun ways you could put a spin on the tradition for your family. Use a shamrock mold to create shamrock shaped ice cubes to place in your drinks on St. Patrick’s Day. You could even tint the water green!
Or tape a green paper shamrock on the underside of a glass, so that it will appear to be in the bottom of the glass. Then, allow kids to remove the shamrock when their drink is finished, and toss it over their shoulder for good luck.
Have a St. Patrick’s Day meal
Serve your family corned beef and cabbage along with Irish soda bread. Finish the meal off with this fun St. Patrick’s Day cupcake.
Drink green
Though most pubs in Ireland won’t serve green beer, it is an America tradition to serve green beer on St. Patrick’s day. While the adults in your home enjoy their green beer, you can let the kids in on the fun by adding a little food coloring to some cream soda, ginger ale, or milk.
Wear green
Of course, you’ll be sure everyone in your family wears green for St. Patrick’s day. Why not hold a family contest to see who in your family can wear the most green items for St. Patrick’s Day?
Sing an Irish song
Learn “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” or “Danny Boy” and sing them together every St. Patrick’s Day
Parade around
Parades are very important in Ireland on St. Patrick’s day. You’ll even find them in some highly Irish cities in America known for their Irish immigrants. Find out if your city, or a city near you has a St. Patrick’s Day parade and plan to attend it with your family. If there isn’t a parade near you, your family can host their own parade. Simply dress in green and parade around while singing the Irish songs you’ve just learned!
These fun St. Patrick’s Day traditions are sure to make your kids smile! Create fun family memories by adding these activities to your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations each year.
If you want to extend the St. Patrick’s Day fun, check out these 28 St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Kids.
You can even make St. Patrick’s Day educational with these 20 St. Patrick’s Day Science Experiments for kids!
What is your family’s favorite St. Patrick’s Day tradition?
