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St. Patrick's Day Activities for Kids
I might have missed doing all the fun Insta-worthy activities with the kiddos for Valentine's day, but in this house St. Patrick's Day is a bigger deal. I knew I wanted to get a jump start on the festivities so the girls would have plenty of time to do these crafts and activities.
I'm all about being efficient and getting the most bang-for-your-buck, so I found crafts and activities that use the same kind of pieces and mix-ins to cut down on expenses. For holiday and season-specific crafts, you don't need to spend a ton to have a fun and interactive experience.
Things You'll Need
Clear bottles or Plastic Mason Jars
Clear Glue
Small festive items - gold coins, foil shamrocks, pots of gold
Glitter
2 lb dry navy beans
Sensory Table Ideas
One of the easiest things to do each season or for holidays is to change up our sensory table. Having seasonal sensory kits are a fun way to keep the kids engaged and playing with their hands and imagination. We have loads of kits and I have found that easiest way is to keep them in gallon ziploc bags for storage. Label each bag with the season or holiday and then everything will stay organized.
For St. Patrick's Day, I used green food coloring to dye navy beans bright green. Toss the beans in a mixing bowl or ziploc bag and drop food coloring in and mix until the beans are fully coated. I laid the beans out on a baking sheet to dry so the color wouldn't transfer to the girls' hands.
Keeping with the festive theme, I found a pack of gold and green coins, foil shamrocks, and pot-of-golds on Amazon and it was perfect for the sensory table.
For the sensory table, I like to encourage independent play, but also educational play. So with these items we can do things like counting coins, matching colors, and sorting the pieces into each of the plastic pots. For the littlest of kiddo, she loves to play with the beans and put them in the pots, one at a time. It's a great activity for fine motor skills.
Calm Down Jar
I got this idea from The Mama Notes and loved it. It works wonders for keeping a little kid occupied while you make meals, change a diaper, or to calm them after a meltdown. It also works as a great "timer" for timeouts. When everything settles in the jar, timeout is over.
It's pretty simple do make, and you can make them with small items you probably have around the house. For this holiday jar, I used the same small pieces I used in the sensory table. You can use any clear bottle for this. I found 16oz clear mason jars on Amazon and they are great. Next time I may use a more narrow container just so little hands can hold it better.
Directions:
Fill bottom of the jar with clear glue - approximately 1/2 cup
Add in the fun mix-ins. Use small items, sparkly things, etc. Get creative! Whatever the mix-ins are, it's always fun to add some glitter for added fun #girlmomproblems
Top off with water
Tightly seal the container. These mason jar lids go on very tightly, so I don't fear the girls will be able to open them. However, if you use a water bottle-type of container, super glue the lid closed so there aren't any accidents!
The most important thing is to make sure the kids have fun with these activities! Include them in making the calm down jars and let them help pick out what goes in the sensory kits - it's all for them, after all!
