If you are looking for something fun to do with your little one for St. Patrick's Day, try to catch a leprechaun with them.
- Pot of Gold
- Box or trap (optional)
- Another Adult
The idea is that you mysteriously "find" a leprechaun's pot of gold and want to try and catch him for a wish when he comes back for the pot of gold.
We have done this 2 years in a row and this year will be the third. It is fun and keeps children's imagination active. They grow up so quickly, you will be glad you took time out to do fun silly things like this that they will remember.
The year before last we placed a pot of gold (plastic gold coins in a plastic cauldron) in the living room and waited for our daughter to find it. Once she did and asked about it, we spun the story of how a leprechaun must have left it and how we should try and catch him when he comes back for it.
We then let her hide the pot of gold in a different spot and split up to look for him in the house.
If you live in a 2 story home, a great effect to try is to hide the gold upstairs and have one adult go downstairs with the child to look for the leprechaun. Once downstairs the adult who remained upstairs should run quickly with short steps from one room to the room where the pot of gold was hidden. The adult upstairs should then grab the hidden pot of gold (we leave one gold piece or wrapped chocolate piece as a treat or memento to keep) and sneak the pot out of the room and slam the door.
From downstairs it sounds as if the "leprechaun" is running back to get his pot of gold. If done well, when the child and adult from downstairs get back upstairs the pot of gold is gone with one piece left for the child to keep from the quick getaway.
Last year we weren't in the same place so we had to get a little creative. We made a trap for the leprechaun and placed the found pot of gold in the trap. When she got busy the pot of gold was taken and the trap was set off. She then came back into the room and found that dastardly leprechaun had escaped again.
Our daughter played a little song for luck to try and catch the leprechaun last year.
