Raising a toddler or preschooler might not be all sunshine and rainbows, but why not let the month of March be all about the rainbows and St. Patrick’s Day? There are so many easy and fun activities that are simple to prep and set up involving the color green, clovers, and rainbows, and perfect for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with your toddler or preschooler.
Green Scavenger Hunt
This one could take as much (or as little) prep work as you wanted to do. Gather green items such as a green crayon, a green block, a green truck/tractor, etc. and hide them around the house. Or skip the hiding and let your child find the items buried in their toy box (or under the couch or in the middle of the kitchen floor as most toys seem to end up in all of the wrong places)!
Rainbow Paper Crafts
Enjoy simple arts and crafts with your child by creating easy rainbow artwork with them. Cut strips of paper in the colors of the rainbow and let your child glue them on paper. Add some fluffy cotton balls for clouds and it’s an instant masterpiece! Another easy rainbow craft is to use colored construction paper and make rainbow chains by looping the strips of paper into circles around the previous loop, glutting the ends together, and then continuing to connect them until you have a chain the desired length (great to use as a countdown tool for things like holidays, vacations or family visiting).
Lucky Clovers
Take the fun outside (especially on the surprisingly warm days that sporadically happen this time of year) and hunt for four-leaf clovers in the backyard. If the child doesn’t have any luck with finding one, see how many other clovers you can find or look for other green items in nature, such as leaves and plants.
Sensory Bins
My daughter loves a sensory bin and creating new ones every month has become a fun project for me, but they don’t have to be super complicated or time-consuming. It’s easy to dye your own beans or rice by using a cup of dried beans/rice, a teaspoon of either rubbing alcohol or white vinegar, and a few drops of food coloring (can also use liquid watercolors) all combined in a Ziploc bag and shake, shake, shake! The measuring and shaking can be great tasks for your child to help with as it promotes math skills and motor skills at the same time. Once the rice or beans are coated to the desired color, spread them out on foil or paper towel and let dry for several hours. Put the dyed rice/beans in a clear bin, add some green (or every color for the rainbow) pom-poms, toy gold coins, and measuring spoons, and you have an easy sensory bin perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.
Creating simple rainbow and St. Patrick’s Day-themed activities can be a great way to help your child work on color recognition and have fun at the same time. These activities are also great to have on hand when the March rain and dreary weather happen and getting outside is harder to do. Keep the kids engaged and learning inside with these easy activities.
