child wearing green shirt, green hat, and pretend leprechaun beard to celebrate St. Patrick's DayGrowing up, St. Patrick’s Day was always such a wonderful day for my Irish-American family. Not only do we all love our Irish heritage, my grandfather was also born on St. Patrick’s Day, which made the holiday even more special. As kids, we would wake up on St. Patrick’s Day already dressed in green — from head to toe — and spend the day playing games, watching NCAA basketball, eating treats, and, in general, reveling in our Irish pride. When my grandfather passed away, the priest at his funeral said, “He was proud to be Irish… and felt sorry for anyone who wasn’t.” Those are great words to live by.

For some, St. Patrick’s Day has become nothing more than an excuse for a pub crawl. Don’t get me wrong — that’s super fun… but not with kids. I want to make this holiday just as special for my boys as it was for me growing up. I also want them to love and appreciate their Irish heritage. Even though my boys are still little, I have a few fun things planned that will help get them — and your children — into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit!

Crafts

Since I have a toddler and an infant, I look for fairly simple crafts. Here a few that are easy to do and will create some great St. Patrick’s Day decorations:

Paint chip shamrocks

We absolutely love paint chip art in our house! First of all, I’m so appreciative of Lowe’s and Home Depot for providing my art supplies… for free! It really is quite fun to visit the paint department and pick out every paint chip sample of green paint. This craft is incredibly easy for kids of all ages, and afterwards, you’re left with a bright and colorful decoration for the holiday.

Shamrock stamps

Water bottles, wine corks, marshmallows, bell peppers — it’s amazing the number of items you have lying around your house that could be turned into shamrock stamps. All you need to do is grab some green paint and prep your stamps, depending on which medium you choose. With this activity, you can both recycle and make art! That’s a win-win, if you ask me.

Hand shamrocks

After you make your stamps, save some green paint to make these adorable shamrock handprints. For as long as my kids will let me, we will be making this craft so that I can track their growth through each St. Patrick’s Day and reminisce about when they were once so little.

Eraser-stamped T-shirt

This shamrock T-shirt is perfect for all skill levels. Make one for all the kids, and your family will be totally ready to hit up the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade in style!

Four leaf clover potato stamp

Learn how to make your own four-leaf-clover stamp with this tutorial. Use it to stamp out shamrocks on cards, banners, wrapping paper — whatever you and your child are inspired to make!

Food

I don’t know about you, but there is no way my children are touching corned beef and cabbage. I’m probably going to dye pasta green, and that’s about the best I’ll be able to do to make a St. Patrick’s Day meal. Luckily, there are a few yummy treats we can make together.

Shamrock cookies

Cookies are a great treat for any holiday! For St. Patrick’s Day, grab your favorite sugar cookie recipe and dye some icing green. If you have a shamrock cookie cutter, great! If not, you can use your heart-shaped cookie cutter from Valentine’s Day to create shamrock petals. Sugar cookies are such a neat way to express your creativity. You can decorate these cookies as simply or intricately as you like.

Lucky Charms treats

Lucky Charms treats are just like Rice Krispies treats — only 1,000 times better! I craved these snacks so many times during my last pregnancy that we were eating them well past St. Patrick’s Day. All you need is a pot, Lucky Charms, butter, and marshmallows, and in about 10 minutes you’ll have a tasty treat. Sure, you’ll give your kids a sugar high to last until Easter, but you’ll have a ton of fun working together to make this unique dessert.

Chocolate Guinness cake

If you’re going to buy Guinness for St. Patrick’s Day, save one bottle to make this fantastic cake. Yes, this may sound like more of a mommy and daddy dessert — however, the baking burns off the alcohol, and what you’re left with is a very moist, super chocolatey cake. The recipe is fairly simple, and this cake is always a big hit for us!

I hope these activities will help you enjoy a family-friendly St. Patrick’s Day! Erin go Braugh!