Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, passed away on March 17th in the fifth century. To commemorate his life, the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day celebrates Irish culture with parades, music and dancing. Interestingly, green was not a color originally associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Introduced in the 18th century, when the shamrock became the national symbol of Ireland, green has since become synonymous with the holiday.
While St. Patrick’s Day is most notoriously known for its partying, it is actually a religious holiday that pays tribute to the rich culture of the Irish. To participate in the day’s festivities, there are many different DIY crafts you can make.
St. Patrick’s Day Crafts For Preschoolers
Commonly associated with Irish folklore, a rainbow with a pot of gold at its end is the perfect arts and crafts idea for preschool aged children. To begin, you will need an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cardstock paper. Lunar blue is the perfect color choice for this project. Next, use a paintbrush dipped in washable glue to draw rainbow shaped lines across the page. Make sure to use a generous amount of glue.
Provide each preschooler with their own bowl filled with Fruit Loops, or any other type of multi-colored Cheerios. Show them how to place the pieces of cereal all along the lines of glue to create their very own colorful rainbows. When they have finished gluing, use the paintbrush dipped in glue to draw a cloud on one end of their rainbow. Allow them to paste pieces of cotton balls onto the cloud to make it nice and fluffy.
Next, use black marker or black paint to draw a pot at the other end of their rainbow. With a pair of scissors, cut out small coin-shaped circles from a sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch cardstock paper. Galaxy gold is a great color option for golden coins. Provide each preschooler with a glue stick and help them paste as many coins as they would like onto their pot of gold. Just like that, they will have created their St. Patrick’s Day craft.
St. Patrick’s Day Crafts For Kids
One very popular St. Patrick’s Day craft idea for kids is the traditional Irish top hat. To begin, you will need an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cardstock paper in the color, gamma green. With a pencil, draw the shape of a top hat. Make sure that it’s large enough that it takes up almost the entire sheet of cardstock paper. Next, use a pair of scissors to cut out the top hat shape.
To complete the top hat, you will need to create the famous Irish buckle design. You will need two sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch colored paper, one black-colored paper and one sunburst yellow colored paper. Use your scissors to cut out a black strip of paper and paste that above the brim of the top hat. Next, cut out a square from the yellow paper. Carefully fold the square in half to cut out the inside portion of the square. It can then be glued over the center of the black strip.
The final step in this easy St. Patrick’s Day crafts idea is turning the top hat into an actual wearable hat. To do so, take an 11 x 17 inch sheet of cardstock paper in the same gamma green color. Cut 3-inch wide strips of paper across the entire length of the 17-inch side. Next, carefully measure it around the head of each child and use a pencil to mark the appropriate length. Use a stapler to connect the ends to each other and then staple the top hat onto the front. Now, each child can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the proper attire.
St Patrick’s Day Crafts For Teens
A fun St. Patrick’s Day craft idea for teens involves the iconic Irish shamrock. To begin, you will need a pair of cheap plastic sunglasses. You can purchase these from any dollar store or party store. Very carefully, punch out the plastic lenses from the glasses. Next, take an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cardstock paper. Gamma green is the perfect color choice to mimic the shamrock.
If you trust your drawing abilities, you can simply draw two shamrock shapes directly onto your sheet of cardstock paper. Make sure that the size of each shamrock is about 1.5 inches larger than each eyeglass hole. If you require some extra direction, you can print out a shamrock design, cut it out, and use it as a stencil to trace one onto your green-colored sheet of paper. When you have finished drawing, use a pair of scissors to cut out both shamrocks.
Next, carefully cut out a circle from the center of each shamrock. Make sure that each hole is large enough for you to see through. It is now time to decorate your shamrock cutouts. To bring the Irish spirit more to life, take a sheet of paper in a lighter green color. Vulcan green is a great color option. Draw tiny little shamrock shapes. Cut them out and paste them onto your larger shamrock glasses cut-outs.
When you are finished, you can paste each large shamrock cutout onto the glasses frame. Press down with force so that the cardstock paper firmly sticks to the plastic frame. Allow time for it to fully dry. Then simply don the St. Patrick’s Day themed glasses and join the parade in style.
St Patrick’s Day Crafts For Adults
Once the kids have finished crafting, what better way to get in the holiday spirit than with a St. Patrick’s Day garland? To begin, you will need colored paper in multiple shades of green. Terra green, gamma green, and martian green are all great color options. Start by drawing one shamrock. You can either freestyle it or you can print one and trace it. Once you have finished drawing or tracing, use a pair of scissors to cut it out. Use your shamrock cut-out as a stencil and trace and cut out at least 50 more shamrocks.
When you have all your shamrock cutouts prepared, take a hole punch and punch a single hole in each shamrock. Take a large piece of green-colored yarn and string each shamrock onto the yarn. Once they are all in place, you can hang your St. Patrick’s Day garland by the entrance to your home, across your dining room, or along your banister railing. Make as many garlands as you would like depending on how festive you’d like your space to look.
Regardless of which craft ideas for St. Patrick’s Day you choose to bring to lif, just remember to have fun. After all, the spirit of the holiday is a joyous one and there is no better way to get in the holiday spirit than with some quality family time spent creating memories that will last a lifetime.