Count your lucky charms because you’ve just stumbled across a pot of gold! These St. Patrick’s day games for kids make for a heap of fun. Use them at home or for a holiday classroom party.
St Patricks Day Games
1. Shamrock Bounce
Materials:
✓ Tennis ball
✓ Green paint
✓ Pie tins
Instructions
- Paint an old tennis ball green.
- Set five pie tins on the floor, numbered 1-5.
- Give each child five bounces to land in the pie tins.
- Add up the total numbers to see who wins.
2. Shamrock and Straw Table Game
Materials:
✓ Drinking straws
✓ Green tissue paper
Instructions
- Divide groups into equal teams and sit them at a table or desks that have been pushed together.
- Pass out a drinking straw to each child.
- Place 2-inch pre-made green tissue-paper shamrocks -in front of the first player of each team.
- Have children clasp their hands behind their backs.
- At “Go!” the first player picks up the shamrock by inhaling it onto the straw.
- That player keeps the shamrock in the straw until he/she places/drops it down in front of the next player’s area.
- If the shamrock falls off, it must be sucked up again–The game continues until each team player has had a turn.
- (Remember…no hands!)
3. Top of the Mornin!
Materials:
✓ Blindfold
✓ Paper towel tube
Instructions
- Children stand in a circle around a blind-folded child–who is the “leprechaun“.
- The leprechaun holds a paper-towel tube (that can be previously covered in green construction paper) and SLOWY turns.
- The tube is in a stretched out arm pointing to the circle of children… Play Irish music and when the music stops the leprechaun stops.
- The child standing opposite the pointed tube goes to the leprechaun and says, “A Top of the morning to you,” INTO the TUBE. (Have children change their voices if they are able to.)
- The leprechaun has 3 chances to guess who the voice belongs to.
- If the leprechaun is correct–the child saying “Top of the Mornin” is the new leprechaun.
4. St. Patrick’s Day Relay Race
Materials:
✓ Scissors
✓ Green construction paper
Instructions
- Cut out a large number of SHAMROCKS; write a different instruction on each one for a relay race —
- Such as: skip, crawl, crab walk, hop, walk backward, etc.
- Duplicate the words for the number of Teams you will have to play. (Example: Three teams equal three sets of instruction words.
- Divide the children into groups (if not even, have one child go twice)
- Put the SHAMROCKS at the end of the room in a pile for each team.
- On go, the first player on each team runs up to the pile and takes a SHAMROCK. They do what the Shamrock shape instructs.
- When the first players get back– the next players run to the shamrocks–and play continues…Return the shamrocks to the bottom of the pile until ALL have had a turn.
Tip: Laminate the shamrocks for future St. Paddy’s Days.
(This game can also be adapted to other themes such as Valentine’s Day– with hearts instead of shamrocks.
5. Themed Banner Race Word Race
Challenge friends to a race of the minds.
Instructions
- Prepare two banners (or as many as you need for each team) that say whatever you want them to say. (Example: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Kiss Me I’m Irish! Luck of the Leprechaun, etc. (The words can be themed to any holiday!)
- Prepare a set of letters for the same words cut out in two different colors (for two teams) hidden randomly around the area.
- Divide the group into teams with captains–the captains sit and wait for their teammates to bring the letters for their banner. If a student is on the “gold” team and sees a letter for the “green” team he/she just leaves it alone. The first team to cover their banner letters wins.
6. Irish Hot Potato
A traditional game of hot potato using a real potato.
Materials:
✓ Potato
Instructions
- Play a CD of Irish music while the kids pass the potato around the circle.
- The player holding the potato when the music stops will be in charge of the CD player for the next round.
7. Pot of Gold Drama Game
Instructions
- You say, “If I found a pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow, I’d buy this…”
- Then you show by acting out what you would buy.
- The others try to guess what you bought, and the first one to guess becomes the new actor.
8. St. Patrick’s Day Hopscotch
Instructions
- For a St. Patrick’s Day Party draw a leprechaun in the start box.
- A pot of gold in the end box…
- A rainbow from one end to the other
- Have children toss a gold coin on the course to play.
9. Hurley
Hurley is an old game that can be traced back to ancient Rome and has been played throughout Great Britain for hundreds of years. However, Hurley is popular in Ireland, and it is believed to be the ancient ancestor of modern football.
- 10 or more players
- Ages 8 and up
- Indoors or outdoors
Instructions
- Players form two equal teams, each taking one half of a gymnasium or a large field.
- One team begins with a medium-sized ball (eg: football), with the object of moving the ball over the opposing team’s End, which is simply the rear boundary of that team’s half.
- The defending team may tag an approachable player, whereupon that player must stop and immediately pass the ball, or give the ball up.
- The ball may be passed or run with, but it may not be kicked and no rough play should be allowed.
- The same game may be played indoors, but with a goal, into which the ball may be thrown, and defended by a goalie. No goalie is required for the outdoors version.
Source: Thunder Bay Multicultural Association.
10. Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Where’s Your Shamrock?
Materials:
✓ Green construction paper
✓ Scissors
Instructions
- One child, who is the leprechaun, sits in the middle of the circle with their eyes closed.
- One of the children in the circle hides a paper shamrock shape behind their back – the group together says: “Leprechaun, Leprechaun where’s your shamrock? Somebody has it in their Pocket! Guess who? Maybe you… Maybe a monkey from the zoo. Come on Leprechaun where’s your shamrock?”
- The Leprechaun opens his/her eyes and has three guesses to who is holding the shamrock behind their back.
- Whether a right or wrong guess…the child with the shamrock is the next leprechaun.
11. Find the Four Leaf Clover
Materials:
✓ Green construction paper
✓ Scissors
Instructions
- Prepare pictures or cutouts of green clovers (have one for each child.)
- All Clover’s should have 3 leaves except one, which would be a 4-leaf clover.
- Children take turns passing around the clovers to music.
- When the music stops, the child who has the 4-leaf clover gets a special treat (sticker, chocolate gold coin, etc.)
- Tell children that the person with the 4-leaf clover is lucky — that is why they get the special treat.
- Continue on until ALL KIDS have gotten the 4-leaf clover and special treat. (Or pass out a treat to those who did not receive one in the game)
12. St. Patrick’s Day Bingo
[amazon box=”B077DJ8JSJ”]Played like regular bingo but with St Patrick’s Day-themed bingo cards. Buy some on Amazon or print some off.
13. Luck O’ The Dice Family Card and Dice Game
[amazon box=”B00W8I0HMI”]This fun St Patricks Day game can be played at the classroom party or family game night.
Number of Players: 2 to 4
Ages: 7+
The Object of the Game
Be the player that ends up with the highest coin value at the end of the game. Through a combination of dice rolling, the draw of the cards, and luck, is how you will obtain coins. Check out this detailed explanation of how to play Luck O’ The Dice.
Also, see the three LEPRECHAUN GROWING GRASS ideas in the St. Patrick’s Day Arts and Crafts section!
14. Pot O’ Gold Coin Toss
This is one of the kid’s favorite St Patrick’s Day party games and it makes a great throwing game too.
Materials:
✓ Cauldron
✓ Green Construction Paper
✓ Gold Chocolate Coins
✓ Marker
Instructions
- Cut out some green shamrocks from the construction paper. You can place these at different distances to make them have different point values. The further away, the higher the points. 3 to 4 shamrock locations should do.
- Place the cauldron in its location. I recommend placing it where it’s not next to something that could get dinged up from throwing the coins. The center of an empty room or gym would do.
- Tape the shamrocks to the ground at the desired distance. Make one relatively easy and make one very challenging for the age level.
- Give each child equal number of coins.
- Let the child pick what shamrock they want to throw from. If they want to try throwing from a lot of different locations or all from the same one, that’s ok.
- Track each child’s score.
- After all the children have completed their turn, see who has the most points and they are the winner of the coin toss.
The prize could be some chocolate gold coins. Yum!
15. St. Patrick’s Day Scavenger Hunt
What kid doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt? The easiest way to do this is to cut out some shamrock shapes or buy some premade shamrock cutouts. Once you have the shamrocks, write riddles or clues on them. The clues will lead them to their next treasure. Gold chocolate coins work great for this. Each clue could lead them to a single chocolate gold coin and then the final clue could leam them to a large basket or “pot of gold.” Fill the pot with fun St. Patrick’s Day treats and gifts.
In Summary
Thanks for checking out our St. Patrick’s Day games. We hope this makes your classroom celebration a fun and memorable day for the kids.
Complete Menu for ‘St. Patty Day’ Activities
- St. Patricks Day Arts and Crafts
- St. Patricks Day Snacks
- St. Patricks Day Jokes for Kids
- Rainbows and St. Patty’s Day go together! Check out some fun rainbow activities.