With Spring rolling in, (well maybe not as much with the weather here in Wisconsin lately) I thought I would share one of my favorite spring family traditions. Sometimes, it isn’t always easy to find “family” activities with the age gap between my two boys, but this is one tradition I hope we can keep going for a while.
Our tradition is building leprechaun traps to set up the night before St. Patrick’s Day in hopes of catching him. There are numerous ways you can build your traps. Pinterest was a huge help to figure out what style we were going to use. We used some old boxes that we already had lying around. (thank you, Amazon Prime) I had picked up some cheap green wrapping paper from Wal-Mart along with some St. Patrick’s Day stickers. I had some construction paper & various craft items already at home that we could use as well.
The Popsicle sticks + pipe cleaner that I already had, came in handy. We were able to bend some of the pipe cleaner into a clover to help “lure” the leprechaun & used the Popsicle sticks to build a ladder. Don’t forget to put up some kind of sign that says FREE GOLD because we all know how they like gold.
We built 2 traps so each boy had one to leave out & better our odds of trapping the leprechaun.
{the night before}
The night before St. Patrick’s Day, we set out our traps. Once the boys go to bed, the leprechaun (aka Mom) comes in & has a little fun. Obviously my older boy realizes what is going on, but he plays along well for my youngest. I picked up some items from the Target Dollar Spot to leave out. I found gold chocolate coins, a green beaded necklace, & some glasses to keep with the theme. You can even find some of these items at the Dollar Store. I also included some other small things that I found in that section. I picked up a small magnet set & a box of Batman band-aids for my youngest because for a while, he had to have a band-aid to go to sleep at night. For my oldest I put out some Irish Spring soap, some socks with green in them, as well as some green packaged candies. You can put anything out really.
A few simple items that are green are:
- Lay’s Sour Cream & Onion Chips
- Sprite
- Mountain Dew
- Pringles Sour Cream & Onion Chips
- Sour Skittles
- Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum
- Irish Spring Soap
- Andes Candies
- Jujubes
{catch him if you can!}
I set everything out so they can find it the next morning. We spread the gold chocolate coins out along with a little glitter as an extra touch. I also leave a little note I printed out which you can find here. Next we leave a few drops of food coloring in the toilet & make some foot prints with some green washable paint so he thinks he was here. It is so fun to watch their expressions when they find the loot left behind. We’ve enjoyed doing this activity as a family because it is something we can all work on together & have some fun with. Maybe we will have better luck at catching him this year!
Happy St. Patricks’s Day! Share your stories + fun ideas with us!
XO~
Jennifer Searcy
Hi! I’m Jennifer. I’m an espresso addicted, wine loving, sarcasm user who swears like a sailor, but I do love Jesus. I’m a boy mom of two, ages 4 & 14 that keep my hands full as well as work full time outside the home. When I have a little spare time, I enjoy crafting. (I may or may not be addicted to Pinterest!) I love reading & long walks, around Target. I may have an obsession with shoes but most days you will find me in a pair of Converse. I am excited to be a part of The Lake Country Mom & share my stories & experiences. You can follow me on Instagram or on my blog.
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