St.Patrick’s Day
I know tomorrow is Valentine’s Day but my mind is already planning St.Patrick’s Day. If you need a Valentine’s Day craft idea we have those too but I had to share this because it was too much fun to keep to ourselves any longer. The major bonus of this project was that for toddlers who are putting everything in their mouths it’s no biggy if they take a bite. I added koolaid to make it smell great and sour to discourage eating it. This must be kept in the fridge so make some , you won’t regret it.
- Gather your materials. I used 6 foil pans I had on hand but any container will work to set the gelatin, you will need plain gelatin packets 4 per color, food color, spoons, a pot, measuring cups and koolaid for scent/added color. Also a big tub and some bath toys for playing.
- Start by mixing your colors. I used koolaid mostly for scent but also for color.
- Make the gelatin. I used the recipe on the back of the knox gelatin box adjusting it to 1/2 as much liquid ( 1/2 cup of cool and 1 cup hot and 4 envelopes of gelatin) as the recipe called for to make it thicker for play using plain water with color/ koolaid in it. I made all 6 colors.
- Let cool – I had to stack them in my fridge so I popped a few in the freezer for a minute to stiffen and totally forgot about this purple one… if froze, and was unusable. The kids didn’t miss it at all.
- When set slice into pieces. I used a knife then scraped it into the tub using a spatula.
- Add kids and toys.
He was so excited he was bouncing, this is the best picture of many very blurry bouncy pictures I took.
- You can probably tell we did this in our bathroom, please find a place where tiny bits of color won’t ruin anything. The gelatin won’t stain hands but can be absorbed into clothes and other fabrics. Please go somewhere where kids can have fun without you hovering and you won’t have to search for stain removers on Pinterest after this project. Our bathroom was perfect, I had a damp cloth handy for little bits that got shaken off hands or toys and flung all over. It also had a door to stop kids from running into the rest of the house before hands were washed. All this said it was still completely worth it.
- They stuck them on the side of the tub.
- Smelled it.
- Tasted it ( love my son’s face, he’s telling her not to eat it).
- Mixed them all up and had a blast.
Rainbows, Pots of Gold, Shamrocks and more. These are all our old favorite lucky St. Patrick’s Day crafts . I get asked if I ever repeat crafts and I do absolutely especially holiday ones. We played with the sensory tub featured here all year long . Remember kids aren’t as stuck to a calendar as we are so embrace it when they suggest a Christmas craft in February or make snowflakes in June. Often times kids like to make holiday crafts after they have experienced the holiday.
Are you sick of these marshmallow crafts? I hope not because I love them! The novelty of using marshmallows as a craft material can intrigue even the least interested little crafter. We did this last week when we had an unexpected but very fun playdate . It was fun to see how exciting the marshmallows were for my son’s friend who’d never made crafts with them before. It’s a fun way of adding some counting and fine motor skills into a simple St.Patrick’s Day craft.
- Gather your materials. You will need some sturdy paper ( my fave are brown grocery bags), some multi colored mini marshmallows, a marker, green crayons or markers, scissors and white glue.
- Start by cutting open your bag and drawing a shamrock.
- Color it. We used all different shades of green because I have been teaching my son about how a color can have many shades and doesn’t always look exactly the same. Also it’s pretty.
- The boys had a race to see who could color the fastest – they both won, my table did not.
- Add the glue along the outline.
- Add the marshmallows.
- How we avoid too many marshmallows going into little mouths is to give numbers they have to reach and count on the shamrock before they can eat one.
- Let dry.
- Cut around the shamrock.
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St. Patrick’s Day is coming and the kids and I made these cute four leaf clover bouquets. The idea for this craft struck me when I was making a Valentine’s Day heart wreath. All you will need are toilet paper rolls, green paint, green chenille stems, scissors, and a hole punch.
Have your little one paint the toilet paper roll with the green paint. Be sure to get it covered inside and out.
Once dried (we let ours dry overnight) bend the roll in the shape of a heart.
Use your scissors (big kids can cut this, but little ones will have a very hard time) to cut slices a little less than an inch wide.
Use your hole punch to make a hole very close the the bottom tip of the heart.
You can have your little one thread a chenille stem through the holes on four hearts. Then turn the end and twist it to the stem tightly. Be sure to fold the exposed tip over to avoid the metal poking your child.
This is the final result. I wanted to get pictures of my daughter threading the hearts and holding the clovers, but we were having a toddler meltdown moment about getting our picture taken.
These make great four leaf clover wands, you know to turn things green or make rainbows appear. You can use them for decoration. You can always use your four leaf clovers for something more fun. Like maybe something to diffuse a toddler meltdown…a silly mommy.
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Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.
I love including my son in making something fun and useful for his sister. This discovery bottle is a fun way of using a holiday theme and gives your infant something fun to play with too. Remember with infants all activities and projects are intended to be used only when directly supervised. Also only you know what is safe for your child, if they aren’t ready for an activity bookmark it and try it when they are.
- Gather your materials. You will need some plastic bottles with lids a hot glue gun, a shamrock bead necklace, scissors and some rainbow ribbon. I also use tape on the bottles that run the risk of making huge messes if they open. For the gel and sparkle bottle you will also need a funnel, some gold sparkles and green shower gel or shampoo( got mine for a buck at the dollar store). For the rainbow shaker bottle some pom poms in rainbow colors.
- Start by drinking the water.
- Next take off the label.
- Next cut the shamrock necklace into the bottle. This is awesome for fine motor development and takes a lot of patience. I was amazed my son was not only able to do this without help but how into it he was. They grow up so fast!
- Next add the sparkles.
- Next add the gel.
- I used hot glue to glue the top on. Then more on the outside to seal it, and wrapped it in tape. Be careful some bottles are so thin that they will melt with hot glue on contact. If you are worried consider using crazy glue. Whether you are using hot or crazy glue should be done by adults only.
- Cut a small piece of rainbow ribbon and glue it on.
- Let everything dry and cool completely .
- For the rainbow shaker Cut the necklace in.
Pop in the pom poms.
Glue the top and ribbon on as above.
- Play!
For the photos I had her in the crib so the bottle wouldn’t roll too far when I was trying to take a photo. I am not suggesting giving it to your infant for independent play, these discovery bottles are for closely supervised play only.
The rainbow one has lasted forever. 2 years later it’s still kicking!
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