St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner! Try these 8 different St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids to get your child involved while you are secretly working on fine motor, gross motor, and visual skills!
What better holiday is there to get your child excited to learn about rainbows, leprechauns, and pots of gold?
Place the peas and coins in the large bin and let your child play. They will love moving their fingers around the bin, feeling for the gold coins! Have them try it with their eyes closed to enhance their sense of touch.
Draw and cut out a pot using black construction paper. Have your child glue the pot onto the plain white piece of paper. Use the paper plate as a paint tray and squirt a small amount of each colored paint on it. Place one gold coin in each color. Using the coins, make each arc of the rainbow.
Place shaving cream in a large bin, filling it just enough to be able to hide the gold coins. Have your child go on a “coin hunt” using their own hands. If your child is sensitive to touch, you can use a pair of play tweezers or a spoon to find the coins. The tweezers can also be used if you want your child to work on fine motor/hand strengthening!
Draw a shamrock onto a piece of green construction paper and cut it out. Have your child rip the green tissue into small pieces. Roll the pieces of tissue paper up. Place a layer of glue on each leaf of the shamrock, one at a time. Have your child take the pieces of tissue paper and place on the shamrock. Continue until the shamrock is filled with tissue paper.
Grab a bucket and go on a hunt throughout the house to find green items! This is good practice for color recognition and functional mobility practice.
Squirt a desired amount of green paint in the bowl. Give your child a pepper and a piece of paper. Have your child (assist as needed) dip the cut end of the pepper into the green paint and press it onto the paper, the cut pepper makes the shape of a shamrock. This activity may get a bit messy, but it’s worth it!
Create a beautiful necklace while working on those fine motor skills. If using a pipe cleaner, bend it slightly. Have your child string the fruit loops onto the pipe cleaner or string to make a festive, colorful necklace.
In the plastic water bottle, pour ¾ of the corn syrup and fill the rest up with water, leaving a small amount of room at the top of the bottle. Drop in your objects, put a few drops of food coloring in (if wanting to make the water green and festive!) The corn syrup will slow down the objects when you shake it up. You can use super glue or wrap tape around the cap to make sure the bottle is closed tightly. Shake up the bottle and slowly watch the objects move! This is also a wonderful way for your child to relax and calm down.
We hope you enjoyed these 8 fun St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids!
Nicole Mayo is a paediatric occupational therapist at the NAPA Center Boston. She loves providing the necessary tools and strategies to help each child reach their fullest potential. Outside of the clinic, Nicole enjoys spending time with her family and exploring the outdoors.
