How to throw a kid-friendly St. Patrick’s Day party

The holidays are always more fun when kids are involved, including St. Patrick’s Day. But a green-themed party doesn’t have to revolve around green beer and corned beef and cabbage. From shamrock invitations to Leprechaun trap crafts, you won’t need the luck of the Irish when you discover how to throw a kid-friendly St. Patrick’s Day party!

Invitations

• Cut out a shamrock shape from green cardstock and add party details to one side, and St. Patty’s Day stickers or gold glitter to the other side.
• Create invitations with a rainbow background and include holiday-themed phrases along each border.
• Print out party info on cardstock and attached to a small bag of gold coins, inserted into a green envelope.
• Affix party details to mini boxes of Lucky Charms cereal and hand deliver to your lucky guests.
• Go online and email electronic invites, such as evite.com. You can use an evite.com St. Patrick’s Day template or create your own.

>>Take a look at some St. Patrick’s Day printouts for Irish-themed ideas for your homemade invitations.

Games and activities

• Hide a small plastic Leprechaun and plastic gold coins and send the kiddos on a scavenger hunt. Whoever find the Leprechaun first wins, along with another prize for the person with the most gold coins!
• Blindfold kiddos and play a game of pin the shamrock on the Leprechaun.
• Listen to an Irish Jig or Celtic music to create an Irish version of hot potato.
• Cut out and decorate a “pot” shape from cardboard, complete with multi-sized holes for tossing gold-colored beanbags in a pot of gold coin toss. Different sized holes can hold different point values for a bigger challenge.
• Lure Leprechauns with traps. “They can be made from a shoe box and lots of odds and ends around the house — kids think will ‘attract’ them,” suggests Valerie Reddemann, Founder and President of Greenfeet.com. “Each year, the traps seem to get more elaborate as the kids get older. Huge amounts of fun for all!”

>>Before the big bash, brush up on party safety for kids.

Treats

• Serve cubes of green or yellow “gold” gelatin.
• Dish up delicious green pistachio pudding cups.
• Bake rainbow cupcakes or a layered rainbow cake.
• Fill mini pots with Lucky Charms cereal for snacking.
• Pour lucky punch, made of limeade or green Kool-aid, lemon-lime soda and rainbow sherbet.

Goodies

• Hand out plastic St. Patrick’s Day hats to decorate with stickers, glitter and metallic marker (with adult supervision) to take home with them after the party.
• Stuff shamrock-printed cellophane bags with chocolate coins and green apple candies.
• Slip St. Patrick’s Day rubber band bracelets into green goodie bags.
• Surprise kids with green glow stick necklaces, which are especially perfect for an evening bash.
• Teach children about shamrocks with mini shamrock seed pots kids can sow.

>>Discover 25 St. Patrick’s Day activities for babies and toddlers.

More on St. Patrick’s Day

• St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids
• St. Patrick’s Day-inspired baby names
• 140 St. Patrick’s Day baby names