St Patrick’s Day is a fantastically fun day for kids – who wouldn’t want to spend time thinking about leprechauns, rainbows and golden (chocolate) coins? Make this year a special one with these fantastic ways to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with kids!

Don’t miss the chance to have your say! We’re looking for parents to get involved and give their feedback on all aspects of family life. Find out more here.

Whether you want to go all out or aim for something simpler, we’ve got LOADS of ideas to help you celebrate St Patrick’s Day with some seasonal flair!

You May Also Enjoy 50 of the Best Spring Activities for Kids 

Fun Ways to Celebrate St Patrick’s Day

Go to a Festival

Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival is back with a bang! Events will take place across the capital, and online, from March 16th to 20th to celebrate. With family fun and community spirit at the heart of every St Patrick’s Festival, this year you can enjoy a city fun fair and a festival quarter, along with the main parade on March 17th.

Discover some of the amazing family-friendly events taking place over this five day celebration of Irish arts, culture and heritage.

PLUS, you can tune in from anywhere in the world thanks to SPF TV, which offers on-demand, free and globally accessible programmes and live streamed events daily.

Watch a St Patrick’s Day Movie

Sitting down for a family movie night is always fun, and this pick of the best Irish movies would make great viewing! With lots of exciting folklore, humour and imagination, there’s plenty to choose from for all ages.

Learn Some New Irish Words

Are you ready for a bit of obair bhaile? Whether you’re looking to brush up on some long-forgotten vocab or just teach your child a few new words, here are 60+ fantastic Irish words and phrases to get you started.

You could even watch SpongeBob ‘as Gaeilge’! The Irish language version of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on The Run is available to watch on Netflix (you could always turn the English subtitles on if you need to).

You May Also Enjoy Excellent Irish Language Resources for Kids Learning At Home

Dress to Impress

Dress yourself in your very best St Patrick’s Day gear – as much green, white and orange as you can!

While you can easily buy everything from t-shirts to hair clips, what about trying to make your own and turn it into a fun activity? Some ideas include:

• Use a white t-shirt and some fabric pens or paints to design your own St Patrick’s Day top
• Use green construction paper and craft supplies to make your own leprechaun hat

Tell a Joke

Your little leprechauns will absolutely love to have a good giggle with these hilarious (and groan-worthy!) St Patrick’s Day jokes.

Read a Book Together

Telling the tales of Ireland, Irish folklore and history, leprechauns and more, these hilarious and heartwarming St Patrick’s Day books for kids are a great way to spend some time together.

Learn More About Ireland

There are so many interesting things to learn about Ireland, from the tradition of fairy rings and forts to Irish legends and myths and the fascinating tale of legendary pirate queen Grace O’Malley.

Irelandopedia is a wonderful book of fun facts for kids, looking at each county in turn. Other great choices include:

• Dr Hibernica Finch’s Compelling Compendium of Irish Animals which is packed with information about the animals of Ireland
• The Great Irish Farm Book which will take you on a fascinating journey through life on an Irish farm and is jam-packed with fun facts (did you know that there are almost 2,000,000 pigs in Ireland?)
• Blazing a Trail which tells the stories of 28 remarkable Irish women

Get Festival Ready

Transform yourself into a vibrant pot of gold, a leprechaun or even a gloriously green unicorn with some fun St Patrick’s Day face paint ideas!

If you don’t feel confident enough to take on a full look, incorporating some little green shamrocks, four leaf clovers, the tricolour flag or a vibrant rainbow for a great seasonal look.

Have Some Rainbow Treats

There’s something inherently fun about rainbows, and bringing that playfulness to food can be a great way to introduce new flavours and tastes to family meals. From healthy to decadent to completely whimsical, these fun rainbow desserts, cakes and treats will definitely brighten your day, and are a delicious way to add a pop of colour to any table!

You May Also Enjoy Colourful Rainbow Activities for Kids Guaranteed to Cheer Everyone Up

Get Crafty

Leprechauns, rainbows and shamrock…all great inspiration for St Patrick’s Day crafts! Take a look at these really fun ideas to do – we particularly love the shamrock slime and the no-sew banner (and those cookies might just be calling my name).

Cook Some Classic Irish Food

Are you looking for some seasonal dinner inspiration? What about classic Irish ham and potatoes, some delicious pan-fried garlic Dublin Bay prawns, or even a hearty and warming beef and Guinness stew?

Bake a batch of traditional soda bread to have alongside, or even transform it into a sumptuous soda bread and butter pudding for dessert!

Make it Fun!

Grab your shamrock cookie cutter, break out the green food colouring, and have some fun cooking with the kids this St. Patrick’s Day. From tricolour macaroons to shamrock pizzas, these fun and easy St Patrick’s Day recipes are sure to be popular.

Give the day even more colour and make a real statement with these green foods for St Patrick’s Day! From smoothies and pancakes to soup and even muffins, your meals and snacks are definitely not going to be boring!

Serve a St Patrick’s Day Cake

Image: Not Martha

If ever there was a time for a rainbow cake, it’s now! These inspired St Patrick’s Day cakes and cupcakes are the perfect centrepiece for your Irish-themed celebrations. We love this leprechaun trap cake, but there are also plenty of other green themed delights to try!

Go On a Scavenger Hunt

Having some themed activities to do in the run up to the day itself is a great idea. Who will be the lucky leprechaun who wins the St Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt? Just download yours and get started – can you find them all?

Try Some St Patrick’s Day Activities

Once you have done some crafts and gone searching with our scavenger hunt, sit down together and do some more fun activities.

Our St Patrick’s Day word search is free to download, or you could try your hand at these St Patrick’s Day colouring pages and themed printables.

Set a Leprechaun Trap

Legend has it that if you catch a leprechaun, he will grant you a wish. However, leprechauns are wily and crafty – so in order to get your wish, you’ll need to catch one!

Top tip: use some chocolate coins!

Check Your Leprechaun Name

Will you be Jinx McTwinkle from Termonfeckin or Rainbow O’Fortune from Clonaghadoo? Check out our leprechaun name generator to see which legendary leprechaun you are!

You May Also Enjoy 15 Fun Spring Activities For Preschoolers