Views: 0
Leprechaun Trap: St. Patrick’s Day Fun For Kids
You know the story. Trap a Leprechaun and he (or she!) will turn over their pot of gold to you! But Leprechauns are tricky! You need a game plan. And you need to be prepared for a few tricks!
At our house we start setting traps for the pesky Leprechaun in the beginning of March. We make our trap (directions for our trap here.) and try luring him with a shiny, gold chocolate coin. Then it’s off to bed and hope to find something in our trap the next morning!
I’m not sure about at your house, but at our house it’s always the same thing. That sneaky Leprechaun always takes our bait…and avoids getting caught!!! Which always makes Mom a little annoyed because I ONLY buy the exact number of coins that we need. So this means I have to go to the store again to pick up some for the next night. Geez… 🙂
Not only does the Leprechaun take the coin, but he usually plays a trick! Last night was no exception!
The traps were laid….
Caleb even put a shiny red car our (which we thought was the perfect size for the Leprechaun!)
And Josh put out his DS. (Because Leprechauns love to play games!)
When we woke up the coin was gone… 
And his DS was covered in Shamrocks!
And so was the car!
I guess there is always tonight to try to trap them! I wonder what kind of tricks they will play tonight?
If the Leprechauns want to play at your house too….
Sometimes they leave fun things like
etc.
And after all the tricking…on St. Patrick’s day they always end up giving all the gold coins back! 🙂
If your Leprechaun would like to leave a note too you can print out some of these:
They are designed as 4X6. You can just save them on a flash drive and take them to your local Staples/Office Max and have them printed. (You can also email them directly to your store!) Our Leprechaun likes to write little notes on the back!
We will keep you posted on the rest of our Leprechaun run ins! If you have a Leprechaun in your house we would love to hear about it!
Email it to us or on Facebook! Or tag us on Instagram!
Check out what other tricks our Leprechaun has pulled:
We are linking here.
St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Hat DIY Craft Project For Kids!
If you are looking for a fun project to do with the kids for St. Patrick’s Day then this is the perfect project for you! These hats are easy to make and make great storage containers (perfect for a treat!) or in our case – perfect for trapping a leprechaun!
You will need:
Plastic containers – we used small Ziploc containers in the 1 cup size
Green paint – we used DecoArt Americana Pant in Leaf Green
Foam Brush
Construction Paper
Tape
I do highly recommend newspaper and an apron (which was put on shortly after this picture!) 
Coat the outside of the containers a nice pretty green.
And make sure to get the sides and the outside of the lids too!
The good news about this project is the paint dries really quickly! 🙂 Instant gratification…why yes!
We didn’t have black construction paper so we did what any other normal person would do and colored a piece of paper black. Cut out a yellow buckle and taped them on.
Then just tape the band around. EASY!
Set them out as decoration or fill it with a treat.
OR you can do what we like to do….
Turn it into a trap for those pesky leprechauns! Each night leading up to St. Patrick’s Day we set the trap (with a chocolate covered gold coin as bait!) But that tricky leprechaun always seems to steal the coin and ends up playing a trick! (Although on St. Patrick’s Day he always leaves a pile of gold coins behind in the hat!)
Want to see what kind of mischief our leprechaun has made?
We are linking here.
12 Dr. Seuss Crafts
Yesterday I shared with you 10 fun foods to help celebrate Dr. Seuss and today we are going to share some fun crafts! Don’t forget – Dr. Seuss’ birthday is March 1st! I’ve included links to the corresponding books just in case you would like to have them to go along with the projects! Remember you don’t need a Kindle to download a Kindle book. You can download it right to your computer or to the Kindle app (available for phones/tablets)
(Shipping will be free with purchases over $25 or with your Amazon Prime or Amazon Mom accounts. If you do not have a Prime or Mom account you can sign up for a free trial here.)
Yertle The Turtle:
Yertle The Turtle is a great book to teach children about greed and opens the door for discussions on how to be a good leader (and friend!) and how we should treat others. After the book, make these easy and fun turtles from Because I said So (and other Mommyisms).
You can pick up your own copy of Yertle The Turtle And Other Stories here. (Kindle version is $3.99 and Hardcover $10.52)
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
In the book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins poor Bartholomew is ordered to take off his hat in the presence of the King. But every time he takes his hat off another hat appears on his head. Read the book and enjoy making and designing your own paper hats like 2 Big 2 Little did!
Buy the book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardcover $10.19)
There’s a Wocket in my Pocket
This was a favorite book of my sons! The rhyming and silly, made up words made it fun to read! I love 30 Minute Crafts quick and easy DIY project to make a a Yottle in a bottle!
To purchase There’s a Wocket in My Pocket click here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardback $6.19. If you would prefer a board book you can get one here for $4.04)
The Lorax
The Lorax is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books! Enjoy the classic book and then make this fun Lorax paper plate craft from A Night Owl!
Need the book? You can get it here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardback $8.44)
Need the movie? Get the DVD for $10.00 or the Blu-Ray DVD combo for only $9.49! Get them here.
Bartholomew and the Oobleck
In this fun book Bartholomew is back! The king is bored and summons his royal magicians to make something new to fall from the sky. They make a goo called Oobleck but all it does is make a giant mess. Bartholomew teaches everyone the power of the words I’m sorry. I love this book for the kiddos! After you are done reading make sure to make your own Oobleck with this how to from Sunlit Pages!
Need the book? You can get it here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardback version $9.32)
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
One Fish Two Fish is an easy to read book perfect for young readers! If you are looking for an easy and fun way to incorporate math into an activity check out Oopsey Daisy and her free printable Goldfish graph.
Need the book? Get it here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardcover book $5.09)
I Can Sleep With My Eyes Shut
I Can Read WIth My Eyes Shut is another easy to read book perfect for emerging readers. Once you are done, kids will love decorating their own eye masks! I absolutely love this idea from 30 Minute Crafts! How cute!
Need the book? You can get it here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardcover version $6.98)
Fox In Socks
Fox in Socks is a classic Seuss tale! I remember when I was little my favorite part was
“When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle’s on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles…they call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle.”
Mad in Crafts has a fun game (and free printable!) that is perfect to play after reading this book!
Need the book? Get it here. (Kindle version $3.99, Hardcover $5.08)
The Cat in The Hat
Most of the time if people say Dr. Seuss The Cat in The Hat comes to mind. And his iconic red and white hat! Club Chica Circle has a quick and easy Cat in the Hat pencil cup craft AND as an added bonus some fun Truffula Tree pencils!
Need The Cat in The Hat books? Get them here. (Kindle versions $3.99, Hardback Cat in the Hat $5.09, Hardback The Cat in the Hat Comes Back $8.09)
Want the movie? Get it on DVD for $7.50 or Blu-Ray for $12.48 here.
More Dr. Seuss Crafts…
Sticky Floors Happy Kids has you covered whether you are reading The Lorax or Horton Hears a Who! These fun masks are perfect for acting out a story or a photo booth!
Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday at the library! Go in style by creating a fun library tote bag. UCreate has lots of ideas and the tutorial!
Finish off the Seuss Celebrations with a fun game of Seuss-O. Circus Berry has the cute cards available to download and print off.
Want MORE Seuss ideas?
Check out our 10 Fun Foods to Celebrate Dr. Seuss here.
Follow us on Pinterest to see tons of fun projects and recipes!
Rainbow Pancakes
St. Patrick’s Day is in a few weeks. One of our favorite traditions is to make pancakes. But not just any pancakes – rainbow pancakes! They don’t take much more effort – only some extra spoons and bowls! They are really easy and kids love them!
Make your favorite pancake mix recipe (you can find my favorite pancake recipe below!) and divide it up into 6 bowls. We use paper bowls just to make clean up easier.
Using food coloring, dye your pancake mix red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. I suggest making small, silver dollar pancakes since you will want to stack them up to form the rainbow!
They look pretty already! Now you can top with your favorite syrup or… since no rainbow would be complete without a big, fluffy cloud add a whip cream.
Rainbow pancakes are always a hit in our house! They are such a fun surprise for the kids to wake up to! In the past we have added drops of flavoring to the different layers or we add chocolate chips inside one of the layers (because there is always chocolate covered coins at the end of the rainbow!)
Enjoy!!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 4 tbsp. melted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- whip cream (optional)
Instructions
- Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a large measuring cups beat the eggs and buttermilk together.
- Add to the dry ingredients.
- Stir well.
- Add the melted butter and sugar. Mix.
- Divide the batter into 6 bowls.
- Add food coloring to each (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
- On a hot griddle make small silver dollar pancakes for each color.
- Stack and top with desired toppings.
Linking up here.
10 Fun Foods to Celebrate Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss’ birthday is March 1st. Make sure to celebrate with your favorite Dr. Seuss book and by making one of these fun treats! Make sure to check out our Dr. Seuss Crafts here!
Green Eggs and Ham Chocolate & Pretzels from Love From The Oven
Lorax Cheese from Cute Food For Kids
The Lorax Nutter Butter Cookies from Embrace My Space
Cat in the Hat Pizza (Parents Magazine Feb 2010)
Tomato and Mozzarella Cat Hats from Anders Ruff (there are more cute ideas and free printables!)
Green eggs and ham (pudding!) from All My Little Gems
Rainbow Cookies (these are a perfect match to the Oh the Places You’ll Go book cover!) from Deliciously Different
Truffula Tree Treats from The Seasoned Mom
Dr. Seuss Soup from Lory’s Page
Lorax Cuties from Desert Chica Ramblings
Any of these Dr. Seuss treats will be a great addition to your Dr. Seuss celebration!
Looking for Dr. Seuss books? Amazon has great deals!
Funny Friday with Josh – A (family friendly!) joke
Josh is back with a new #FunnyFriday joke! If you missed last week’s joke you can see it here. (It was a good one!)
Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. To show the opossum how it’s done!
We want to hear your favorite (family friendly!) joke! Make sure to use #FunnyFriday when you share! We hope you (and your kiddos!) enjoy this week’s joke!
(Family Friendly!) Funny Friday Joke
Joshua wanted to start sharing with everyone his favorite jokes. So we have dubbed Fridays…. #FunnyFriday! Share with your kids and your friends and feel free to send us your favorite family friendly joke by using the hashtag #FunnyFriday on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!
Q. Why couldn’t the idiot dial 911?
A. Because he couldn’t find the 11!
Come back next Friday for another joke with Josh!
DIY Non-Slip Headbands Craft
If you are looking for a fun, quick, easy and practical DIY project then you have found it! Non-Slip Headbands are all of those and super cute! I see them at all the stores, craft shows and online and it’s easy to see why!
I love them because they won’t budge, which means they are great for workouts! The colors and designs are just about endless. Plus you can make them in a variety of widths! Plus, they take about 5 minutes to whip up!
What you need:
Ribbon – Grosgain works better than Satin. We also really like to use the sparkly ‘ribbon’
Velvet Ribbon – Choose a size that corresponds with your ribbon width.
Elastic – I use 1/2 inch
Corresponding thread
The first thing you will want to do is measure. I like to create a ‘template’ if you will. I make my headbands 16 1/2 inches long. So I don’t have to get my measuring tape out for each ribbon I just drew a line on a piece of paper that was 16 1/2 inches long and just use it to measure. (Please note that this size is for an adult/teen/tween. If you are making a child’s size you will need to shorten it)
Cut both a piece of ribbon and the velvet to 16 1/2 inches. Then cut your elastic to 6 1/2 inches long.
Then, lay your ribbon on top of the velvet so that you have the velvet showing on one side and the pattern of your ribbon showing on the other. Pin the ribbons together.
This is the hardest part! So you don’t have any rough edges or unraveling we are going to fold the edges. I fold mine in about 1/2 inch.
Just make sure you have both of the ribbons about equal! When you have them folded in stick one edge of the elastic in between the layers. Again, I sandwich the elastic about 1/2 inch in!
Sew a straight line just straight down to keep everything in place. I don’t worry about back stitching on this part because we are going to sew all the way around it in just a minute!
Repeat on the other side.
It should look like a headband now!
Sew around the edges. Make sure you back stitch!
Soon you will have a whole bunch of non-slip headbands! Play with the widths and patterns! These are perfect to make for gifts and craft shows too!
Ta da!
Love DIY projects? Check out our DIY projects here!
Want even more DIY projects? Check out our Pinterest page! It’s FULL of amazing projects!
Books by Eric Carle
We’ve been talking a lot about Eric Carle this month. If you are looking for more books by Eric Carle – either old favorites or new ones you may not have heard of before, here is a list of books by Eric Carle.
Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me – $7.91 (Board Book), $10.81 (Paperback), $6.29 (Hardback)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – $5.52 (Board Book), $16.19 (Paperback), $5.39 (Hardback)
From Head to Toe – $7.19 (Board Book), $6.29 (Paperback), $13.83 (Hardback)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? – $6.50 (Board Book), $22.83 (Paperback), $8.09 (Hardback)
Around the Farm – Play-a-Sound – $12.22 (Musical sound book)
The Very Busy Spider – $8.63 (Board Book), $5.39 (Paperback), $6.29 (Hardback)
Eric Carle’s Opposites – $5.39 (Hardback)
The Very Lonely Firefly – $3.59 (Paperback), $10.94 (Hardback)
Dream Snow – $19.07 (Hardback)
Friends – $10.97 (Hardback)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do You Hear – $7.15 (Board Book), $8.99 (Paperback), $7.92 (Hardback)
Pancakes, Pancakes – $8.09 (Board Book) $7.19 (Paperback) $5.39 (Hardback)
Eric Carle’s ABC’s – $5.39 (Hardback)
The Very Quiet Cricket – $9.35 (Board Book), $17.49 (Hardback)
The Mixed Up Chameleon – $8.09 (Board Book) $6.29 (Paperback), $14.15 (Hardback)
Mister Seahorse – $8.09 (Board Book) $14.58 (Hardback)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do You Hear Sound Book – $10.76 (Hardback)
A House for a Hermit Crab – $7.92 (Board Book), $3.86 (Paperback), $5.39 (Hardback)
The Grouchy Ladybug – $8.09 (Board Book), $7.69 (Paperback) $14.60 (Hardback)
The Artist who Painted a Horse Blue – $6.00 (Paperback) $14.60 (Hardback)
Animals, Animals – $8.09 (Paperback) $16.37 (Hardback)
The Tiny Seed – $8.09 (Board Book), $7.19 (Paperback), $7.38 (Hardback)
Baby Bear Baby Bear What do you see? – $7.19 (Board Book) $7.92 (Hardback)
Do you want to be my friend? – $7.19 (Board Book) $6.29 (Paperback), $6.29 (Hardback)
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see? – $7.15 (Board Book), $23.39 (Paperback), $8.09 (Hardback)
Today is Monday – $6.29 (Board Book), $6.29 (Paperback), $12.75 (Hardback)
Dragons Dragons – $9.54 (Paperback) $16.37 (Hardback)
Have you seen my cat? – $7.19 (board Book), $7.19 (Paperback) $15.66 (hardback)
Slowly, Slowly, Slowly – $7.19 (paperback) $13.35 (Hardback)
Draw Me a Star – $7.19 (paperback) $13.35 (hardback)
The Secret Birthday Message – $7.19 (Board Book) $6.29 (paperback), $13.60 (Hardback)
The Foolish Tortoise – $7.19 (Board Book) $8.99 (Paperback), $20.00 (Hardback)
Merry Christmas – Play a Sound Musical Book – $12.59 (Hardback)
Little Cloud – $6.39 (Board Book) $13.39 (Hardback)
Hello Red Fox – $8.09 (Paperback) $17.25 (Hardback)
1,2,3 To The Zoo – $7.19 (Board Book) $6.29 (Paperback), $12.40 (Hardback)
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? – $7.19 (Board Book), $6.29 (Paperback) $13.60 (Hardback)
The Very Clumsy Click Beetle – $17.73 (Hardback)
Eric Carle Biography
If you are asked to name a famous children’s book author Eric Carle is probably one of the first to come to mind. Whether you are planning to teach your child, your class or just interested to learn more yourself this Eric Carle Biography will give you some quick facts on one of the most beloved authors out there!
Eric Carle was born in Syracuse, New York on June 25, 1929. He then moved with his parents to Germany when he was 6 years old. There, he went to school and graduated from art school. After he graduated, with only $40 he moved back to America (New York). He soon got a job working as a graphic designer for the promotional department of The New York Times.
Bill Martin Jr was a respected author and educator had seen a painting of a lobster that Eric Carle had created for an advertisement. He called Eric to see if he was interested in illustrating a story he had written. Eric Carle accepted and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? was the result!
Soon Eric Carle began writing his own stories with his first one being 1, 2, 3, To The Zoo!
His second book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has become a children’s classic, being read by millions of people world wide. It’s been translated into 33 languages and sold over 33 million copies.
With his warm stories with great lessons and his fun and unique art work Eric Carle stories are staples in every child’s library. Eric Carle uses a collage technique with colorful and handmade papers for bright and beautiful images.
The Art of Eric Carle is a wonderful book that is full of more information about Eric Carle, one of the most beloved authors and illustrators!