How to Choose St. Patrick's Day Crafts
Create a Blarney Stone., Make a leprechaun hat that the students can wear during the day and then take home.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Create a Blarney Stone.
The Blarney Stone is located in Blarney Castle, where visitors can lean over the ramparts of the castle to kiss the stone and achieve the gift of eloquence, or a way with words.
Have each child create their own Blarney Stone before they practice reading for the day.
Either collect enough smooth river rocks for your classroom or ask each student to bring one in.
The rocks should be about the size of the palm of your hand.
Wash the rocks with soap and water and set them out to dry for a day.
Give each child a paintbrush and some green paint.
Ask them to paint their Blarney Stone green.
Although the original Blarney Stone isn't green, green is meant to signal the "luck of the Irish." Allow the rocks to dry for 30 minutes, or perhaps during recess.
Ask the children to make a face on the smoothest portion of their rock, because they will need to kiss the Blarney Stone to get the gift of good speech.
Pass out black markers, eyes, yarn, glue and any other supplies you have on hand to help the children get creative.
Allow the glue to dry.
Tell each student to kiss their Blarney Stone, then take turns reading from a text, such as an Irish fable or a history of St.
Patrick or Ireland. -
Step 2: Make a leprechaun hat that the students can wear during the day and then take home.
Leprechauns are often associated with Irish luck, as a saying goes that a leprechaun's gold lies at the end of the rainbow, and if you can find it, you can keep it.
Print out a leprechaun hat template at enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/Hattemplate.shtml.
Print it out and then make a few practice hats so that you can approximate the size of hats that will fit your age group.
You can also make it tiny, as if it was taken from a small leprechaun.
Use a copier to help you enlarge the template if need be and then copy the hat template so that each child will have one.
Print on green paper if you have the budget for it.
Ask the children to cut the shapes out of their leprechaun hat template.
If it was printed on white paper, they may want to color it green with markers before cutting it out.
Ask the children to cut tabs into the top of the rectangular piece.
Then, ask them to fold right below where they cut.
Have the children cut bands of yellow paper to glue onto the rectangular piece, at the bottom.
They can draw a buckle into the middle with brown, black or red markers.
Have them glue it to the bottom of the rectangular piece.
The children should place glue along the left hand side and then form a cylinder and glue it to the other side of their rectangle.
They should have a circle sitting on their desk.
Place glue on the small tabs on the top and place the smaller circle that they cut out from the template on the top.
Make sure the glue sticks to the tabs.
They can flip the hat over and press from the inside to be sure it stays.
Cut lines into the center of the large circle from the template.
They should be in a star formation.
Once the lines are cut, the children should be able to lift triangular pieces from the center.
Ask them to place glue on all of these pieces.
Place the hat on the large rectangle.
Ask the children to reach their hand through the bottom and stick the triangular pieces to the inside of the circle.
They have just created the brim.
Allow the hat to dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour before wearing.
Detailed Guide
The Blarney Stone is located in Blarney Castle, where visitors can lean over the ramparts of the castle to kiss the stone and achieve the gift of eloquence, or a way with words.
Have each child create their own Blarney Stone before they practice reading for the day.
Either collect enough smooth river rocks for your classroom or ask each student to bring one in.
The rocks should be about the size of the palm of your hand.
Wash the rocks with soap and water and set them out to dry for a day.
Give each child a paintbrush and some green paint.
Ask them to paint their Blarney Stone green.
Although the original Blarney Stone isn't green, green is meant to signal the "luck of the Irish." Allow the rocks to dry for 30 minutes, or perhaps during recess.
Ask the children to make a face on the smoothest portion of their rock, because they will need to kiss the Blarney Stone to get the gift of good speech.
Pass out black markers, eyes, yarn, glue and any other supplies you have on hand to help the children get creative.
Allow the glue to dry.
Tell each student to kiss their Blarney Stone, then take turns reading from a text, such as an Irish fable or a history of St.
Patrick or Ireland.
Leprechauns are often associated with Irish luck, as a saying goes that a leprechaun's gold lies at the end of the rainbow, and if you can find it, you can keep it.
Print out a leprechaun hat template at enchantedlearning.com/crafts/stpatrick/Hattemplate.shtml.
Print it out and then make a few practice hats so that you can approximate the size of hats that will fit your age group.
You can also make it tiny, as if it was taken from a small leprechaun.
Use a copier to help you enlarge the template if need be and then copy the hat template so that each child will have one.
Print on green paper if you have the budget for it.
Ask the children to cut the shapes out of their leprechaun hat template.
If it was printed on white paper, they may want to color it green with markers before cutting it out.
Ask the children to cut tabs into the top of the rectangular piece.
Then, ask them to fold right below where they cut.
Have the children cut bands of yellow paper to glue onto the rectangular piece, at the bottom.
They can draw a buckle into the middle with brown, black or red markers.
Have them glue it to the bottom of the rectangular piece.
The children should place glue along the left hand side and then form a cylinder and glue it to the other side of their rectangle.
They should have a circle sitting on their desk.
Place glue on the small tabs on the top and place the smaller circle that they cut out from the template on the top.
Make sure the glue sticks to the tabs.
They can flip the hat over and press from the inside to be sure it stays.
Cut lines into the center of the large circle from the template.
They should be in a star formation.
Once the lines are cut, the children should be able to lift triangular pieces from the center.
Ask them to place glue on all of these pieces.
Place the hat on the large rectangle.
Ask the children to reach their hand through the bottom and stick the triangular pieces to the inside of the circle.
They have just created the brim.
Allow the hat to dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour before wearing.
About the Author
Larry Price
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow home improvement tutorials.
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