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Back to the St. Partick's Day Home Page
Most of these games are classics that have been adapted to fit a St. Patrick's Day theme. Remember, if you choose to play a game that requires teams, and you have an odd number of children, one person will need to go twice. Ask for a volunteer and if one doesn't surface you might want to leave it up to the team to choose who they think will be the fastest.
How To Play: Played similar to Simon Says. The player up is "Lucky Leprechaun". Player will say "Lucky Leprechaun says hop on one foot". The children will hop on one foot. Player will say "Stop". The children are to keep hopping on one foot until player says "Lucky Leprechaun says stop". Repeat for additional activities such as take one baby step forward, step backwards, turn around, sit down. Sometimes Lucky Leprechaun will say "Lucky Leprechaun says" and sometimes he won't. It's a fun game to play with young children.
Supplies:
Chalkboard
Chalk
Eraser
Hat
Papers with St. Patrick's day objects written on them
Timer
How To Play: Put papers with St. Patrick's Day objects written on them into hat. Divide children into two groups. Flip a coin to see which team goes first. Invite a child from the playing team to approach the chalkboard, draw a slip of paper, and read it to themselves. On your mark, the child should then draw the object in hopes that his/her team members will guess the object on their paper. If the team guesses correctly, before time runs out, they score a point. If the playing team does not guess correctly the other team has five seconds to try to come up with the correct answer. If they guess correctly they score a point and it is their turn to play.
This game can be simplified for young players utilizing words such as: shamrock, gold, pot. Make more difficult for older players by using short phrases: lucky Irish, pot of gold, etc.
Take a St. Patrick's Day related word such as: Shamrock, Chocolate, Leprechaun, Rainbow, etc. and find as many little words as possible before the timer runs out.
Example: Shamrock
Words: rock, ram, ham, sock, mock, shock, am, ma, cram...
Example: Rainbow
Words: rain, bow, win, bin, no, in, an, ban, won, now, nab...
Teacher start by choosing a St. Patrick's Day related person, place, or thing. The teacher says, "I'm thinking of something". The children try to guess what it is by asking no more than twenty questions that can be answered "YES", "NO", or I DON'T KNOW". The student who guesses correctly is next up.
Clue
Teacher thinks of person, place, or thing. Teacher gives a clue. Begin at one end of the room and work your way around allowing each student to take a turn guessing until one student solves the case. The student who solves the case goes next.
Example: Leprechaun
Clue: He's 2 feet tall
Clue: Don't blink or he'll vanish
Clue: You want his gold
Clues should be appropriate for the knowledge of the children playing.
Supplies: Irish Jig Music
How To Play: Begin playing music, everyone moves and dances until the music stops then they must "freeze" in whatever position they happen to be in.
Supplies:
Big picture of a Leprechaun
A green shamrock, for each child, with adhesive on back and their name on the
front
Blindfold
How To Play: Blindfold the player, spin 'em around and let them try to stick the shamrock where it's supposed to go. Give a prize for the player that gets the closest.
Supplies:
Potato
Celtic or Irish Jig Music
How To Play: Sit the children in a circle. Hand one child the potato. Explain to the children that when the music begins they will pass the potato to the person on their right. When the music stops whoever's holding the potato scoots out of the circle and playing resumes.
This game also provides a great opportunity to discuss agriculture in Ireland. Perhaps they could pass while you talk and when you stop (every once in awhile) the person holding the potato has to recap what you said.
Supplies:
Index Cards
Paper Bags
How To Play: Choose a St. Patrick's Day word such as: St. Patrick, Shamrock, Leprechaun, Rainbow.... Write the letters of the word on individual index cards. Do this two times, making two sets. Put each set in a brown paper bag.
Divide children into teams. Give each team a bag. The first team to decipher what the word in the bag is wins. A variation of the game would be to divide into teams with the same number of children as there are letters in the word. Each child get's a letter and they must hold onto the card and stand in the proper order to spell the word for all to see.
Supplies: A large gold coin
How To Play: A child is chosen to be the Leprechaun and hides her eyes as a gold coin is given to a child to hide in his lap or behind his back. The Leprechaun then has three chances to guess which child has their gold coin. (All children hide their hands in their laps/behind their backs like they have it.)
Supplies:
Large cardboard pot. Good size hole cut-out in center of pot, or a few small
holes for older kids.
Gold circular bean bags (gold coins)
Bucket to hold bean bags
Tape to mark distance line
How To Play: Place cardboard pot a little distance from a wall with a paper box lid on floor to catch chocolate bean bags. Mark your distance line according to age and skill of children. Line children up behind the line and place a bucket of gold coin bean bags beside them. Give each child three tries to get their bean bag through the hole. Get all three gold coin bean bags in and earn a 'chocolate' coin reward.
Supplies: Cardboard rainbow with colorful ribbons attached.
How To Play:Show the children the rainbow. Have them close their eyes until you tell them to open them. Hide the rainbow with the ribbons attached so only the ribbons show. Have the children open their eyes, stand up and search for the rainbow ribbons. If they find it they should not say a word but return quickly and quietly to their seats. The first person to sit down wins and may take a turn at hiding the rainbow.
Supplies:
Shamrock for each child with instruction written on one side and a chocolate
shaped gold coin taped on the other.
Instructions might include: Hop like a bunny, walk like a crab, bear walk, skip,
walk backwards, etc.
How To Play:Children divide into two teams. Put the shamrocks at the end of the room in two piles. On your mark the first child on each team runs to the pile, takes a shamrock and does what the shamrock says while returning to their team, then sits down. The next team member then runs to the pile...etc. The first team to be sitting down wins. Everyone enjoys a chocolate in the end.
Supplies:Gold coin pillow for each team.
How To Play:Children divide into two teams. Give each team a gold coin pillow. Pillow size should be larger for younger children and smaller for older children. Have one child from each team place the gold coin between their legs and hop to the end of the room and back. They sit down and the next team member goes. This repeats until one team is all sitting.
Supplies:Grey stone pillow for each team.
How To Play:Children divide into two teams. Give each team a grey stone pillow the size of an orange. On your mark, the first child puts the pillow between their chin and neck and passes it to the next player. Here's the catch, players may only use their heads to pass (no hands or teeth allowed). The process continues to the last person in line and then reverses sending the pillow back to the first player in line. The first team to complete the game wins.
Supplies:
Large glass jar filled with chocolate gold coins
Small pieces of paper
Hat
Pencil
How To Play:Have children write their name on a small piece of paper and their guess as to how many coins are in the jar. The child who guesses the right number, or comes closest, gets a 'lucky' sucker. The candy in the jar is then divided among the children. A variation would be that the winner takes the jar of candy home to share with their family.
Supplies:
Large laminated green shamrocks, taped to the floor, one for each child
Irish Jig Music
How To Play: Every child begins by standing on a shamrock that has been taped to the floor. Start the music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops they need to stand on a shamrock or they're out. Remove one shamrock after each musical segment.
Supplies:
Charis with laminated shamrocks taped to the seats
Irish Jig or Celtic Music
How To Play: A variation of the original ;)
Supplies: 100+ Construction paper gold coins cut out
How To Play: Hide the coins while the children are out of the room. Have the children find as many coins as they can. Then have children go back to their tables or groups and count how many coins the whole group has. Highest number of coins collected get to make their treats first.
Supplies:
A bendable straw for each child
A St. Patrick's or green cup for each team
How To Play: Each child receives a bendable straw. Each child will place the short piece in mouth. A cup will be placed on the first person of each teamís straw. The first person passes the cup to the next person in line without touching the cup only by using the straw. First team with the cup to the end wins!
Supplies: 2 Large construction paper shamrocks per team
How To Play: Divide children into teams. The first person of a team takes the 2 shamrocks and lays one of the shamrocks out on the floor. The child steps on the first shamrock and then places the second shamrock in front of them. The child steps on the second shamrock, reaches back and picks up the first shamrock and then places that shamrock in front of them. Continue to the end of the course and then run back and tag the next team member. Variation: Divide the teams in half and have the person walk on shamrocks to the other side.
Supplies:
Cupcake for each child
Numbers taped to the floor
Decorated bag to hold number call cards
Irish Jig Music
How To Play: When the music starts the children begin to walk around the room stepping on each of the numbers as they go. When the music stops the children should step on the number closest to them. A number is pulled from the hat and the child standing on that number get to choose a cupcake and return to their desk. That number is then removed from the floor and the hat. Continue until every child has a cupcake.
Supplies:
Instant Pistachio pudding
Small container with lids
Milk
Plastic spoon for each child
How To Make: Put a teaspoon of pistachio pudding in each container, add milk and let them shake and shimmy for about three minutes until the pudding thickens up and turns green.
Contributed by Alecia Dixon