How to Catch a Leprechaun

With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, children may be interested in leprechauns.  A great project to do with your young children is making a leprechaun trap.  Although older children may not enjoy this project as much becaue they no longer believe in things like leprechauns, younger children really enjoy it.  My 8-year-old rolled his eyes when I explained what we were making, while my 5-year-old is now insistent that she can see leprechauns around every corner.  It is very easy to make a leprechaun trap using a little bit of imagination and glitter!

Gather your supplies:

• Shoe box
• Aluminum Foil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Clover stickers or other St. Patrick’s Day decorations
• Any craft supplies you can find
• Small Stick

 
1. Take your box and cover it with aluminum foil.  Glue any parts in place so that it does not fall off.  It does not need to be perfect, just flatten it out and make sure it is shiny.



2. Decorate the box however you would like.  I used some shamrock garland I found at the Dollar Store and cut out 1 inch circles of yellow construction paper.  I covered the yellow circles with gold glitter to symbolize coins.  You can place shiny stickers, glue clovers or anything else you think might attract a little leprechaun.  Think rainbows and lots of sparkle.



3. Place the box in a low place, since leprechauns are small after all, and prop the box up with a small stick.  I couldn’t find any good sticks in my yard that would work, so I used a craft stick to hold it up.



4. After the kids go to bed, place some green candies or pennies under the box.  The kids will think a leprechaun was there and got away.