St. Patrick’s Day is a great day to include a little magic in your daily lessons. What could be more fun than mischievous leprechauns, magical rainbows, and pots of gold? Make your classroom celebrations educational and engaging with these STEM and writing activities.
Build a Leprechaun Trap: Engineering and Design
This is a fun activity that works well with small groups. Have groups discuss and plan their trap before building. Be sure to build students’ background knowledge by learning the history and facts behind leprechauns. Define key terms and encourage students to use them in their writing.
Materials:
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Recyclables: egg cartons, plastic containers, toilet paper rolls, wine corks, rubber bands, shoe boxes, string etc.
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Colored paper
- Shiny rocks (spray them with gold) or Lucky Charms cereal for bait
- Glue/tape
Writing Prompts:
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Write a short story about catching a leprechaun in your trap. Describe three wishes you would ask him for and why.
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Describe how to rebuild your leprechaun trap. Be specific!
Rainbow Crystals Science Experiment: Structure and Properties of Matter
Encourage a love of science in your classroom with this rainbow crystal experiment. Students create their own crystal rainbows with just pipe cleaners, string, borax, and water.
Materials: Borax, boiling water, pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks, large container
Directions:
- Link colored pipe cleaners into rainbow design.
- In a bucket, mix 3 T. borax for every boiling cup of water. Only the teacher should handle the boiling water mixture.
- Dip pipe cleaners in solution and leave overnight (24 hours).
*For better results, leave pipe cleaners in solution for more than 24 hours.
For an extra special addition to students rainbows, have them set them on chocolate gold coins.
Download your free science lesson Rainbows from Read and Understand Science, grades 2–3.
Additional Science and St. Patrick’s Day Resources
Theme Pockets: St. Patrick’s Day for grades 1-3 provides five themed projects to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
For more fun science activities at home check out Skill Sharpeners: Science for grades Prek-6.
May the luck of the Irish be with you!
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.