Our family doesn’t really have a reason to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the exception of being careful to wear green to avoid being pinched, but that’s no excuse for not having a little fun with it. Here are a few silly ideas that require almost no effort, but will bring some fun into the holiday for you and your family.
1. Make green Jell-O for dinner. Or make green Jell-O Jigglers cut into shamrocks for a snack.
2. Decorate cupcakes with foil-wrapped coins and rainbow sprinkles.
3. Put white carnations with freshly-cut stems in a vase with water mixed with green food coloring. Pretty soon, you’ll have green flowers.
4. Put green streaks in everyone’s hair with hair mascara or temporary hair spray.
5. Make braids in your girls’ hair using a green ribbon as one of the strands.
6. Paint a small shamrock on your kids’ cheek with face paint or a green eye pencil.
7. Make quick green bracelets by cutting thin strips of craft foam, wrapping them around your wrist and securing the ends with a brad.
8. Add some green food coloring to pancake batter, milk, mashed potatoes, or whatever else you think you can stomach green.
9. Go to the library and read aloud some St. Patrick’s Day-themed picture books.
10. Make green paper chains to decorate around the house. Cut out shamrocks from green paper and tape them on the walls.
11. Cut a bunch of shamrocks out of green paper and hide them around the house. Send your kids on a hunt to find them. Reward them with candy coins.
12. If the weather allows, go to the park and search for four-leaf clovers.
13. Pick up some Irish soda bread at the bakery and serve it with your dinner. Serve corned beef, too (although this is more American than Irish).
14. Make small greeting cards for elderly neighbors wishing them the luck of the Irish, or bring them a treat.
15. Wear green and be sure to pinch (gently) people who don’t!