Leprechaun Trap Ideas for St. Patrick’s Day

What is a leprechaun trap?

The idea is that you build some kind of contraption that includes a box or a basket that could hold a leprechaun, then you add some kind of bait under the trap like gold coins, chocolate, drawings of rainbows, etc.

You leave it out overnight before St. Patrick’s Day, and the next day the trap will be sprung. The leprechaun got away but they may have left treats, or done a little mischief in the room (or both!).

One year in my daughter’s class the leprechaun left washable paint footprints all over!

If you need some inspiration for building your own leprechaun traps, there are so many great ideas online. The key elements, as laid out in this post from The Best Ideas for Kids, include:

Bait

A ladder if needed to climb into the trap

Decorations including shamrocks and rainbows

Something to trap the leprechaun in like a box, bottle or hat

That post has some cute and really easy ideas that would be great for younger kids. If you want something more elaborate, check out the ideas at Happiness is Homemade (I particularly love the Lego leprechaun house, which wouldn’t even have to be a trap).

Artsy Mama has a great upcycled leprechaun trap made from things in the recycling bin.

Lolly Jane has another fun roundup of leprechaun trap crafts. One of my favorites is this top hat trap from The Suburban Soapbox, which is mostly made out of poster board and construction paper, so it’s a pretty low-budget option that is still really cute.

Have you ever made a leprechaun trap? I’d love to hear about the design you made and what happened when the trap was sprung!

I volunteer at my local library pulling holds for children’s books, and the other day someone was looking for Over and Under the Snow, a lovely picture book about animals that hibernate and those who don’t.

It reminded me that now would be a good time to talk about hibernation in the classroom, and what animals do to survive the winter more generally.

Did you know that technically only warm-blooded animals hibernate? When cold-blooded animals do it, it’s called brumation, and insects experience diapause. Whatever you call it, it’s a slowing down of bodily functions that allows animals to lower their body temperatures and slow their metabolism so much they don’t need to eat.

We Are Teachers has a great page about different animals that hibernate (or brumate, or diapause) and you can enter your email address to get a set of free worksheets perfect for middle grades. Education.com also has a downloadable worksheet about hibernation, and you can find many more (including the migrate or hibernate worksheet above) from Worksheeto.

Little Bins for Little Hands has a great free printable pack about hibernation and hibernating animals. There’s a good list of animals that hibernate in the post, as well as some FAQs about hibernation.

Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds has lots of great ideas for planning a hibernation theme, including making a cave in the classroom, painting on ice, and lots of ideas for dramatic play, writing and other activities (and there are lots of freebies linked there).

Little ones will love these bear hibernation hat printables form Books and Giggles that include facts about hibernation.

STEMHax has collected a bunch of lesson planning resources about animals in winter, based on the book Animals in Winter. You’ll find links to videos about different animals featured in the book that you can use when talking about the book or more broadly in a winter animal unit study.

The Wolfe Pack Den has a free printable unit study and ideas for books to read and other things to do (with a particular emphasis on hedgehogs, if you’re into that).

And to bring in one more book recommendation from when my girl was little, Bear Snores On is another fun one, and you can read that one and bring out all your fun bear activities, like this adorable hibernating bear craft from Krokotak.

Leprechaun Trap Ideas for St. Patrick’s Day

What is a leprechaun trap?

Next Plan Idea:

Hibernating Animals Activities

What is a leprechaun trap?

Next Plan Idea:

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