This St. Patrick's Day kid's craft combines creativity, story telling and a touch of magic. Help your wee one build a treasure box that with a little luck (or help from Mom and Dad) will be filled with leprechaun treasure! The fun begins with the reading of the "Legend of the Leprechauns", compliments of the Family Fun website:
LEGEND OF THE LEPRECHAUNS
"Full of magic and trickery, the leprechauns remain in their hidden world until the night before St. Patrick's Day. On that one night of the year they appear throughout the world to dance and sing and frolic.
Disguising themselves as leaves and grass, and sounding like the wind and the crickets, they come and go unnoticed.
However, it is said that if a decorated treasure box is left empty under the moon, the leprechauns must fill the box with gold or jewels or gifts. But then they will hide the filled box in the most unlikely of places.
If the box is found on St. Patrick's Day, the treasure remains in our world. If not, the leprechauns may retrieve what is rightfully theirs. And though the leprechauns are very clever, it is not impossible to find the treasure because, unknowingly, leprechauns often leave a trail of greenery behind them."
Now its time to make your treasure box!
Materials:
- Empty Kleenex, shoe or other small box
- Glitter, paint, stickers and other decorative materials
- Small twigs
- Hot glue gun
Directions:
- Let kids decorate the treasure box
- Snap or cut the twigs to create 2 long ladder pieces with smaller rungs
- Hot glue the small twigs onto the larger twigs to create a ladder
- Place the finished treasure box and leprechaun ladder on a windowsill, patio or table.
- Once kids are asleep, fill the treasure box with small treasures (costume jewelry, chocolate coins, small games etc.)
- Hide the treasure box, leaving a trail of leaves or paper shamrocks for kids to follow
Tips:
- The ladder step can be skipped to simplify this project
- This craft project makes a great classroom or scout troop project, just print out the Legend of the Leprechaun tale for kids to take home with their finished treasure box
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