4 St. Patrick's Day Games for Kids

These fun St. Patrick’s Day games for kids work for family parties or for larger gatherings.

Kids enjoy the characters and symbols surrounding St. Patrick’s Day. Shamrocks, leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold can jazz up even the most basic of games. Add in some green colors and you can make the ultimate Saint Patrick’s Day Games with very minimal effort. Here are four St. Patrick’s Day Games for Kids that will keep your children engaged and happy during your Saint Patrick’s Day celebration.

St. Patrick’s Day Games for Kids

Here are four St. Patrick’s Day Games for Kids that will keep your children engaged and happy during your Saint Patrick’s Day celebration.

St. Patrick’s Day Treasure Hunt

Every kid considers the pot of gold to be the coolest part of St. Patrick’s day. Everyone wants a box of treasure, right? Find a nice little decorative box and fill it up with faux treasure of some kind. You can find the little chocolate medallions or even fake coins in the Dollar Store. Some people fill up a little box with real coins and hide them someplace that will be tough to locate. Pick a specific area to keep the kids from wandering and let them have at it. Make sure you point out that the treasure is not buried, or you might end up with a million holes in your backyard.

Who’s That Leprechaun?

One of my favorite activities on St. Patrick’s day is watching kids make themselves into Leprechauns. Have the digital camera ready!

Grab some construction paper, scissors, glue, tape, and various other items to have them all construct a nice leprechaun mask. Kids will really get into it and might even go to work on a hat as well!

Chase the Treasure

All you need for this game is a single large coin such as a fake gold coin, silver dollar or a fifty-cent piece. Sit all the kids in a large circle and place one “leprechaun” in the middle of the group. Have him pass the “treasure”, the coin, to one of the people in the circle. Then have the kids in a circle pass the coin around taking care to occasionally fake as if they passed it. It can go in any direction and be passed or not passed at any time. After several minutes, call out stop. The leprechaun then has to say who has the treasure.

Burning Green Potato

This is my absolute favorite St. Patrick’s Day game for kids and it is actually rather fun for adults as well. Make a green potato with magic markers, or dye and then let it dry. Once the color is dry and will no longer stain your skin, gather all the kids in a large circle.

One kid starts in the middle and will give the green potato to a child in the circle. They then sit down and close their eyes in the middle of the group. The other kids will then begin passing the potato quickly around the circle. When the kid in the middle is done, he will yell leprechaun (or rainbow, treasure, or whatever word you choose) and the potato will stop. The person holding the potato is “burnt” by it and will be out of the game until the next round. The game continues until only one person is left. They then go to the middle and the game starts all over.