St. Patrick's Day Ideas

St. Patrick's Day is actually on Sunday this year!!!  Here are some fun & simple ideas to incorporate the holiday into singing time.

Leprechaun Hats
I found these mini hats at Harmon's grocery store but I have also seen them at various craft stores (JoAnn's & Michael's).  Simply create a memory game by numbering the insides of the hats.  Pictures representing the keywords of the songs you'd like to sing also work.  Place the hats in rows on the table.  Invite a child to try & find a match.  When a match is made, sing the corresponding song.

St. Patty's Day Rainbow
Create a rainbow on the chalkboard using various colors of crate paper.  Assign a song to each color of the rainbow.  Have a child come up & choose one of the colors off the rainbow.  Sing the corresponding song.  Since there's always a "pot of gold" at the end of a rainbow, provide each child with a gold treat at the end of singing time.  Harmon's & Orson Gygi sell gold chocolate coins but they are kind of pricey.  I have used Rolos in the past.  A fun size bag of Skittles would also be cute (the colors of the rainbow).  Whatever the treat, place it in a black pot (I found a plastic one at Target).

Magic Shoes
I originally found this idea on Sugardoodle & it was a total hit.  Find or make a pair of green shoes.   Talk to a member of your primary presidency beforehand about wearing the shoes (Disclaimer: it will require dancing).  Explain to the children that a Leprechaun has left a pair of magic dancing shoes.  These shoes cause whoever wears them to dance.  The better the children sing, the better the shoes work.  Instruct the person wearing the shoes to start off dancing slowly...maybe just tapping their feet.  As the children sing well, have the helper start to dance more quickly.  When I did this, many of the children wanted to try wearing the shoes (especially the oldest boys).  Use your discretion...this can be a lot of fun but has the potential to get rowdy!

Shamrocks
I found my shamrocks at JoAnn's.  A clipart image will also work.  Number the back of the shamrocks & assign a song to each one.  Tape the shamrocks underneath the chairs throughout the room.  At the beginning of singing time, have the children check underneath their chairs.  Have the "lucky" children with shamrocks come up one at a time to lead the song.  Sing the corresponding song.

Leprechaun Leader
I found all of these items at JoAnn's last year.  Simply have a child wear the leprechaun mask or green glasses & lead the group using the "lucky" wand.

*A fun way to determine who gets to participate during all of these games is to place shamrocks underneath the children's chairs.  At the beginning of singing time, have the children check to see how "lucky" they are...those with shamrocks get to be the helpers during the chosen activity.