As I said earlier this week, my kids are SO into St. Patrick’s Day this year. They have been talking for weeks about how they are going to make leprechaun traps, catch a leprechaun and get his pot of gold! So the planning began and our “trap” was set into motion…
The idea being that the leprechaun (or leprechauns!) would be inspired to climb the ladder to retrieve the “gold” under the rainbow (shiny pennies!) So here is the step-by-step process that explains how to build a leprechaun trap.
STEP 1: CAMOUFLAGE the Trap
Paint a Quaker Oatmeal canister green. Using cardstock or thin cardboard, cut 1 large circle and one medium circle. The medium circle should be just a little bigger than the oatmeal canister. The bigger circle should be about twice as big as the canister. Paint these circles green, too.
STEP 2: Glitter!
Paint again with glitter. Glue the large circle to the base of the canister and gently lay medium circle on top of open canister. DO NOT glue the medium circle – it’s going to be a trap door.
STEP 3: Finishing Touches on the hat
Cut a long strip of black paper, and glue it around base of canister. Cut out a large yellow rectangle and a smaller black rectangle. Glue the black rectangle to the center of the yellow rectangle, and then glue both to the black strip to create a buckle on the “hat” for the leprechaun.
STEP 4: Make a Rainbow
Cut out a rainbow shape from chipboard. Color a rainbow onto the chipboard. Glue cotton balls to the ends of the rainbow for clouds.
STEP 5: The Ladder
Collect some sticks & twigs with your kids. Using strong glue, create a ladder from your collected sticks. I used some liquid glass to make sure the ladder was solid.
Step 6: Set The Trap
Once you have all the pieces made, assemble them all together. Glue the Rainbow into place, and put the pennies (I mean, the “gold”) on the top circle. When the leprechaun climbs the ladder to get the gold, he’ll fall through the trap door and get caught in the trap!
And there you have it…a quick little tutorial on how you can create your own leprechaun trap! We’ll find out tomorrow if the kids were able to catch their very own leprechaun and get his pot of gold. Hope you have a magical St. Patrick’s Day!
Don’t miss my other St. Patrick’s Day posts:
St. Patrick’s Day Woven Heart Basket
How to make a Button Bowl
Leprechaun Tricks
St. Patrick’s Day Wreath