During the month of March, everything starts to turn green, and not just the grass and trees. It’s leprechaun season. Time to catch a sneaky little devil who hides gold coins while wreaking havoc all over.
For years, we have shared our secret for surprising the kiddos on St. Paddy’s Day morning by turning all of the water green in your house. Just unscrew the screen in the faucet, place a blue and yellow Fizzy Tints True Color Tablet inside and carefully screw it back on. Wiping any drips. Don’t use Easter Egg coloring tablets – they will stain. In the morning, when the kids turn on the water, it will run green. You can also drop a few tablets in the toilet to turn that water green too.
But don’t stop there. Take the kids on a journey to explore all of the Leprechaun secrets. Uncover hidden rainbows, fish for Leprechauns with appearing green worms, use a little green magic to grow Leprechaun eggs and inflate a giant eight-foot long Leprechaun sandwich with only one breath.
When it comes to gardening, Leprechauns have a green thumb. That’s not to say that they really have a green-colored thumb (even though they do). It means that they are really good at growing plants. Leprechauns are so incredible at gardening that they don’t even need soil to grow their plants!
What You’ll Need
Sponge (Green would be an excellent choice)
Permanent marker
Scissors
Seed packet (Lettuce, spinach, or broccoli work great)
Spray bottle
Water
Let’s Try It!
Use a permanent marker to trace a clover shape on a dry sponge. You get to choose whether you want a standard, three-leaf shamrock, or a lucky, four-leaf clover. If you want to compare the two (you know, for magical properties), trace each shape on a different sponge.
Use a strong pair of scissors to cut the shamrock shape out of the sponge. This step can be difficult, so make sure you are extra careful and have an adult helper on hand… just in case. If the sponge is proving especially tricky to cut, try dampening it.
It’s almost time for leprechauns, shamrocks and green water. Yes, it’s March and time for St. Patrick’s Day. If you are looking for some activities and fun things to do with your kids at home or students in the classroom, we have a few ideas.
Leprechaun Traps:
Start with a plan, maybe even diagram your design, then use Legos, cardboard boxes, popsicle sticks, PVC pipes, gold coins, Lucky Charms and green paint to make it come to life. Here is a trap that Steve made several years ago with his son using PVC pipe, gold water and a plastic cup. They spent a little too much time in Home Depot but their end result came out great.
Leprechaun Secrets:
Did you know that leprechauns have more than one secret? They know where they have hidden the gold, but they also keep other secrets as well. The leprechaunologists at Steve Spangler Science (yes, we have a few on staff) have discovered the leprechauns’ hidden rainbows, leprechaun beads, leprechaun green worms and leprechaun eggs. Learn more about how to uncover these secrets yourself with our
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Next to Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day is a favorite holiday of mine. From the first year the leprechauns turned our water green, I have worked hard to uncover the secrets of the leprechauns.
My crack team of Leprechaun Specialists have discovered how the sneaky little guys turn water and snow green, lay eggs and uncover hidden rainbows.
The leprechaun science doesn’t end there. Leprechauns maybe small, but they eat large sandwiches. The secret is in an inflatable eight-foot sandwich bag that is blown up with only one breath. They also make jewelry out of leprechaun beads that change color in the sunlight.
Don’t forget to build your leprechaun trap this year and fish for leprechauns using green worms.
We never miss an opportunity to teach a little science… even on St. Patrick’s Day. From Leprechaun traps, to green water, to Leprechaun eggs, we know how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Spangler Science offices… and trust that none of us will ever forget the day the toilet and faucet water turned green. Sometimes your creativity spikes and you find gold (pun intended) when you wrap your mind around a specific theme. So, here are some of our favorite tips and tricks for infusing a little science and a lot of fun into St. Patrick’s Day.
Here are just a few ideas to get your green juices flowing. If you already have science staples like Instant Snow polymer, True Colors tablets, UV Color Changing Beads or just some green food coloring, you’re well on your way to creating very cool Irish science experience.
Leprechauns Strike – Green Water – It’s not uncommon for those little Leprechauns to turn everything green… even the water coming out of your faucet. Here’s how it works.
Green Flowers – It’s as simple as adding a little green food coloring to the water,
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Here are just a few ideas to get your green juices flowing. If you already have science staples like 
