Leprechaun Trap
You can try to trap those pesky little devils, but they always seem to get away. If you’re a frequent reader of this infrequent blog, you probably know “Jack” – yes, my six year old son. He came home from school several weeks ago with a mission: To create a Leprechaun trap. From the very start, he wanted something that smashed the Leprechaun… kind of like a mouse trap for little green people who run around and cause trouble. After explaining to him that smashing Leprechauns was politically incorrect, I suggested that he “capture” the Leprechaun. So, off to Home Depot we went. If in doubt, always head to the plumbing isle. Jack and I found a 10 foot long piece of 1/2″ PVC and a saw (we just borrowed it!) and the creative juices began to flow. I cut the pipe while he ran over to the connector bins to assemble his idea. An elbow piece here… t-fitting there… a few eye hooks and we had the basic structure. Honestly, it’s a memory that I’ll always treasure… father and son sitting in the plumbing isle at Home Depot building a Leprechaun trap.
Here’s how it works… The big cup is attached to a piece of string that is fed through a series of eye-hooks, and a large washer is tied to the other end of the string. Pulling on the washer raises and lowers the cup. So, the washer is held in place using a plastic cup filled with “liquid gold” for the Leprechaun to drink (hey, I can’t make this stuff up!). Lifting the cup releases the washer and the big cup falls on the Leprechaun! Life is good!
Oh, one final touch… the “liquid gold” is just water with yellow food coloring. If you secretly add a drop of blue food coloring to the water, the water turns green. Jack set the trap before going to bed in hopes of catching something in the morning. He came bolting out to the kitchen the next morning to find the trap sprung and the “liquid gold” had turned green. “Mom… Dad… It worked! The Leprechaun fell in the water and turned it green!” I think he might remember this St. Patrick’s Day.
For more leprechaun ideas also read Leprechauns Strike with Green Water >
i would like to thank u 4 helping me think of away to build a leprechuan trap like yours but diffrent
this an awesome idea cool!!!! thanks 4 the help with my project
This is an awesome Idea! my little sister will love it!
My son, Hunter, and I just found this and think it is AWESOME! I have been on line for several hours and have seen all kinds of traps but this one is best by far. I love the idea of the water turning colors. I can’t wait to tell his teachers about this one. When there is no father here to help Hunter build things I depend on wonderful people like you to give me Instructions. I can do a lot with the right info. Thanks. Oh, he wants to build it NOW! He is 5 and I cannot get through to him I don’t have the stuff here!
I’m in second grade.Thanks for the help.From Charleston SC
Thank you so very much…. I hope that we catch the leprechaun….If we do we’ll split the gold.
Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one whose son wanted to SMASH the leprechaun!
S Thanks for the encouragement!
My sons, Sean and Niall, have both constructed Leprechaun traps as a school family project in first grade. As bait, Sean made a pot ‘o gold using candle votive filled with gold spray-painted coins…
As a secondary special education teacher, I have used many of your experiments in my independent science class. Thanks for the great ideas for cool science on a shoestring!
Every year those mischevious leprechauns visit our home. We’ve had a great time building the traps. Not only do the lil guys seem to escape, but the turn our milk and toilet water GREEN, put furniture and other items UPSIDE down and even smudged some green glitter on our cat’s head and ears! What a great family memory and opportunity for sharing/discussion/joint project!
how did u get the cup thing to fall??? please help my trap is due thursday!! thx
Hi – you put the string under the little cup of gold, so when the leprechaun lifts the cup, the bigger cup above falls down. Good luck!
I am confused. If the washer is released then the cup goes up not down. What I am picturing is the big cup is turned upside down and attached to a string with the other end tied to the washer, keeping the cup in the air. So if the other end of the string is under the smaller cup filled with liquid gold when the cup is lifted the washer goes down pulling the big cup up. What am I missing?
Hi Carol – we are working on a diagram to better describe the trap. We’ll post it soon. The washer should be on the table under the cup, the washers around the top of the trap, and the big cup in the air. When the washer is released, the string will loosen and the cup will fall. I hope that helps.
Ha Ha! This is so cute and clever! My kids are teens now, so they would roll their eyes at the idea of trapping
little leprechauns, but I will definitely show this trap to my friends who have young children– great memory-making!
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
How did you make such a good leprechaun trap?
I think the greatness of your trap is completely dependent upon how badly you wish to catch the little guy!
How do we can catch little guy
little like this. at school we did a trap
a nd didnt work what i do?
Great trap. I’m glad to know my son isn’t the only one intending harm to leprechauns, as his idea originally involved chain saws. We ended up with something similar. The greedy leprechaun pulls on a gold coin that trips a wire pulley thingamajig and a dome falls over him. I always find it amazing what you can do with a few bucks and a trip to the hardware store.