Rainbows for St. Patrick’s Day

• Read “That's What Leprechauns Do” by Eve Bunting … what a cute story about three leprechauns on their way to bury the gold at the end of the rainbow. “No mischief along the way!” they chant, but of course, they get into plenty of mischief along the way.

 

• Gold at the End of the Rainbow Hat … here is a colorful hat (ready to print!) that the kids will love.
  1. Print this wonderful page from Kiboomu.
  2. Color!
  3. Cut out 2” strips from green (or any color) construction paper. Or mark lines for 2” strips and let the kids cut them out! Staple together to make a headband.
  4. Cut out the rainbow and glue it to the headband.
  5. Cut out and glue the shamrocks.
  6. Cut out the pot of gold and glue to the end of the rainbow.

• Rainbow Pasta … how bright and cute are these?! My kids will have fun sorting and playing with rainbow pasta! Visit Kiboomu for a great tutorial.
  1. Put 1/2 cup dry pasta in a ziploc bag.
  2. Add 1/8 cup rubbing alcohol.
  3. Add food coloring and shake until evening colored. Let the pasta sit and soak to get bright colors.
  4. Drain the pasta in the sink and spread on a paper-towel lined tray.
  5. Let dry (about 2 hours)
  6. Make a rainbow or even string them into a rainbow necklace!

• Paper Scraps Rainbow … love this idea from No Time for Flashcards.
  1. On a large piece of paper, draw a large rainbow.
  2. Rip up scraps of paper. I love how they used all sorts of different patterns and hues of the same color.
  3. Start by gluing one color to each rainbow section (so the kids know which colors go where)
  4. Let the kids work together to sort and glue the rest of the scrap colors to the rainbow! I love it!
  5. NOTE: I think after we finish, I’ll sneak a little Pot-o-Treats at the end of the rainbow during naptime as a surprise Probably something like this Pot-o-Gold treat above from No Time for Flashcards.
     • Fill a black cupcake liner with gold-wrapped candies.
     • Tie in a clear bag with rainbow ribbon!

• Snack Idea – Rainbow Fruit Pizza … one of my favorite desserts!
  1. For the crust:
     • 2 cups flour
     • 2 cubes butter, softened
     • 4 Tbls. powdered sugar
  2. Mix and spread on lightly greased round pizza pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool.
  3. For the spread:
     • 1 cup powdered sugar
     • 1 cup cool whip
     • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  4. Mix and spread on cooled crust.
  5. Arrange fruit on top in rainbow order!
     • red strawberries
     • orange mandarin oranges
     • yellow banana slices
     • green kiwi
     • blue blueberries
     • purple grapes