It is said that anyone can be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Focus on the color green and share some of the legends and lore of this holiday with your child.

1. Living Shamrock

   Activity for an individual child
   Age group: 18–40 months
   Duration of activity: 15 minutes

   This is a fun gardening activity, but it takes patience to see the result.

   What You'll Need

   • Kitchen sponge
   • Scissors
   • Water
   • Shallow pie tin
   • Grass seeds

   1. Cut the sponge into a shamrock shape.

   2. Fill the pie tin with enough water to cover the bottom. Place the sponge in the water.

   3. Help your child sprinkle the grass seeds onto the wet sponge.

   4. Place the pie tin with the sponge in a sunny place. Keep the sponge moist while the grass is sprouting.

2. Rainbow's End

   Activity for an individual child
   Age group: 30–40 months
   Duration of activity: 15 minutes

   This cute craft makes a pretty centerpiece for a holiday party. Add some gold-foil chocolate coins for extra excitement.

   What You'll Need

   • Toilet paper tube
   • Scissors
   • Black felt-tip marker
   • Paper plate
   • Crayons or colored markers
   • White craft glue
   • Gold sequins

   1. Cut the toilet paper tube in half crosswise. Discard one half.

   2. Have your child color the half tube black to make the pot.

   3. Cut the paper plate in half. Discard one half.

   4. Cut off the rim of the plate to create an arch shape. You may need to trim the width a bit so that one end will fit into the “pot.”

   5. Encourage your child to color the arch with rainbow colors. Keep in mind that your child's creative rainbow may not resemble the real thing; that is okay.

   6. Let your child glue some gold sequins to the rim of the little black pot.

   7. Balance the rainbow arch by inserting one end of it into the pot opening.

3. Pot-of-Gold Hunt

   You will be promoting your child's problem-solving skills while she plays this fun game. If you wish, you can substitute a real treat basket for the paper pot of gold; just be sure to decorate it with plenty of cut-out gold coins!

   Activity for an individual child
   Age group: 30-40 months
   Duration of activity: 20 minutes

   What You'll Need

   • Colored construction paper
   • Scissors
   • Masking tape

   1. Cut the following shapes out of construction paper: 20 tiny green feet, 1 brown kettle, 10 small yellow circles, and an arch shape with different colors to form a rainbow.

   2. Tape the yellow circles in the kettle shape to create the pot of gold.

   3. Find a location to “hide” the pot of gold. Place it or tape it anywhere you wish.

   4. Tape the green feet a few feet apart to form a path for your child to follow. Let them wind up the wall or under furniture to finally lead to the pot of gold.

   5. Tell your child about how it is believed that a leprechaun can lead you to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Show her the footprints, and encourage her to follow them to the treasure.

• Valentine's Day
• Passover and Purim