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For most of us, St. Patrick’s Day means that we wear something green to avoid the pinching penalty. We drink green concoctions (beer or cocktails for those of us who are over 21), and we may even enjoy St. Patrick’s Day parades and events. While many of us prefer to dream of finding and trapping leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day, the origins of the day go back to a man named St. Patrick who was born in Roman Britain in the 4th or 5th century.
Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders when he was 16 and taken as a slave to Ireland where he worked as a shepherd until he escaped. Despite his less than positive experience in Ireland, he became a priest and returned to convert the Irish to Christianity in 430 CE. He established schools and churches during his time in Ireland, but there are a number of legends that tell of his driving the snakes out of Ireland and other almost magical or mystical tales.
We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th because that’s the date of St. Patrick’s death (although he was never canonized as a saint), but the holiday quickly became secularized when Irish immigrants to the US transformed the day with parades, revelry, and elaborate celebrations.
What Do Leprechauns Have To Do With Saint Patrick’s Day?
St. Patrick’s Day was never officially linked with leprechauns while he was alive, but we’ve since linked both the man and the magical leprechaun to Ireland as symbols. There’s a certain kind of mystery and magic associated with both the man and leprechaun, but they also both appear to bring luck and good blessings. Leprechauns are often associated with greed, as well as solitary, crotchety, and trickster behavior.
If you catch a leprechaun, he (or she) might just take you to their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. But even seeing a leprechaun could bring you good luck. So, the idea behind building a trap for St. Patrick’s Day really ties back to our wish to get rich quick. It’s still a great experiment for our kids and even for those of us who are still young at heart. The appearance of leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day is a bit like Santa on Christmas Eve. We never catch the magical being, but it’s fun to try, and there are always a few treats left behind.
My kids love leprechaun traps. We’ve been creating them since they were little, and it’s still fun to see what the magical creature will leave behind when he invariably escapes. When we first started out making leprechaun traps, we’d use whatever we had in the house. We searched high and low for anything that was green or gold. That included construction paper, discarded cardboard boxes we could paint green or cover with construction paper, glitter glue, or any gold-looking toy or object you can imagine.
Over time, we’ve gotten a bit more strategic with our supplies, but I’ve also been amazed to see that you can now get Leprechaun trap kits and supplies on Etsy
Leprechaun Trap DIY Kit
A leprechaun trap that’s this well-designed and built can last year after year. For our own personal experiments, we build a new one every year, but this one really looks like it might catch a leprechaun the first time. After all, it’s a sturdy little wooden trap with a sign that advertises “Free Gold”. Who wouldn’t be tempted?
It’s a real working trap – you just pull the lever with the string and the trap falls! This trap is also bright and colorful with everything you need to create a fully green, shamrock-and-rainbow experience for your leprechaun. Most important of all, as we’ve found, this kit includes gold coins, which are so key to tempting the leprechaun to enter the trap.
Leprechaun Trap Kit
This is the perfect way to prepare for your St. Patrick’s Day. Make a hat with your kids, get crafty with your decorations, and even put together a nifty leprechaun trap that may just succeed this time around. This kit comes complete with gold coins, that tantalizing treasure that will really lure the leprechaun into the clever little trap.
One of the great things about this kit is that it accommodates your needs, even if you have more than one child. It’s a great activity kit, with games, stickers, coloring pages, and lots of tips that will help make your St. Patrick’s Day memorable and fun for you and your kids. You’ll even get a letter from the leprechaun, a must for your leprechaun trap experiment.
Leprechaun Footprints
If there is ever any doubt that leprechauns are real, these tiny footprint stickers will tell the tale. When my son was in kindergarten, he joined his teacher and classmates in a wild hunt all over the school in search of leprechauns for St. Patrick’s Day. They followed the footprints away from their traps, and they were quite certain that they’d catch them! Now, you and your kids can follow the footprints, too, with these removable vinyl stickers. It might just be one of those adventures with your kids that you will never forget.
What are your favorite traditions for St. Patrick’s Day? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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