17 Ways to Get Your Green On This March 17
If you haven’t gotten the hint already, we’re really into St. Patrick’s Day around here.
Wait. Let me rethink that. I’m really into St. Patrick’s Day. #DoneWithFun Daddy decidedly is not, and the boys’ interest extends only as far as trapping a leprechaun and finding his “real” gold.
I blame my Irish roots. (My maiden name is McDonough, and I still prefer to think of our little family as the McBlackwelders.) Many of the things I’m now doing with my boys are ideas that my mom did with me as a child. She’s still the master of the leprechaun milk (or beer) trick — see #3 for her secret touch.
Whether you’re Irish or not, you know the saying: Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. So, stock up on your green food coloring and follow my To-Do list for 17 easy ways to make St. Patrick’s Day fun for your family.
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How to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Your Kids
1. Paint leprechaun footprints on your floor
Washable green paint (and maybe glitter if you’re a little crazy like I am) on select surfaces in your face are guaranteed to spark squeals of delight and intensify the hunt for the leprechauns. I use Crayola Washable Kids’ Paint for mine (it really does wipe right away), and there’s a new Amazon exclusive set that includes glitter paint for that extra magic flair minus the trauma of actual glitter sprinkled everywhere.
2. Make gold coins with cookies
Pick your poison: Oreos or Nilla Wafers. Buy two cans of Wilton Color Mist edible spray in metallic gold (1.5 oz) if you want to make a large batch of leprechaun gold because it takes a heavy 2-3 coats to really make the Oreos and read my tutorial for tips on avoiding a Pinterest fail.
3. Make your kids’ milk magically turn green right in front of their eyes
Yes, this is the Sue McDonough magic that blew our minds as kids every single time. It’s simple: Just put 3-4 drops of (liquid) green food coloring into the bottom of your kid’s glass or sippy cup. If you do this while you’re getting dinner ready, your kids are never going to notice. Then, when everyone sits down to dinner, pour the milk at the table and watch white milk from the carton “magically” turn green in the cup. Works great for grown-ups’ beer too!
4. Build a leprechaun trap
I got leprechaun-lucky this year and Easton is engineering a leprechaun trap in his kindergarten class so we don’t have to build one at home. Collect up random boxes, cardboard tubes, plastic containers, and other recyclables; then let your kids’ creativity soar. E’s kindergarten teacher is going to be in awe (or horror) when she hears the Rube Goldberg fantasy ideas he’s been brainstorming with me before school. No basis in physics or reality? Not my problem this year. And that’s why I love and respect the hell out of my kids’ teachers.
5. Bait the trap with Leprechaun Bait Trail Mix
How do you lure the leprechaun into the trap so you can get his gold? With a sweet, sparkly, rainbow trail mix the kids can help you mix up. This Leprechaun Bait Trail Mix recipe is cereal-based but I’m not going to call it healthy. Instead, let’s just call it fun and remember that holidays only come once a year. (Thankfully.)
6. Turn the toilet water green
Are you even a boy mom if your leprechaun doesn’t color the toilet water green, over and over again throughout the day? Elevate your leprechaun game by not just adding food coloring to the toilet bowl but by adding it to the toilet tank too. Then after they flush (ahem, IF they flush…), green water comes back too. The laughter of little boys about leprechaun pee is a joke that can last a whole weekend, just sayin’.
7. Make shamrock chocolate pretzel cookies
In between leprechaun hunts and other shenanigan, let the kids help sprinkle shamrock pretzel cookies, or snack on ones you made after they go to sleep — like I do to eliminate the amount of sprinkles on my kitchen floor. These no-bake white chocolate-pretzel-M&M confections are addictive but slightly labor-intensive, so if you’re letting the kids “help”, have a good assembly line ready.
8. Eat classic corned beef and cabbage for dinner
Once a year, I love the salty corned beef and soggy-ish cabbage with baby carrots and redskin potatoes. I know the Irish aren’t necessarily known for their stellar cuisine but this is a classic meal that I look forward to every March. And only every March. We make our Irish dinner in the crockpot, but this year I’ve been intrigued by all the Instant Pot recipes I’ve seen. I’ll report back if I decide to deviate from the standard.
9. Have a healthier Shamrock Shake smoothie for breakfast
Or indulge and get the real thing from McDonald’s. Or do both. But my spring season is not complete without at least one frozen minty-sweet, pale green concoction. This year, my smoothie version has satisfied my craving enough that I can save my indulgence for something better. (See #14 and #15 below.)
10. Wear green EVERYTHING!
My kids have new St. Patrick’s Day shirts every year. I have the same St. Patrick’s Day shirt every year … but this year I bought myself a new workout tank for the occasion as well. And then there’s #DoneWithFun Daddy, who owns one faded, barely green T-shirt and a flannel with some green in it that he will grudgingly wear to our celebration while the rest of us are decked out like a college St. Paddy’s Day bar crawl, with necklaces and hats and green sequins everywhere. We can’t all be fun, amiright? I do fun for all the McBlackwelders.
11. Send leprechaun hat applesauce snacks to school
In lunchboxes or for the class party, it’s nice to have a healthy green option to celebrate the holiday with your kids. Grab my free printable to transform applesauce cups into leprechaun hats for a festive flair. These will probably be the mainstay of my kids’ St. Patrick’s Day dinner in all honestly, because my two aren’t touching corned beef or cabbage if it were sprinkled with gold dust and presented by a leprechaun himself.
12. Slather homemade Irish soda bread with real Irish butter
Here’s another thing I’m a purist about: Irish soda bread. I only like my mom’s recipe made with buttermilk and golden raisins. I’ve sampled a lot of store-bought loaves and none compare. Hers is fluffy and cake-list and when warmed and slathered with real Irish butter, I actually prefer a slice of it to any real dessert on St. Patrick’s Day. Now, if only I could get her recipe…
13. Make Lucky Charms marshmallow treats
For breakfast, snack or dessert, Lucky Charms cereal is only improved by the addition of gooey, buttery melted marshmallows and sprinkles. Now that I’ve tried this twist on Rice Krispie Treats, my mind is blown and I’m already daydreaming about other cereal-marshmallow combinations for the future.
14. Buy a few pieces of fool’s gold (pyrite) for the kids to find
Easton has been in a rock and gem phase lately, so it’s only fitting that the treasure at the end of the rainbow this year will be actual (fool’s) gold. He can add it to his beloved rock collection and bring it to Show and Share. Now to figure out an appropriate hiding spot for the rainbow to end at…
15. Add Bailey’s to your buttercream
Don’t think twice. Just top all of your St. Patrick’s Day desserts with boozy Irish cream buttercream frosting and thank me later.
16. Translate Irish coffee into dessert
The only thing better than Bailey’s in dessert is Bailey’s and Jameson together in dessert. Boozy Irish coffee cake pops take care of all of these needs in one treat, and cover it in chocolate to boot.
17. Raise a glass (of Guinness, Jameson, Bailey’s, or heck, green milk) and toast “Sláinte!” to another year of family, fun, and good health
I think I identify with my Irish roots so strongly because of the culture’s focus on family and celebration: my personal pillars of parenthood. So, yes, I’ll drink to another #NeverDoneWithFun year! Share your celebration on social media and follow mine on Instagram and Pinterest for daily ideas and inspiration for #momlife and beyond.
