This year, just in time, for St. Patrick’s Day, you and kids need to make a Leprechaun Trap! He won’t be able to resist the gold! This post contains affiliate links.
Table of Contents
What do leprechauns love?
The first thing you need to know about making a leprechaun trap is what leprechauns love. First and foremost, they love money, especially gold and silver. Gold is the best, but silver coins will do just as good. They can’t resist either.
What do you need to make a Leprechaun Trap?
- download the free Leprechaun Trap printable
- a plastic mason jar
- gold pebbles (and green pebbles if desired) or aquarium gravel
- a battery-operated tea light
- a small amount of playdoh or clay
- 2-3 straws
- some glue dots, school glue, or tape
- pipe cleaners in green or a rainbow of colors OR popsicle sticks
- an old shoe box or box lid
- construction paper (red and green colors work best)
Get the FREE Leprechaun Trap Printables
How do you make a Leprechaun Trap?
This is the fun part, and kids can totally make their own leprechaun trap.
Add a couple of glue dots to the bottom of a battery-operated tea light.
Place the tea light in the center bottom of the plastic mason jar.
Fill the bottom of the mason jar with gold pebbles, just enough to cover the tea light. When the tea light is on, it makes the gold irresistible to leprechauns.
Cover an old box lid or shoe box with green or red construction paper and decorate as you like.
Lay a piece of red or green construction paper down in the bottom and set the mason jar towards the back of it.
Create a ladder using pipe cleaners or popsicle sticks and glue and place it on the side of jar so the leprechaun can climb in.
Cut out the shamrocks, gold coins, and signs from the free printable.
Glue down the shamrocks on the construction paper towards the mason jar to create a pathway to the jar.
Attach the “Free Gold” sign to the top of the mason jar where the down arrow can be seen.
Cut the straws into halves or thirds. Take each straw part and glue or tape them to the back of the rest of the signs. Then, make small balls of clay or playdough and insert the straws to hold the signs upright.
Set the signs along the shamrock path leading the leprechaun to the ladder on the side of the jar.
Make sure the tea light is on and hide the jar lid.
How to set out the Leprechaun Trap?
It’s very important you don’t put your trap out until the night before St. Patrick’s Day.
Place it in a prominent place where a leprechaun can find it such as the kitchen table or a nightstand.
Parents, what do you add to a leprechaun trap?
Before the next morning, add some chocolate coins to the inside of the jar or even rainbow or leprechaun treats so your child thinks a leprechaun was caught. Here are a few DIY ideas:
Don’t want to make anything? Check out these delicious treats you can buy:
- Chocolate Gold Coins
- Rainbow Lollipops
- Cosmic Brownies
- Rainbow Goldfish Crackers
- Airhead Extremes
- Rainbow Popcorn
- Gold Hershey Kisses
- Rainbow SweetTart Ropes
- Rainbow Candy Sticks
- Twizzler Rainbow Packs
More Leprechaun Ideas
- Give your kids a Leprechaun Scavenger Hunt
- Free Printable Kids Leprechaun Hunt for Gold
- 5 Free Kids St. Patrick’s Day Printable Games
- Taste the Elixir of Fortune – Leprechaun Drink
- Let’s Make a Leprechaun Trap!
- Lucky Leprechaun Hats
- Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Muffins
- Let’s make some Shamrock Pretzel Pops
- Pot o’ Gold Cookies
Let's Make a Leprechaun Trap!
Materials
- download the free Leprechaun Trap printable
- a plastic mason jar
- gold pebbles (and green pebbles if desired) or aquarium gravel
- a battery-operated tea light
- a small amount of playdoh or clay
- 2-3 straws
- pipe cleaners in green or a rainbow of colors OR popsicle sticks
- an old shoe box or box lid
- construction paper (red and green colors work best)
Instructions
Print out the free Leprechaun Trap printable preferably on cardstock.
Add a couple of glue dots to the bottom of a battery-operated tea light.
Place the tea light in the center bottom of the plastic mason jar.
Fill the bottom of the mason jar with gold pebbles, just enough to cover the tea light.
Cover an old box lid or shoe box with green or red construction paper and decorate as you like.
Lay a piece of red or green construction paper down in the bottom and set the mason jar towards the back of it.
Create a ladder using pipe cleaners or popsicle sticks and glue and place it on the side of jar.
Cut out the shamrocks, gold coins, and signs from the free printable.
Glue down the shamrocks on the construction paper towards the mason jar to create a pathway to the jar.
Attach the "Free Gold" sign to the top of the mason jar where the down arrow can be seen.
Cut the straws into halves or thirds. Take each straw part and glue or tape them to the back of the rest of the signs. Make small balls of clay or playdough and insert the straws to hold the signs upright.
Set the signs along the shamrock path and push down the clay to make the signs sturdy.
Place the gold coins into the jar.
Make sure the tea light is on and hide the jar lid.
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