Making Leprechaun Traps

Designing and building leprechaun traps has become one of our favorite traditions. I think the planning and creating is just as much fun as the anticipation of seeing if they’ll actually catch anything! This is one of those projects that really evokes my favorite memories of the kinds of activities that I loved as a child – the opportunity to use any and all materials to create something that I can see in my mind. That’s definitely a major reason that this stays on my plans year after year. Here are some of the supplies that I make sure to have available when it’s time to build our leprechaun traps:

I always start with gathered, recycled materials, such as

• Empty water bottles
• Clean plastic containers
• Shoe boxes
• Cardboard tubes

Then I add brightly colored craft supplies (because rainbows are important!)

• Construction paper
• Pipe cleaners
• Popsicle sticks
• Straws
• Cotton balls
• Yarn
• Ribbon scraps
• Stickers
• Sequins and confetti

Finally, we need the basics

• Scissors
• White glue
• Glue sticks
• Clear tape
• Markers

Having a variety of materials gives children the opportunity to come up with something unique, while also learning which materials work well together to actually achieve what they’ve imagined. I can’t wait to share some photos of what we create this year!