So, you’re just like me. It’s the night before St. Patrick’s Day and you have nothing special planned for this middle of March, emerald hued, leprechaun leaping, four-leaf clover finding, ‘kiss me I’m Irish’  holiday. What’s a mom to do? Here are my procrastinator worthy, last minute ideas for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with your kids.

How to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Without Much Planning – What Do You Have On Hand?

Food coloring – Tint pancakes or waffles green for breakfast or tint the milk green that goes in their cereal! (Here are some really fun ways to tint food with food coloring!) Tint vanilla yogurt or cottage cheese to go with lunch and be sure to serve green mashed potatoes for dinner!

Construction paper – Print out a shamrock template and start cutting! Make small shamrocks for writing lunch box messages. Make medium shamrocks for a garland.  Make large shamrocks for decorating the dining room table.

Markers, colored pencils or crayons – Write everything in green; from notes in lunches to signing your 4th grader’s school papers. Use a green dry erase marker to draw shamrocks and write messages on the bathroom mirror!

Face paint – Leftover face paint from Halloween? Paint shamrocks on their cheeks!

Scavenger hunt – Think of several green items in your home. Things like toys, desk supplies (paper clips, post-it notes), hair bands, cups, pens, stickers, or candy. Make up a scavenger hunt that sends your kids around the house, hunting for green items. First one back with them all gets a first place shamrock pin that you made from the construction paper listed above!

Whether you choose one or several of these ideas, I hope you find that celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with your kids can be fun without a lot of advance planning. Be spontaneous, be quirky but most of all be relaxed and Irish eyes will be smiling on you!

photo credits: jpminmontreal, ClipArt from Microsoft Office Online