Setting Up the Classroom for the St. Patrick's Day Theme

Last Updated on February 18, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: We found lots of fun ideas for our toddler and preschool St. Patrick’s Day theme, plus we explored mixing blue and yellow to make green. It’s a fun way to expose children to color recognition in playful ways!

Our classroom has lots of green in it this week as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

We are mixing colors at the art table and at the science table, learning what makes green.

There are gold coins and shamrocks tucked in every area of the classroom, too, and we will be going on a gold coin hunt!

Once again, we kept our activities as open-ended as possible, with plenty of opportunity to explore.

More to read: March Theme Ideas

Setting Up the Classroom for the St. Patrick’s Day Theme

Classroom Set-Up Videos for the St. Patrick’s Day Theme:

Light Table: Green Magnatiles, Crystal Climbers, and Gnomes

We love building with our Magnatiles on the light table, so I simply only put the green ones on it for St. Patrick’s Day. I also added some of our Crystal Climbers and some gnomes.

Setting Up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the St. Patrick's Day Theme

Dramatic Play: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

Gold plates, green cups, little leprechaun hats … it’s time to have a St. Patrick’s Day party!

Oh, and we needed green felt hats that the children could wear, too!

Related: 25+ Dramatic Play Activities

Sensory Bin: Gold Coins and Treasure Chests

Filling treasure chests with gold coins and other shimmery pieces is always fun!

Playdough: Green and Gold

We added shamrock cookie cutters and gold coins to our play dough fun!

Fine Motor: Transferring Pom Poms

I found this silicone shamrock pan from Michael’s Crafts and knew it would be perfect for this fine motor activity!

Science and Exploration: Mixing Yellow and Blue to Make Green

I put some yellow and green washable finger paints in a gallon plastic freezer bag, sealed it, and then taped it carefully to a tray. As the children press on the bag, they will watch the colors mix and make a third color, green!

Read more about this activity: Simple Color-Mixing Idea

Block Area: Leprechaun, Treasure Chests, Gold Coins, and a Rainbow

We put our rainbow stacking blocks on top of a map that showed where the leprechaun has traveled, as well as the gold coins he left along the way. Filling treasure chests is always fun for this age group, too!

Related: The Best Blocks Activities

Art: Painting on Foil to Make Prints

I placed some foil on our In and Out Activity Table, along with yellow and blue washable finger paints. We then pressed our shamrock paper on top of the paint to make a print. You can see more, and grab the free printables here.

More St. Patrick’s Day art ideas:

Writing Table: Shamrocks

Using the same printable as we used in our foil shamrock prints, I added some blue, yellow, and green Do-a-Dot markers for some colorful fine motor fun.

Related: Setting Up the Writing Center

An Invitation to Find Green Objects

I placed a green tray on top of one of our shelves along with some books that featured the color green. I invited the children to place green items on the tray as they found them in the classroom.