15 St. Patrick’s Day Kids Activity Ideas (Curated from Sarah Elizabeth)

If you’re looking for playful, colorful, hands-on St. Patrick’s Day inspiration, you’re going to love this roundup.

Today I’m featuring Sarah Elizabeth’s 15 St. Patrick’s Day Kids Activity Ideas — a collection of rainbow crafts, sensory play setups, shamrock art, and themed learning activities that are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

These ideas pair beautifully with our March Play-Based Learning Guide and St. Patrick’s Day content cluster here on GoodnightFox.

Let’s walk through each one.

 

Free Leprechaun Trap

 

Don’t forget to check out our free printable resource library for play-based learning activities, sensory play, and early literacy.  

Download Now

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1. Rainbow Coloring Page + Pot of Gold Craft

A simple but beautiful rainbow coloring activity. Use rainbow colored markers on a sheet of aluminum foil and spray with water. Press the coloring sheet down over the markers to transfer the color onto the sheet of paper. The result — a beautiful pastel rainbow!

Learning focus:

• Color recognition

• Fine motor control

• Holiday vocabulary

Pairs perfectly with:

• 🌈 Rainbow sensory play

• 🍀 Leprechaun Pancakes recipe

2. Rainbow Potion Sensory Bin

A water-based sensory tray with gold coins and rainbow coloring that feels magical. Make baking soda and vinegar come to life in this pot of gold sensory play setup. Use gold coins and glitter to make your pot of gold shine. Squeeze bottles with vinegar help develop fine motor skills while the fizzing fun brings play to life.

Skills supported:

• Scooping and pouring

• Color mixing

• Cause and effect

3. Rainbow Wall Streamer Craft

A large-scale rainbow installation made from streamers and paper clouds. This activity is a great gross motor skill developer and it’s a beautiful craft to have hanging on the wall. Cut out a large white cloud from construction paper and tape it to the wall. Using rainbow colored masking tape, tape lines coming down from the rainbow. Tape them down with the sticky side up so that your little ones can tape wool balls or pom poms to each bow of the rainbow. Isn’t this just the perfect color matching activity for kids?!

Why it’s great:

• Gross motor movement

• Visual impact

• Collaborative play

4. Rainbow Sorting Sensory Bin

Take your St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin to the next level with this super creative idea! Paint rainbow colored chickpeas with acrylic paint and let dry. Pour them in rainbow order into a large play tray. Add mini cauldrons, tongs, and some rainbow accessories and you have the perfect color sorting tray. This activity is so great for fine motor skills, color recognition, and a fun play all day kind of activity.

Learning focus:

• Early math

• Categorization

• Fine motor development

5. Shamrock Handprint Art

Build the most beautiful rainbow with your little one’s hand prints. I love Sarah’s adorable creation here complete with a black paper cut out cauldron and clouds made out of cotton balls. This is the perfect craft you’ll want to hand on the wall when you’re done. Add a tray of gold coins and you’re ready for a fun rainbow adventure.

Skills:

• Sensory tolerance

• Shape recognition

• Creative expression

6. Rainbow Cotton Ball Painting

Use rainbow drippers and cotton balls to create this amazing rainbow effect! Full each glass or jar with water and food coloring for each color of the rainbow. Unleash your little ones to suck up the liquid and squirt it out onto the cotton balls arranged in a rainbow pattern. They’ll absolutely love the drippers and you’ll get to enjoy a minute of peace watching them play!

Why we love it:

• Process art

• No “right” outcome

• Easy setup

7. Fizzy Science Activity

Fill a tray with baking soda and glitter. Add two cups one green one yellow of vinegar plus food coloring. Pull out your rainbow drippers again and watch the magic. You’ll get to see the bubble and fizz while the glitter springs to life.

Skills:

• STEM learning

• Observation

• Cause & effect

Extend this into:

• 🧪 Love Potions sensory play (Valentine crossover idea)

• 🍀 Leprechaun “science lab” dramatic play

8. Leprechaun Book + Craft Invitation

We love pairing up books like How to Catch a Leprechaun with our sensory play and this craft is the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Draw a leprechaun face on a piece of paper and add a top hat made out of green, black, and yellow construction paper. Provide a tray of orange paint and a plastic fork and let your little ones enjoy building the cutest beard for their leprechaun. Top it off with some glitter and googly eyes and you have the perfect craft!

Pair with:

• 🍀 Leprechaun Trap Printable (free)

9. Shamrock Cutting Tray

A scissor skills activity using shamrock shapes. Grab the construction paper and a shamrock shape and you have this perfectly simple activity for creative play. Allow your little ones to dab glue or use a glue stick to stick the different shades of green to the shamrock.

Supports:

• Pre-writing skills

• Hand strength

• Bilateral coordination

10. Shamrock Stamping Art

Using folder toilet paper rolls you can create this brilliantly simple craft. Simply fold an empty toilet paper roll into a heart shape and provide a tray of green paint. Let your little ones stamp away creating beautiful shamrock designs and lucky four leaf clovers!

Learning focus:

• Pattern recognition

• Shape awareness

• Creative repetition

11. Green Play Dough Invitation

A St. Patrick’s themed play dough tray with coins and shamrocks. Complete with shamrock cookie cutters, rainbow charms and gold coins, your little ones will love stamping and pressing and making shapes in playdoh for hours (okay maybe minutes) on end!

Skills:

• Fine motor strengthening

• Imaginative play

• Sensory exploration

Pairs beautifully with:

• 🍀 Pot of Gold sensory bin

• 🧁 Leprechaun Pancakes food activity

12. Pot of Gold Dot Counting Activity

Draw a simple pot of gold and rainbow lines to create this awesome dot art craft. With this activity sheet, little ones can practice color recognition as well as counting. Encourage them to count each dot and see how many fit on each color of the rainbow. This is a great hands-on play based learning activity for kids.

Learning focus:

• Early math

• One-to-one correspondence

• Sorting skills

Extend with:

• 🌈 Rainbow counting cards

• 🍀 March math play trays

13. Rainbow Paper Towel Art

If you have little ones that love water play, this activity is a great low key way to make water play fun without all of the mess. Using marker on a paper towel, color the shape of a rainbow. Then provide a squirt bottle filled with water and let your little ones enjoy watching the colors combine and bleed together.

This pairs perfectly with:

• 🥞 Leprechaun Pancakes

• 🌈 Color sorting activities

14. Rainbow Squeegee Painting

Using cotton balls for clouds and globs of paint at one end, your little ones will love watching the effect as they pull the squeegee along the page. This one is fun to do over and over again because each time the pattern is different and unique.

Skills supported:

• Sensory regulation

• Scooping and pouring

• Vocabulary building

You could combine this with:

• Easter sensory play ideas

15. Shamrock Marshmallow Stamping Prints

Create the most adorable little shamrocks using just marshmallows and paint! This craft is so unique and fun (and tasty if you let your little ones sneak a marshmallow). Dip marshmallows in green paint and stamp them onto plain white paper int the shape of a shamrock.

Why we love it:

• Sustainable

• Easy prep

• Great for classrooms

Pairs beautifully with:

• 🌸 Spring craft activities

• 🍀 March toddler activities

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How This Fits Into Your March Play-Based Learning

These 15 ideas align perfectly with:

• 🍀 Our March Activity Guide

• 🌈 Rainbow learning activities

• 🥞 Leprechaun Pancakes snack day

• 🍀 Leprechaun Trap craft

If you’re planning your St. Patrick’s Day week, you could easily turn these into:

• Monday: Rainbow sensory play

• Tuesday: Shamrock art

• Wednesday: STEM rainbow experiment

• Thursday: Leprechaun trap

• Friday: Leprechaun pancakes

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Shop the St. Patrick’s Day Theme (GoodnightFox Favorites)

If you’d like to extend the learning, here are a few GoodnightFox favorites that pair beautifully with these activities:

• 🍀 Leprechaun Trap Free Printable

• 🥞 Leprechaun Pancakes Recipe

• 🌈 Rainbow sensory activities

• 📅 March Play-Based Learning Guide

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Final Thoughts

Sarah Elizabeth’s St. Patrick’s Day activity ideas are colorful, playful, and incredibly engaging for toddlers and preschoolers.

When paired with your March learning rhythm and seasonal sensory setups, they create a full week (or month!) of joyful, play-based learning.

Fluffy Marshmallow Rainbow Doh (Taste-Safe!)

Fluffy Marshmallow Rainbow Doh (Taste-Safe!)

If you’re looking for a magical sensory activity that toddlers instantly fall in love with, this Fluffy Marshmallow Rainbow Doh is the perfect choice. It’s soft, stretchy, pastel-pretty, and has a unique marshmallow-puff texture that feels like squishing tiny clouds. Kids adore it, and parents love how easy it is to make at home.

This taste-safe sensory doh uses simple pantry ingredients and creates the perfect invitation to play — especially for rainbow-loving preschoolers and toddlers who enjoy soft textures, color play, and hands-on sensory exploration.

And the best part? This activity ties beautifully into Weather Week inside my Homeschool Curriculum & Planner, making it not just fun but a meaningful learning experience too.

Let’s get into the recipe!

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Ingredients

To make your fluffy marshmallow doh, you'll need:

• 1 cup marshmallows (mini or regular)

• 2–3 tablespoons cooking oil (vegetable or coconut)

• ½–1 cup cornstarch (add gradually)

• Food coloring (I used pastel rainbow tones — pink, peach, yellow, mint, blue, lavender)

• Microwave-safe bowl

• Spoon or spatula

• Extra cornstarch for kneading

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Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Melt Your Marshmallows

Add 1 cup of marshmallows and 1–2 tablespoons of oil to a microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave for 20–30 seconds until soft and melty. Stir until smooth.

2. Add Color

Add a drop or two of food coloring to the warm marshmallow mixture.
Stir until fully combined. (Tip: For pastel shades, use the tiniest amount of color!)

3. Add Cornstarch

Start with ½ cup of cornstarch and fold it into the mixture.
Keep adding small amounts until the dough becomes soft, stretchy, and slightly bouncy, but no longer sticky.

4. Knead With Hands

Dust your hands with cornstarch and knead the dough for about 30 seconds.
This step is where the magic happens — the texture transforms into a fluffy, marshmallow cloud.

5. Repeat for Each Color

If you're making a full pastel rainbow, repeat steps 1–4 with a new bowl or rinse between colors.

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⭐ Why this version works

• Marshmallow crème + frosting = a soft, airy binder.

• Powdered sugar makes it smooth and stretchier than classic cornstarch dough.

• Cornstarch keeps it moldable.

• Oil keeps it from crumbling and gives it the buttery texture.

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⚠️ Notes for Parents

• Completely taste-safe, but extremely sweet — not meant to be eaten as a snack.

• Store in an airtight container for 1–2 days (because it’s edible).

• If it gets dry, knead in a little extra oil.

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Ways to Play

(And why this dough is so good for toddler development!)

This sensory doh is incredibly versatile. In the photos, you’ll see little hands twisting rainbow ropes, squishing puffy “clouds,” and shaping colorful weather scenes — and truly, anything goes. Here are a few guided play ideas:

🌈 Rainbow Twists & Swirls

Kids can roll the dough into ropes and twist the pastel colors together.
Great for:

• Fine motor skills

• Bilateral coordination

• Color recognition

Want to extend the learning? Pair this with my Color Flashcards, which help toddlers identify, match, and describe each pastel shade while they play. It’s an easy way to sneak in early language and color awareness!

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☁️ Cloud Puffs

Press, poke, and squish!
The marshmallow texture is softer than regular playdough, making it especially calming and satisfying.

🌦️ Weather Scenes

Use the pastel colors to make:

• Clouds

• Raindrops

• Sun rays

• Rainbows

• Stormy skies

You can even add small toys or loose parts to create a full small-world weather setup.

✋ Calming Sensory Play

The pillowy bounce of this dough makes it ideal for emotional regulation and slow sensory exploration.

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Weather Week in the Homeschool Planner

Inside the GoodnightFox Homeschool Curriculum & Planner, this activity fits perfectly into Weather Week — one of the most hands-on, sensory-friendly themes in the program.

Here’s how it ties in:

• Rainbow colors = perfect for learning about sun, rain, and weather patterns

• Cloud-soft texture = great for sensory science

• Small-world scenes = ideal for storytelling and vocabulary

Weather Week already includes:

• A Rainbow Playdoh Day

• Cloud science observation prompts

• Weather cards & matching games

• Weather charting and daily sky tracking

This marshmallow doh recipe is an easy add-on to extend the learning and bring the theme to life in a magical, hands-on way.

If you’re not using the planner yet, this is a great preview of the kind of playful, development-focused learning you can expect inside!

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More Pastel Rainbow Activities From My Blog

If your child loves rainbow themes (and yours definitely will after this!), try these pastel-friendly favorites next:

• Pastel Rice Sensory Bin

• Rainbow Popsicle Stick Craft

• Cloud Color-Matching Craft

• Pastel Chickpea Dyed Sensory Bin

• Rainbow Cutting Strips Activity

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Weather-Themed Products From My Shop

Bring even more weather learning into your home with these GoodnightFox resources:

Weather Station Printable Play

Weather Flashcards

Weather Play Rounds

Weather Memory Game

These pair beautifully with hands-on activities like the marshmallow doh and help create a complete, visually consistent learning environment at home.

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Educational Takeaways & Homeschool Value

• Sensory-based: strengthens fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and tactile awareness. (AgriCollege)

• Creative & cognitive: supports imagination, color recognition, cause/effect, and symbolic thinking. (Sunshine House Early Learning Academy)

• Emotional and social: encourages calm, concentration, connection (parent and child working together), and expressive play. (Mothercould)

• Language & pre-writing readiness: shaping, pressing, and sculpting dough helps build hand strength for writing, and talking through play builds vocabulary and storytelling skills. (curiositycornersensorydough)

10 Rainbow Sensory Activities for Toddlers

Colorful Play Ideas for Spring, Weather Week & St. Patrick’s Day

Rainbow activities are pure magic for toddlers.

They’re bright. They’re inviting. They naturally encourage sorting, pattern building, color recognition, and sensory exploration — without it feeling like “learning.”

These rainbow sensory activities fit beautifully into:

• 🌈 Weather & Rainbows Week

• 🍀 St. Patrick’s Day play themes

• 🌸 Spring play invitations

• 📅 Our March Play-Based Learning Guide

Let’s dive into our favorite rainbow activities — the ones that truly hold toddler attention.

1. Rainbow Water Color Mixing

This is always the activity that makes toddlers gasp.

Set out small jars of primary-colored water with droppers or pipettes and let your little one experiment with mixing colors. Watching red and yellow swirl into orange or blue and yellow transform into green feels like a little science experiment — but to them, it’s magic.

It’s also secretly building:

• Fine motor control

• Early science concepts

• Cause-and-effect understanding

Color Mixing Activity →

2. Rainbow Cloud Dough

Rainbow cloud dough is soft, crumbly, and almost impossible to resist.

Layer the colors in rainbow order inside a tray and add scoops, cups, or shamrock cookie cutters. Toddlers love pressing, scooping, and blending the colors together — even if your perfectly layered rainbow doesn’t last long.

This activity supports:

• Sensory regulation

• Hand strength

• Open-ended imaginative play

Rainbow Cloud Dough →

3. Rainbow Pancakes

Turning breakfast into a rainbow stack is one of the easiest ways to make learning feel joyful.

Stack colorful pancakes in rainbow order and let your toddler help arrange toppings by color. You can talk about sequencing (What color comes next?) or count each layer together.

It’s playful. It’s memorable. And it feels like a celebration.

Rainbow Pancakes →

4. Rainbow Waffles

Rainbow waffles are a slightly simpler spin on rainbow pancakes — but just as fun.

Top waffles with blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, and other colorful fruits to build a rainbow across the plate. Before assembling, have your toddler sort the fruit by color or count how many pieces of each shade they have.

It’s breakfast + early math + fine motor skills — all wrapped into one happy plate.

Rainbow Waffles →

5. Rainbow Marshmallows

Dyed marshmallows arranged in rainbow order make an irresistibly sweet sensory invitation.

Add small tongs for picking up each color and watch fine motor skills strengthen in real time. You can practice patterns (red, orange, red, orange) or count each section as you build the rainbow.

It’s simple, beautiful, and toddler-approved.

Rainbow Marshmallows →

6. Rainbow Noodles (Taste-Safe Sensory Play)

Rainbow noodles are perfect for toddlers who still explore with their mouths.

Cook spaghetti, divide into bowls, dye each section, and place them in rainbow order inside a tray. The slippery texture is fascinating, and little hands love squeezing and scooping.

This activity supports:

• Sensory exploration

• Hand strength

• Early color sorting

It’s one of my favorite go-to activities for rainy spring afternoons.

Rainbow Noodles →

7. Rainbow Yogurt Paint (Taste-Safe)

If you’re not quite ready for traditional paint, rainbow yogurt is the perfect solution.

Simply dye plain yogurt with food coloring and let your toddler finger paint directly on parchment paper or a tray. The colors blend beautifully — and you don’t have to stress if they sneak a taste.

This activity builds:

• Creative confidence

• Sensory tolerance

• Early artistic exploration

It fits beautifully into Weather & Rainbows Week when talking about how rain and sunshine create rainbows.

Rainbow Finger Paint Taste Safe →

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8. Rainbow S’mores

Rainbow s’mores feel extra special because they combine sensory play and snack time.

Arrange colorful marshmallows in rainbow order before assembling your treat. You can talk about color sequencing or ask your toddler to find “the green one” or “the blue one” to reinforce vocabulary.

It’s cozy, colorful, and perfect for a March afternoon.

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9. Rainbow Kinetic Sand

Divide kinetic sand into rainbow sections inside a shallow tray and add mini scoops, cups, or “pots of gold.”

Toddlers naturally start mixing the colors, creating patterns, or burying small treasures. The texture is calming and incredibly engaging.

This activity pairs beautifully with:

• 🍀 Pot of Gold sensory bins

• 📅 Our March Play Guide

10. Rainbow Spaghetti

Rainbow finger painting is messy in the best possible way.

Whether you use traditional washable paints or taste-safe yogurt, encourage toddlers to swipe, blend, and layer colors freely. You can create rainbow arcs or simply let them explore how colors mix together.

It’s not about the final artwork — it’s about the experience.

And that’s the heart of play-based learning.

Rainbow Spaghetti →

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How to Turn This Into a Full Rainbow Week

Here’s a simple rhythm you could follow:

Monday – Rainbow Color Mixing
Tuesday – Yogurt Paint
Wednesday – Rainbow Noodles
Thursday – Leprechaun Trap Craft
Friday – Leprechaun Pancakes

For a full month of themed learning, see our March Play-Based Learning Guide