St. Patrick’s Day is a great holiday. Adults love to celebrate it, but children love it even more. Incorporate some of these St. Patrick’s Day children’s party ideas when planning your own party. And even if the children in your life don’t have a drop of Irish blood in them, they can still have fun at a party to honor St. Patrick.

Costumes

Many children love to dress up at Halloween. There’s no reason they can’t dress up as leprechauns or fairy-folk for the party. Encourage the children all to wear green, whether they choose to wear a costume or not. Have a contest for the child that shows the most St. Patrick’s Day spirit by what they’re wearing.

Decorations

Shamrocks, pots of gold, rainbows, green and gold balloons, and Celtic crosses can all be used as decorations. Ask the children to begin making decorations for the party so you don’t have to do all of the work. They can trace each other on large pieces of paper, and then “dress up” their drawings to look like leprechauns.

Games

Who hasn’t played Pin the Tail on the Donkey at some point in their life? Use the same idea but give it an Irish twist by having the child pin the hat on the leprechaun. You may want to find a picture of a leprechaun in a coloring book or on the internet and print it out. Then make a hat out of black construction paper.

Music

Find Irish songs to play in the background during the party. Many Irish songs can be found online as free downloads. Make a compact disk of Irish songs you can enjoy during your St. Patrick’s Day children’s party and at all other times of the year.

Clear a space for the children to dance. They may not have the moves for a correct Irish Jig, but they’ll enjoy themselves. If you know someone who actually does Irish step dancing, you may want to bring them in to teach the children.

Food

Serve plenty of foods which are green. Dye hard boiled eggs green, vegetables dipped in green dip (add food coloring to a white dip), cut up green apples, green grapes, or kiwi. You may also want to add some traditional Irish foods to the party menu such as Colcannon (mashed potatoes, cabbage, onions, and bacon), Irish stew, or Irish soda crackers with green dip.

When planning a St. Patrick’s Day children’s party, ideas like these make the planning process easier. The party doesn’t have to be elaborate; do what you can to make it festive by using traditional Irish motifs and lots of green. Remember to make the party full of fun activities, music, and food, and the children will enjoy themselves.