Irish or not, St. Patrick’s Day is fun for everyone. From wacky Wednesday to cooking corned beef and cabbage. My family has always made quite the tradition out of the day.
I personally think that corned beef, cabbage and Irish soda bread are a treat in itself, but I have come up with some more ideas for kids.
Breakfast
Kids are (sometimes) easy to please. Lucky charms and green milk can be enough for them. If you have the heart waffle maker from Valentine’s Day, now if the time to pull it out. I made pancakes using milk because it makes them fluffier and I added green food coloring to the. I poured the batter into the hart waffle press. Place three of the hearts together to form a clover.
TIP: With St. Patrick’s Day being on a school/ work day this year, the morning routine may be pressed for time to make the waffles. I made mine ahead of time and put them in a zip lock bag for the freezer.
Dessert Charcuterie
I have the perfect after school snack. My kids love charcuterie boards, especially for lunch. They always tend to eat more when I put a board together.
I used the waffles from lunch and surrounded them with sweet treats. Most of the items can be found at your local grocery store or target.
I included:
Waffles
Lucky Charm marshmallows
Rollos
Clover cookies
Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
Cakesicles
Mini Cupcakes
Setting the Table
Each morning of St. Patrick’s Day, the leprechaun leaves a set table for the kids. That leprechaun is super special, isn’t he?
I bought mint green and pink plates, utensils and gold cups and paper straws. Each setting with have a cake sickle as their favor. I will put the dessert board on the table along with some extra chocolates and sweets. Neil’s donuts always has the perfect themed donuts for the holidays, especially for St. Patrick’s Day.
Leprechaun Tricks
Their is always a gallon of milk in the fridge that is tinted green for the mornings breakfast. The leprechaun always leaves a rainbow made of crepe paper in the living room with a pot of gold and candy at the end of the rainbow. He also leaves a mess in the bathroom — including a green toilet and mini green footprints (erasable marker) on the toilet seat. He’s tiny little guy, but very messy!
Leprechaun Trap
Save your cereal boxes for this craft. You can cut squares of the box. Let the kids have fun with it. Give them tape, a marker and some paper. They can even leave signs for the leprechaun.
My girls love rainbows, so they opted for cutting out strips of paper, one strip for each color of the rainbow to create an arch. At the end of the rainbow, they left candy.
The Main Entrée
Early in the morning I start the corned beef. Oh my goodness does the house smell so good. I cook my corned beef in a crock pot. I omit some of the required amount of water and add in beer. It gives a great amount of flavor. I also layer on top some red bliss potatoes, chopped yellow onion and baby carrots. I cook the cabbage in a pot on the stove.
If their are leftovers, I use the meat and cabbage for Reuben’s the next day.
I hope you all have a magical St. Patrick’s Day.
