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Last-Minute Ways to Create St. Patrick’s Day Magic for Kids

If you’re like me, sometimes holidays sneak up on you. Suddenly it’s the night before St. Patrick’s Day and you realize you haven’t planned anything to make the day feel special.

It’s especially tricky when holidays fall in the middle of the week and things like work, school, and everyday life take up most of our energy. And then the mom-guilt creeps in.

But here’s the truth: kids don’t need big celebrations to create lasting memories. Often it’s the small, magical moments that stick with them the most.

Here are a few simple, last-minute ways to add a little St. Patrick’s Day magic to your day.

1. Go on a Rainbow Hunt! Cut out a few paper rainbows and hide them around your house for your kids to find. You can turn it into a mini scavenger hunt or leave a small prize at the end — maybe a chocolate coin or a lucky treat.
2. Hide Leprechaun Coins. Scatter a few “leprechaun treasures” around the house or yard. These can be plastic coins, chocolate coins, cut-out paper coins, or even spare change you have lying around.
3. Serve Green Milk at Breakfast. A drop of food coloring turns ordinary milk into something magical. Pair it with Lucky Charms or your kids’ favorite cereal for a simple but fun St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.
4. Send a Postcard from the Leprechaun. Leave a postcard or note that arrives from a leprechaun who has returned to Ireland after his visit. Kids love the idea that the leprechaun thought of sending them a message from across the world. Maybe show them on the map where Ireland is (for a mini geography lesson!).
5. Try a March Nature Scavenger Hunt. Head outside and look for early signs of spring. Make a list of things kids can find in your area during March, like something blooming, a clover, something yellow, or even try to find all the colors of the rainbow in nature.
6. Find a Lucky Charm in Nature. While you’re outside, see if you can find something “lucky” to keep. Some lucky charms we love to look for are four-leaf clovers, wishing stones (stones with a single unbroken ring around them), heart-shaped rocks, acorns, or any small natural treasure that feels special.
7. Build a Leprechaun Trap or Hotel. Of course, you can always try to catch that tricky leprechaun! Another favorite activity in our house is making a leprechaun hotel — a cozy place where a traveling leprechaun might stop for the night. For this activity, I like to raid the basement and gather things like boxes, toilet paper rolls, green paper, pipe cleaners, and other craft supplies. Then I set everything out on the table and let my kids’ imaginations run wild as they design the perfect leprechaun hideaway.

✨ The best part about these activities is that they don’t require a lot of planning. Even a tiny bit of whimsy can turn an ordinary day into something magical for kids.

St. Patrick’s Day Printables

If you want an easy printable activity, I also created a few St. Patrick’s Day printables in my shop to make adding a little magic even easier.

Leprechaun Hotel Instant Digital Download

Leprechaun “Was Here” Evidence Kit Instant Digital Download

March Nature Scavenger Hunt

In Wonder,

Rachel

The last half of winter can feel LONG. The holidays are over, the days (at least here) are cold. Most of us are just trying to get through the week 🙂

While the earth seems like it’s sleeping, there is a lot of magic going on around us. It just takes a moment to find it sometimes!

The good news is that inviting wonder does not require you to go on a 2 hour hike through the snow. Sometimes 5, 10, 30 minutes of time outside or creating things inside is all you need to feel the magic.

Here are some activities to try with your kids:

1. Find the Orion constellation (or the moon) on a clear night.

• Step outside after dinner (on a clear night) and look up at the night sky. Look for three bright stars in a row – this is Orion’s Belt. Point out the red star at the end of Orion’s left arm and explain how that is Betelgeuse. This is my favorite constellation in the winter sky because you can see it even in very light polluted skies. If Orion is hard to spot for the little ones then point out the moon and talk about the different phases.
• Ideas for extending the activity, if it’s not too cold out make a hot chocolate picnic in little mugs. If you have a fire pit, then light a fire and have a night time mini celebration.

2. Take a puddle walk

At this time of year, there is usually a lot of MUD and puddles from the melting snow. Take a puddle walk around your neighborhood.

Dress your kids in rain boots, clothes that can get wet and let them jump in as many puddles as they can! This is messy and usually my kids are pretty cold by the end of it (so plan for a short walk if there are a lot of puddles nearby), but they LOVE being given this freedom to do this.

3. Make love potions

• Get back into that outdoor kitchen or create a little spot where kids can cook up some love potions.
• I love taking some old flowers (maybe from Valentine’s Day) and setting the kids up with the petals and some red dye and fun bottles so that they can cook up a love potion. If there is snow and melting ice – this can be use for the water. They may not last as long outside as they would in the spring or summer but it’s a nice way to get them out in the backyard for a bit.

4. Go on a worm hunt!

• In our biome, around the beginning of March the ground starts to thaw. And, that means one thing – WORMS! Grab a bucket and shovel and go on a hunt for worms. We have some spots in our yards where we know they like to be so we usually start there.
• This is a great activity for teaching kids how to be gentle to the creatures – we always put them back since they have important work to do for the soil.

5. Show the birds some love

• Make some bird feeders – there are so many to choose from. I put some ideas below but there is no need to get fancy – just use what you have in stock. The first photo is just some cardboard, a layer of peanut butter and seed. The second photo is a carved out orange with two rods sticking through to hold on the branches. The last photo is just an egg carton filled with seed 🙂
• Leave out some water in a pan for them – if everything is frozen it’s very hard for the birds to get a drink. So, giving them some water if it’s very cold in your biome is a great way to show some love.

6. Make some ice sun catchers or ice gems!

• This is such a fun way to get outside for a quick activity. Give the kids some pans, nature treasures and water and let them create. I have included some ideas below. Or you can make them inside, set them outside (or in the freezer!) to freeze. Once frozen you can invite your kids outside to take them out of their containers.

7. Build a Leprechaun Hotel

I know everyone is all about the traps (and these are fun too!) – but, we think building a hotel for the leprechauns is more fun! We think about all the things a leprechaun may want to be comfy for the night . We just take a box and make a door, windows, and then decorate the inside and outside of the box with things the leprechaun would like – like a bed, pictures, fireplace, rainbows, coins, shamrocks, etc. Maybe the leprechauns will stay the night and leave a little magic behind 🍀.

Resources for making your end of winter magical can be found on my Etsy shop. Check it out!

• Leprechaun Hotel PDF Pattern/Printable
• Winter night sky scavenger hunt
• Mud kitchen menus and recipe cards

In Wonder,

Rachel

And a tutorial for sewing felt hearts

I’m beginning to realize how important it is to model wonder, and to regularly express curiosity out loud, in front of my kids.

Recently, I found myself wondering if I could sew a simple star out of felt. I’m not particularly skilled at sewing; I know a few basic stitches and that’s about it. But instead of dismissing the idea, I followed the curiosity. I gathered some felt, thread, and a needle and worked my way through a small craft project.

When I showed my kids the little star I made, they were genuinely impressed. My eight-year-old immediately asked if she could try sewing something herself. I gave her the supplies, and she dove right in.

Before long, she had decided to sew felt hearts for all of her classmates for Valentine’s Day. She made a plan, created a supply list, and worked steadily to complete the project almost entirely on her own (with just a little guidance from me).

It struck me that my small act of wondering, “Could I sew a star?” and my willingness to try, struggle a bit, and share the result had become a catalyst. It sparked something in her. What began as a tiny flicker of curiosity turned into a beautiful ripple effect.

This experience reminded me that modeling wonder doesn’t have to be big or elaborate. Even if you’re busy and don’t have the time or energy for a sewing project, simply expressing curiosity out loud matters. Wonder about a new recipe you’re trying. Pause to admire the moon. Notice the colors in a sunset.

When children hear us say, “I wonder…” they learn that curiosity is valuable. They learn that trying new things — even imperfectly — is worth it. And sometimes, that small expression of wonder is all it takes to inspire something truly wonderful in them.

Here are the instructions for the felt hearts:

Supplies:

• Felt
• Fabric with different patterns
• Needle ( big eye is important to make it easy to re-thread) and thread
• Fluff for stuffing
• Scissors
• Fabric pencil (or really any pencil to help with cutting out patterns)

1. Decide on your shape. We did hearts for Valentine’s Day, but you could do stars, circles, squares, etc.
2. Cut out your shape, make two identical pieces (one for the front and one for the back). If you are making a lot of them, then create a stencil that you can use to outline the shapes on the fabric so it’s easy to cut.
3. Cut out your smaller shape in the fabric. We just did a smaller heart to be in the middle.
4. Sew the smaller shape in the middle of the front piece.
5. Sew the two pieces together, leaving an opening for the fluff. Stuff in the fluff and then continue sewing to the end.

Some tips: The big eye of the needle is important. The thread comes out easily and it’s best for the eye to be big so that it can be re-threaded over and over again. I needed to help with the tying knots and also tying up the last stitch so that it won’t come out. A nice pair of fabric scissors is nice for cutting the felt – they are sharp so depending on the abilities of your children, you may want to help them out with the cutting.

Have fun!

In wonder,

Rachel

Struggles with cooperative crafting

As a mom of two daughters (one is 8 and the other 5), it can be a serious struggle to find an activity that they can work on together without getting frustrated. My 8 year old is a perfectionist and my 5 year old is just learning all the crafting skills – and she just doesn’t do it as perfectly as the 8 year old wants. I really wanted this project to be something that they could work on together and be equally proud of when it went up.

Before they got home from school I put the frame of the heart together so that they could have fun with putting the tissue paper in the middle. The 8 year old was excited for the craft, but the 5 year old initially didn’t even want to participate. I think she compares herself to her sister and it’s hard to meet her perfectionist standards. I am really trying to build her confidence up so we started small by me saying, “Want to just cut up or rip some tissue paper?” I said it doesn’t have to be perfect and it’s meant to look a little messy. By relieving the pressure to make a final perfect product she started cutting and eventually got really into it. She helped put the tissue paper on the heart and everything! I felt really proud of her for participating. The 8 year old wasn’t totally happy with the color combination and the placement of the tissue paper but I reminded her that her sister could decorate her section the way she wanted to and that this craft didn’t need to be “perfect.” I was also proud of my 8 year old for showing some flexibility!

This craft is very easy and only needs a few materials:

• Poster board (I didn’t have poster board so I found an old gift bag that I could cut up).
• Contact paper
• Tissue paper
• Black paint and paintbrush (or whatever color you want)
• Scotch tape for hanging on your window

Here are the steps:

1. Cut out heart frame (by folder poster board together)
2. Paint the frame
3. Place the frame on contact paper
4. Cut up or rip the tissue paper and place on contact paper

Enjoy! If you enjoyed this please pin it and follow my page for more ideas.

With wonder,

Rachel

Hi everyone—welcome to the very first Wonderkin Workshop blog post! I want to start by sharing why I created Wonderkin, because at its heart, this work is deeply personal.

Like many parents, caregivers, and teachers, I’m always looking for simple, low-cost ways to help children wonder about the world around them. I want kids to experiment, make messes, ask questions, and play freely. I want them to notice things. To look up. To feel curious instead of constantly entertained.

At the same time, it’s hard to ignore what’s happening around us. Kids are spending more and more time on screens, and many of us worry about what that means—for their creativity, their relationships, their ability to be bored, and their sense of self. Add in the rapid rise of AI and social media, and the questions get even bigger.

Will our kids know how to find meaning in their work?

Will they feel capable and curious in a world full of distractions?

Will they be able to look up from their screens and engage deeply with life?

Those are heavy questions. Wonderkin isn’t about answering them but it is about creating space to practice something different.

The second reason I started Wonderkin is even more personal. This past fall, I was laid off from a research job I held for 15 years. It was a punch in the gut. But after I had time to reflect, I realized that the loss also opened a door. It gave me the chance to invest my energy in something that sparks wonder—not just in children, but in myself.

Because here’s the truth: children don’t discover wonder on their own. They learn how to have wonder from the adults around them. And when caregivers are exhausted, overwhelmed, and stretched thin, that sense of wonder is often the first thing to go.

Wonderkin Workshop exists to help bring it back.

This space is about offering gentle, doable ideas that help children step away from screens and reconnect with nature, with their curiosity, and with themselves. Through simple activities, printables, craft kits, and tools, Wonderkin supports families in creating meaningful moments of wonder without pressure, perfection, or overwhelm.

When children learn how to choose curiosity over screens, even in small ways, they’re building something lasting. They’re practicing how to notice, imagine, and care. And those skills—quiet as they seem—are the foundation for future adults who can do amazing things.

I’m so glad you’re here.