Our Five Ring Circus: St. Patrick's Day Snack & Play {A Year of Color: Green}

Friday, March 17, 2017

St. Patrick's Day Snack & Play {A Year of Color: Green}

Happy St. Patrick's Day, my friends!!!


St. Patrick's Day

We are wearing our festive green clothing and we will be spending our day snacking on lots of green food! That's pretty much the extent of our celebration. With four kids, that's how we roll!

The "A Year of Color" Link Party fell on the perfect day this month! 


A Year of Color

On the third Friday of each month,  I co-host a monthly linkup called A Year of Color with Little DoveMacke Monologues, and Work It Mommy. Each month focuses on one color and you can link up any post that revolves around that particular color: Fashion, Recipes, Activities for Kids, Crafts...ANYTHING is welcome! The link will be open for a month, so you can link up any time. We hope you will join us!


The color for the month of March is fitting for today!



A Year of Color


This month, I'm going to share a few of our favorite green desserts and green sensory play activities in honor of St. Patrick's Day, along with an adorable craft that we do every year on the holiday! 



St. Patrick's Day Desserts, Sensory Play & Crafts



St. Patrick's Day Mint Cookie Shakes


These green shakes, made with vanilla ice cream and mint cookies, and topped with whipped topping and peppermint patties, are a hit with my kids! 


St. Patrick's Day Shake

INGREDIENTS:

  • Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Mint Cookies
  • Milk or Cream
  • Frozen Whipped Topping
  • Peppermint Patties


DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill blender halfway with vanilla ice cream.
2. Crush 10 mint cookies and sprinkle into the blender.
3. Add milk or cream until the blender is about 3/4 full.
4. Blend until shake is only slightly thick. Add more milk or cream or more ice cream if necessary, and blend again.
5. Pour milkshake into cups.
6. Top with a scoop of frozen whipped topping and a mini peppermint patty candy!



St. Patrick's Day Creamy Jello


This creamy jello dessert is a staple at every holiday dinner. It's usually a different flavor, but I break out the lime jello in honor of St. Patrick's Day!


St. Patrick's Day Dessert

INGREDIENTS:

  • Two 3 oz boxes of lime jello
  • 16 oz frozen whipped topping


DIRECTIONS:

1. Sit the whipped topping on the counter for 15 minutes to soften.
2. Prepare jello according to the quick set method on the back of the box. 
3. Stir in 16 oz whipped topping and continue to stir until it melts.
4. Pour into small cups or bowls and refrigerate for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.




Homemade Glitter Play Dough


My kids love sensory play and one of their favorite things to make is play dough! A little bit of green food coloring and gold glitter make it perfectly festive for St. Patrick's Day!

Glitter Playdoh

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • green food coloring
  • gold glitter


DIRECTIONS:

Mix the flour and salt, add a few drops of food coloring to the water, and slowly pour the water mixture into the flour mixture while stirring. Add more flour as needed until the mixture isn't sticky.  Sprinkle in some gold glitter and knead with your hands to blend.

Give your child some shamrock cookie cutters, a rolling pin and a plastic child-safe knife, and let them create!



Homemade Green Slime


Making slime is another sensory play favorite! Green always seems to be the preferred color!


St. Patrick's Day Slime

INGREDIENTS:

  • 8 oz white school glue
  • 1 tsp Borax (laundry detergent aisle)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • Green food coloring


DIRECTIONS:


STEP ONE: Empty glue into a large bowl. 

STEP TWO:  Fill glue bottle completely with 1/2 cup warm water, shake, then pour into the bowl that contains the glue.  Stir. 

STEP THREE:  Add several drops of green food coloring to the glue mixture.  Stir. 

STEP FOUR:  Mix 1 tsp Borax into 1/2 cup warm water. Stir until the Borax dissolves. 

STEP FIVE:  Slowly pour the Borax solution into the glue solution while stirring. Keep a close eye on this process!  This is where the science aspect of it begins.  You will see the glue solution almost immediately begin to form into a solid as it meets the Borax solution!

STEP SIX:  Dig in and knead the slime!


STEP SEVEN:  Store in an airtight container or a storage bag.



Thumbprint Shamrocks Craft


This is a simple craft/keepsake that we make every year! I'm sharing last year's version since we didn't make the 2017 version yet. I absolutely love pulling these out each year and adding them to our decor!


St. Patrick's Day Craft

SUPPLIES: 

  • White paper
  • Green paint
  • Sharpie


DIRECTIONS:

Have your child/children make a four leaf clover with their thumb. Carefully paint on a thin stem to each shamrock. Write the name(s) underneath each shamrock, and add the holiday and the year to the finished project!


These are just a few of our favorite ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! St. Patrick's Day books and movies, green shamrock pancakes, Lucky Charms, and green muffin pan meals are also part of our holiday fun. Maybe, just maybe, you will be able to use one of these as a last minute idea!

Feel free to link up your "green" posts on the widget below and start planning your posts for the upcoming months!

April 21st

A Year of Color

May 19th

A Year of Color

June 16th

A Year of Color


Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and yours! How will you be celebrating?


10 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, those thumbprint shamrocks are so cute! And I have a confession, I have never made homemade playdough, slime, or creamy jello! And now I want to make all of them! Thanks for such a great post of fun ideas for St. Patrick's Day!

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  2. So much fun! I love it all! That mint shake is probably my favorite, though. Mint chocolate chip has always been my favorite ice cream flavor!

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  3. So many yummy sweets. I'm not a huge fan of mint, but my kids would be all over this!

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  4. I need that shake in my life stat!! Im so glad Im not the only one who loves mint and chocolate :)
    Happy St Patrick's Day!

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  5. So much fun going on here! Thanks for sharing the play doh recipe, I've been wanting to make my own!

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  6. That mint shake looks delicious!
    We've made lots of sensory things, but never slime. We'r going to have to try that one!

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  7. Happy belated St. Patrick's Day my friend! I love the mint cookie shake recipe. We didn't do this for St. Patty's day, but it's not too late to do this before March ends... I also like the thumbprint shamrock craft. What a neat idea! Best wishes on your link-up. I will have to keep it in mind for next month! :)

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  8. Oh goodness, I need to go back in time to Friday so I can try some of these out!

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