May the luck o’ the Irish be with you! Yes, I am already thinking of dancing an Irish jig, plucking a few shamrocks, and celebrating the day when everyone is Irish with smiling eyes and green clothes! It is a great time to gather nieces and nephews and celebrate the day!
 
For Invitations
 
Purchase small boxes of Lucky Charms and attach a little card to a green ribbon tied around each box. On the card, provide the party details.
 
For the Decorations
 
Decorate with green balloons, green streamers, and green tableware. In the center of the table, have a pot filled with chocolate gold coins. Scatter shamrock confetti all over the party table for added festivity. In the party room, cut out shamrocks and place them all over the wall. Blow up a few Mylar shamrock balloons for the front entrance. Replace regular light bulbs in your lamps with green light bulbs. String green Christmas lights outside of your front entrance for a further Irish welcome! When people arrive, have a sign attached to a large rock (your Blarney stone), saying, “Kiss Me, I’m Irish!” Have the kids kiss this good luck charm to enter the party!
 
For the Activities
 
1. Have a limerick contest. Have the kids write limericks and read them aloud!
 
2. Play Irish music and have an Irish jig contest.
 
3. Have the kids hunt for chocolate coins in the party room.
 
4. Check out FamilyFun.com’s St. Patrick’s Day Fun page, filled with crafts and goodies to make and celebrate with.
 
5. Have the kids make a batch of cookie pops!
 
For the Menu
 
Serve your goodies out of green leprechaun hats. Some food suggestions include soda bread, cabbage and corned beef (especially if parents will be attending!), vegetables with ranch dip, green grapes, pickles, olives, kiwi, green apples, green M&Ms, and shamrock cookies. (Kids can decorate the cookies with white frosting and green sprinkles!)
 
Serve Special Mashed Potatoes: Cook potatoes and have the kids put green food coloring in them. Then mash the potatoes as you normally would and have fun! With the kids, arrange the mashed potatoes on the plate in the shape of a shamrock.
 
Serve Clover Snacks: Use cucumber slices, cream cheese, celery sticks, and green food coloring. Tint the cream cheese with the food coloring. Place a dollop of cream cheese in the center of a plate, and wedge four cucumber slices into the cream cheese to resemble a four-leaf clover. Insert a celery stick at the bottom for a stem.
 
Serve Leprechaun Dust: Use one box of Jell-O instant pistachio pudding, one baby food jar with a lid for each kid, and milk. Place 1 tablespoon of the pudding powder in each jar and add ¼ cup milk. Place the cap on the jar and have the kids shake their jars. (Adding milk makes the instant pudding turn green.)
 
Serve Golden Coins: Use Ritz crackers, 1 cup of smooth peanut butter, and 2 cups of butterscotch chips. Spread half of the crackers with peanut butter and top each with a second cracker. In the top of a double broiler, melt the butterscotch chips. Dip sandwich cookies into butterscotch and place on waxed paper to set.
 
Make shamrock shakes, using 1 banana, 2 cups of lime sherbet, and 2 cups of milk. Add green food coloring to an empty glass. Add milk and watch it magically turn green! Top it off with a batch of St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes! So cute!
 
For the Goodies
 
Send the kids home with chocolate gold coins, rainbow pencils, erasers, small notebooks, and Leprechaun hats.
 
Everyone is Irish on St. Patty’s Day! Enjoy it with your nieces and nephews!

Photo: Courtesy of FamilyCorner.com
Published: March 11, 2013