5 Little  Leprechauns

Five little leprechauns
scurrying by my door,
One jumped away,
then there were 4.
Four little leprechauns
climbing in my tree,
One hid in the green leaves,
then there were 3.
Three little leprechauns,
just a busy few,
One went for a pot of gold,
then there were 2.
Two little leprechauns,
having lots of fun,
One hopped over the rainbow, then there was 1.
One little leprechaun,
with all his work done.
He slipped off for a nap,
then there were none.

Looking for a Leprechaun
Tune:  Mary Had a Little Lamb

I'm looking for a leprechaun, leprechaun, leprechaun,
I'm looking for a leprechaun
Do you know where's he gone?
He wears a suit that's made of green,
Made of green, made of green,
He wears a suit that's made of green,
Do you know where he is?
He lives by a rainbow and hides his gold,
Hides his gold, hides his gold.
He lives by a rainbow and hides his gold,
Do you know where he's gone?
If you see a leprechaun, leprechaun, leprechaun,
If you see a leprechaun,
Please tell me where he's gone.

The Leprechaun
Tune:  The Muffin Man

Oh, have you seen
a leprechaun,
a leprechaun,
a leprechaun,
Oh have you seen a leprechaun,
Who comes from Ireland?

Among the shamrocks
he may hide,
he may hide,
he may hide.
Among the shamrocks
he may hide,
so catch him if you can.

I'm A Little Shamrock
Tune:  I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a little shamrock,
See my leaves.
Count my petals,
If you please.
If you give me water
and lots of sun,
I'll bring you good luck and lots of fun!

I'm a Little Leprechaun 
Tune:  I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a little leprechaun
Dressed in green
The tiniest man that you have ever seen.
If you ever catch me,
So it's told,
I'll give to you my pot of gold.

I Saw a Leprechaun 
Tune:  If You're Happy and You Know It

This Little Leprechaun

Tune:  This Old Man

 This little leprechaun,

He hid one.

He hid gold…in the noonday sun. Whew!

With a tap, tap paddy whack,

Hide a pot of gold.

It’s a secret…can’t be told.

Continue song, adding a new line for each leprechaun:
 

Two:  He hid gold in his left shoe. OUCH!

Three:  He hid gold in the deep blue sea. AHOY!

Four:  He hid gold behind the door. BANG!

Five:  He hid gold in the old bee hive. BUZZ!

Six:  He hid gold and played some tricks. GOTCHA!

Seven:  He hid gold beneath the bed. THAT DOESN’T RHYME!

Eight:  He hid gold near the garden gate. SQUEAK!

Nine:  He hid gold in the nick of time. TICK, TOCK!

Ten:  He hid gold in the old pig pen. OINK!

Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Where's Your Gold?
Tune:  Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone?

Leprechaun, Leprechaun
Where's Your Gold?
Somebody stole it, they are bold,
Under the rainbow, Behind a tree
Find your gold as quick as can be!

Have the children sit in a circle. 
One child sits in the middle with eyes closed.  That child is the leprechaun.  Place a piece of gold (chocolate gold coin or yellow bean bag) beside the leprechaun.
 Choose a child to steal the gold. 
Sing the song and let the leprechaun make 3 guesses as to who stole the gold.

Shamrock ABC Order

 Photocopy a small shamrock picture 26 times on green construction paper.  Program each one with a letter A - Z.  Laminate.  Have children place the letters in order on the pocket chart.

Predictable Chart

Here are some ideas you could use for predictable charts:

___(child's name)___ hid his/her gold __________ .

I found _________ at the end of the rainbow.

After the whole group activity, hang the predictable chart in the classroom for the children to read with a seasonal pointer.

-OR-

Cut each child's sentence out.  For the children that are ready for a challenge - cut out each word and have the children put them back in order.  Then have each child illustrate their sentence.

Pots of Gold

Plan Ahead:  Buy several bags of lima beans and some gold spray paint.  Paint the lima beans - now you have gold!

Photocopy several small pots onto black construction paper
(I always find great clipart like this from The Mailbox Magazine).   
Label with numerals 1 - 10 (white out works great on the black paper!) 
Glue the pots onto a large piece of construction paper.  Laminate. 
Have the students count out the gold to match the numerals on each pot.

I keep my gold in a small black pot that I purchased at the Dollar Store at Halloween time!

Gold Addition Workmat

For each workmat photocopy 2 small shamrocks onto green construction paper.  Cut out. 
Also photocopy a small pot on black construction paper and cut out. 
Glue the pieces onto a piece of white construction paper in this order:
Shamrock + Shamrock = pot of gold
Use a black marker to write the + and =.  Laminate.

To play this game have the children roll a die and place that many pieces of gold on the first shamrock. 
Roll again and place that amount on the second shamrock and add!

Shamrock Pattern Match

Go to Preschool Printables and print out an instant file folder game:
Shamrock Pattern Match.

Lucky Charm Graphing

Print out a Lucky Charm graph for each child.  Give each child a small scoop of Lucky Charms cereal. 
Have them sort out their marshmallows by shape. 
Then count the amount of each marshmallow and color the graph appropriately. 
When finished have each child tell the class which marshmallow they had the most/least of. 
And then, of course, eat them!

Shamrock Sequencing

  Cut out shamrocks of different sizes from green paper.  Laminate. 
Put them in the math center for children to put in order from largest to smallest or smallest to largest.

Rice Rainbows

This is one of my favorite projects.

The first thing you have to do for this project is dye the rice.  I poured some rice into a large Ziploc bag with a little paint and then shook it until all the rice was colored.  Then pour it onto wax paper to dry overnight. 
You will need a new bag for each color rice you want.  Then put each color in a container for the children to use.

I gave each child a large piece of blue paper.  We drew the lines for the rainbows together (they watched me and then did the same on their paper).  We then did one color of rice at a time.  I put the glue on and they sprinkle then rice. 
When they were all dry they added cotton ball clouds. 

Hang them up and hope that spring will be here soon!

Shamrock People

Have the children trace and cut out one large shamrock (body).  
Next the children can trace and cut out 4 smaller shamrock shapes (hands & feet). 
Have the children draw a face on the large shamrock shape.
Supply the children with 4 strips of paper to fold accordian style for arms and legs.
The children can then glue the small shamrocks onto the the strips of paper as hands and feet, then glue the arms and legs onto the body.  

Shades of Green

Prepare several containers of green paint. 
Add small amounts of white paint to each container, each time using more than the last. 
Have the children stir the paint.  Place the paint cups with the different shades of green on your painting easel.

Torn Paper Shamrocks

Have the children trace a shamrock shape onto a piece of white paper.
Then give the children scraps of green construction paper to tear. 
They can then glue the scraps onto the shamrock shape.

Leprechaun Foot Prints

  You will need a large piece of white butcher paper.  Paint the bottoms of each child's feet green. 
Let them walk across the butcher paper to make leprechaun foot prints.

Little Blue and Little Yellow

Read the story Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni.

There are several ways you can show the children how to make "little green" by combining blue and yellow:

1.  Give each child a small piece of blue playdough and yellow playdough. 
Have the children mix them together.

2.   Have the children mix blue and yellow paint.

3.   Color with a blue crayon and then color with yellow on top of the blue.

4.  Fill a shallow dish with water.  Add a drop of yellow and a drop of blue food coloring near the edge of the dish. Add drops of dish detergent along the edges of the dish also. The soap will cause the blue and yellow food coloring to mix.

Bell Pepper Shamrock Prints

Paddy's Pudding

 To prepare this yummy treat, purchase one 3.4 ounce box of instant pistachio pudding for every six students in your class.   Pour the powder into a bowl.  Have the children recite this poem with you as you add milk:

Leprechauns, leprechauns,
Never seen...
Magic powder,
Green, green, green!

Shamrock Jigglers

Using lime Jello, prepare a pan of Jello Jigglers by following the instructions on the package.  When the Jello is set cut out using shamrock cookie cutters.