It’s March, so that means St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner.
St. Patrick’s Day is all about shamrocks, green, good luck, and leprechauns.
Many schools send home the school assignment for kids to make Leprechaun Traps and it’s a great way for kids to use their imaginations.
Kids can make their own trap using simple machines to catch those sneaky leprechauns.
In Preschool, my daughter was told to make her own Leprechaun Trap with her family and bring it in to be displayed.
We had a blast designing and making her trap, but she had trouble narrowing down the items she wanted to include.
We did a dollar store run and I headed over to Amazon to collect up all the props she needed for her trap.
We knew it had to be awesome and unique, so no one had the same ideas, but now we want to share it with you.
So, we gathered up the supplies and went to work making our own easy DIY Leprechaun Trap.
If you’re looking to make a Leprechaun Trap with your child, check out these awesome Leprechaun Trap ideas.
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Craft Supplies You’ll Need:
1. Large Cardboard Box
You will need to start with a base for your trap. I had an old cardboard box that worked out great to put our design on and was perfect for our trapping mechanisms.
2. Small Wooden Bird House
My daughter wanted a house to lure the leprechaun into so we got a wooden bird house that she could paint.
You will need to prep the bird house ahead of time by using a tool to cut wood to cut the bottom out of the bird house. We were able to cut a round hole in the bottom of the bird house and cut the circle in the side of the bird house into a door. This gave the leprechaun a door to walk into and a hole to fall through.
3. Paint
I wanted to make sure the craft showed my daughter’s creativity, so I set her up with paint, paint brushes, and a smock and put her to work. I made sure she knew she could use her imagination. She decided to make the whole birthday rainbow.
Be sure to grab your Paint Set off Amazon Here.
4. Green Mesh
We wanted to add as much green as possible to the trap, so I bought some green mesh to wrap around the outside. It gave the trap a shiny look too.
Grab a package of Green Mesh Here from Amazon.
5. Green Felt
My daughter wanted the top of her trap to look like a village, so we needed something that looked like grass. Green felt had that grass look she was going for.
You can find sheets of Green Felt on Amazon Here.
6. Green Construction Paper
Construction Paper was helpful to cover up the brown box. We used green paper on the outside and on the inside. She also wanted to make signs, so we used the green construction paper for the signs as well.
Here you can find Packages of Construction Paper, and you can find them on Amazon.
7. Chenille Stems / Pipe Cleaners
We ended up purchasing 2 separate packages of chenille stems. One package was green glitter stems, and the other package was rainbow colors.
We used the green glitter stems as jail bars on the windows of the trap. The rainbow stems were folded together to make a little ladder for the leprechaun, and some were used to make a rainbow for above the house.
If you are looking to use Chenille Stems, you can find them Here on Amazon.
8. Rainbow Popsicle Sticks
The walkway leading the leprechaun from the ladder to the house had to be rainbow according to my daughter. The best way to create this look was with popsicle sticks. She was able to glue them in a rainbow pattern and it looked so adorable.
Grab a package of Rainbow Popsicle Sticks Here on Amazon.
9. Green and Gold Felt Shamrocks
To give the outside of the box some St. Patrick’s Day designs, we bought some shamrock shaped felt pieces. These looked great and added more character to the box.
Hop in over to Amazon for These Felt Shamrocks.
10. Fairy Garden Figurines & Houses
Finding small figurines and houses was tricky until I learned you can get mini versions for fairies. My daughter fell in love with the beautiful fairy houses and sparkly figurines. It really pulled the whole look together.
There are so many adorable Fairy Garden Figurines and Houses to buy on Amazon.
11. Water Scrapbook Paper
We decided to add a little pond off to the side since we found frogs, turtles, a stone water pad, and lily pads. My daughter loved adding more features to her trap.
You can find so many different types of Scrapbook Paper on Amazon.
12. Green Clear Stones
Since we added water, we needed to keep the water area separate from the grass. These little stones surrounded the water perfect and kept the areas separated nicely.
These stones are often used for fish tanks, and you can find Green Clear Stones on Amazon.
12. Cotton Balls
The rainbow was such a cute element. We attached bottom bowls to wooden dowels to make the clouds for the rainbow. It held up perfect.
Buy some small packages of Cotton Balls on Amazon.
13. Wooden Dowels
The wooden dowels for the rainbow held up above the house and added some more character to the trap. I like how the bowels can poke into the cardboard box and stand up straight.
14. Green Fake Mesh Fence
So the top of the trap would look more enclosed, I decided to add a fence for my daughter, and she agreed. It really helped to pull everything in, and she said it could help the leprechaun so he wouldn’t fall off. I found a mesh fence, but you could also use a mini fairy garden or doll house fence as well.
Check out some of the options Amazon has for Mini Fences Here.
15. Gold Coins
What better way to fool a leprechaun than by tricking him with free gold coins. My daughter glued gold coins all along the top to lead the leprechaun to the trap entrance.
Grab yourself a bag of Gold Coins from Amazon.
16. Lucky Charms
Since Lucky Charms are “Magically Delicious” my daughter insisted on adding them to the trap along with the gold coins. She thought leprechauns love Lucky Charms. I love how much color and fun it adds.
You can find boxes of Lucky Charms on Amazon Here.
17. Scissors
I find it impossible to do a craft without my crafting scissors. You will need them to cut your cardboard, felt, mesh, wire, wooden dowels, chenille stems, scrapbook paper, and construction paper.
18. Craft Glue
You will need a stronger non-toxic glue for this craft. I prefer to use a craft glue, but you could use hot glue as well. Glue sticks will be too weak and cannot hold on to the heavier objects.
19. Packing Tape
The best way to seal your cardboard box shut is with packing tape. You can also use it to hold down the construction paper.
20. Stapler
Glue can’t hold down the wire mesh, so I found a stapler to work the best. Since the box is sealed shut, I felt that opening the stapler and pushing the staples into the box would be safe. The sharp sides of the staples were all pointed into the box where no one could see or touch.
How to make a Leprechaun Trap:
1. Gather your supplies. I hate getting up while I’m working on a craft, especially with my kids, because they will lose interest if they’re not busy. The first thing I do is try to gather up all my supplies and have them on the table before I begin.
2. Prep and paint the bird house.
· Cut the door out and the hole in the bottom for the leprechaun to fall into.
· Sand down any rough edges so no one cuts themselves on wood.
· Set your child up with paint, paint brushes, and a smock and let them decorate the bird house anyway they want.
· Set aside to dry overnight.
3. Start with your cardboard box.
· We cut out windows along the sides so the leprechaun could look out once they were inside.
· I made a trap door on the bottom of the trap in case anything was dropped into the trap so it could be retrieved.
· We glued black construction paper all over the inside.
· Once the box was closed, we sealed it shut with packing tape.
· A hole was cut out on top of the box where the bird house was going because the bird house was where the leprechaun had to go to fall in the trap.
4. Tape green construction paper all over the outside of your box. Be sure to cut out around and windows, holes, or trap doors you made.
5. Cut your green chenille stems in half and staple them over your windows so they look like jail bars. Staple one end of the stem to the top and the other end to the bottom of each window. I fit 9 stems across each window.
6. Wrap the green mash around the entire outside of the box. Use your stapler to secure it to the box. I left the mesh over the windows.
7. Glue the shamrocks to the mesh on the outside of the box.
8. Make your rainbow ladder out of the rainbow chenille stems. Use 2 full length stems for the sides and cut the stems in half to give you the steps. Wrap the sides around multiple times to hold in places. Staple the top of the ladder to the box.
9. Glue the green felt to the top of the box to make your grass. Be sure to cut out the hole for the by slicing an X in the felt. Fold the felt down and glue it inside the cardboard.
10. Glue your bird house into place on the top of your cardboard box. Glue green felt to the floor of the bird house.
Important Note: Be sure to cut the felt in an X so the leprechaun can fall into the trap. DO NOT cut the felt off. Leave the felt so it doesn’t look like the floor is missing.
11. Use the rainbow Popsicle sticks to make your rainbow path leading from the ladder to the house. Once you have them laid out how you want them, glue them down to the felt top.
12. Arrange your pond, fairy houses, all figurines, and green stones to figure out where you want them. Once it’s all laid out how you want it, glue everything down.
13. Make your rainbow for above the house.
· Use 2 wooden dowels.
· Attach chenille stems in a rainbow pattern to the end of the wooden dowels.
· Glue cotton balls at the bottom of the rainbow.
14. Have your child make a sign to attach to the roof of the house. My daughter named her house “Lucky Leprechaun Inn.” She attached little gems to the sign, but that’s completely optional. The sign was made with cardboard scraps with green construction glued on top.
15. Use extra cardboard pieces, green construction paper, and green Popsicle sticks to make small signs pointing down the walkway. My daughter wrote on the signs, “Gold Coins This Way” and “Follow The Rainbow.”
16. Staple your wire mesh around the outside for your fence.
17. Glue down the plastic gold coins and Lucky Charms along the path to lead the leprechaun to the trap.
18. Add any other things your child might want to use to trap their leprechaun like a pot of gold, chocolate coins, a green hat, chocolate gold coins, four-leaf clovers, fake gold, and more.
There you have a step-by-step guide for a fun way on how to make an easy Leprechaun Trap project.
You can add your own twists or ideas to make it unique and special for your child as a fun tradition.
I love how you can do any designs for this fun and silly project for school so you can catch the sneaky little leprechaun.
My daughter was so proud to bring her trap into school to show all her friends and the best part is she had so much fun doing it.
Did you make a simple leprechaun trap for your child for school?
What ideas did you add to your child’s leprechaun trap project to make it unique?
Comment below to share your awesome Leprechaun Trap!
