Be sure to visit our main St. Patrick's Day page for even more fun ideas including St. Patty's Day crafts, party ideas, recipes and more. Also test your St. Patrick's Day IQ with our quiz. 

Most of these games are classics that have been adapted to fit a St. Patrick's Day theme. Remember, if you choose to play a game that requires teams, and you have an odd number of children, one person will need to go twice. Ask for a volunteer and if one doesn't surface you might want to leave it up to the team to choose who they think will be the fastest.

Pin The Shamrock on the Leprechaun

Supplies:
Big picture of a Leprechaun
A green shamrock, for each child, with adhesive on back and their name on the front
Blindfold

How To Play: Blindfold the player, spin 'em around and let them try to stick the shamrock where it's supposed to go. Give a prize for the player that gets the closest.

Irish Hot Potato

Supplies:
Potato
Celtic or Irish Jig Music

How To Play:
Sit the children in a circle. Hand one child the potato. Explain to the children that when the music begins they will pass the potato to the person on their right. When the music stops whoever's holding the potato scoots out of the circle and playing resumes.

This game also provides a great opportunity to discuss agriculture in Ireland. Perhaps they could pass while you talk and when you stop (every once in awhile) the person holding the potato has to recap what you said.

Gold, Gold, Who's got the Gold

Supplies:
A large gold coin (or create our pot of gold craft).

How To Play:
A child is chosen to be the Leprechaun and hides her eyes as a gold coin is given to a child to hide in his lap or behind his back. The Leprechaun then has three chances to guess which child has their gold coin. (All children hide their hands in their laps/behind their backs like they have it.)

Pot of Gold Toss

Supplies:
Large cardboard pot. Good size hole cut-out in center of pot, or a few small holes for older kids.
Gold circular bean bags (gold coins)
Bucket to hold bean bags
Tape to mark distance line

How To Play:
Place cardboard pot a little distance from a wall with a paper box lid on floor to catch chocolate bean bags. Mark your distance line according to age and skill of children. Line children up behind the line and place a bucket of gold coin bean bags beside them. Give each child three tries to get their bean bag through the hole. Get all three gold coin bean bags in and earn a 'chocolate' coin reward. Consider our pot of gold game as a fun alternative for smaller groups.