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You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy these 12 fantastically fun St. Patrick’s Day STEM activities! Great for adding some hands-on fun to your March lesson plans.
If you are looking for hands-on STEM activities for some St Patrick’s Day learning fun, you have come to the right place! Here you will find St Patrick’s Day science experiments, technology, engineering and math activities geared towards elementary aged kids.
Every year around this time we hit sort-of a slump. We’re tired of winter and ready for spring, but March isn’t usually filled with play-outside weather. This year we’ve started a “fun Friday” tradition where we take time in the afternoons for more fun hands-on learning and experiments.
Knowing that we have some fun activities coming up each week helps to break us out of the mid-March blues. These St. Patrick’s Day STEM activities are sure to add some rainbow (and green) to your days, too!
12 St. Patrick’s Day STEM Activities
This collection of activities includes a contraption that will help you catch a leprechaun, a few rainbow science experiments, and a catapult that lets you play with your food – all in the name of science, right?
1. Build a Shamrock Circuit
Steamsational learning shows us how to make a Squishy Circuits Shamrock that really lights up. This is such a cool introduction to electricity that is perfect for March! You can find the Squishy Circuits kit on Amazon, or create your own electricity-conducting dough at home.
2. Catapult Your Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms Catapults from Joy in the Works shows us an educational way to play with our food. Build your catapult, then have some target practice. Or make it a head-to-head challenge to see who can launch their marshmallows the farthest.
3. Build a Rainbow Rocket
Dry Ice Rainbow Rockets from Science Kiddo. Experimenting with dry ice is always a big hit. Science Kiddo shows us cool way to launch a mini rocket and create a little rainbow art at the same time.
4. Make a Spectroscope
The Homemade Spectroscope from Buggy and Buddy is such a cool way to make a rainbow – even on a sunny day! Buggy and Buddy gives very easy to follow, step-by-step directions on how to engineer your own.
5. Rainbow Crystals Experiment
Build a Leprechaun Home with Crystal Rainbow with instructions from Steam Powered Family. This is such a great mix of creative, open-ended art and a new twist on a classic science experiment.
6. Rainbow Density Experiment
It’s a great time of year to try the Colourful Rainbow Density Jar science experiment from Steamsational. Just add a little food coloring to a few ingredients that you might already have in your kitchen. Make a prediction about what will happen – will the colors mix together? Can you layer one liquid on top of another? This density experiment will get your kids making all kinds of new observations.
7. Build a Leprechaun Trap
Rooftop Garden Leprechaun Trap from Fun Money Mom is a fun STEAM project that will get your kids talking. Before you start, find some white carnations and observe how they soak up water with green food coloring. Then use them to lure your leprechaun into the trap!
8. Dissolving Rainbow
This is a great time of year to experiment with the classic Skittles Rainbow with simple instructions from Science Kiddo. A great opportunity for experimentation and observations for preschool or kindergarten aged kids. Extend this activity by talking about color mixing and paint your own Skittle-water-color rainbow.
9. Create a Fizzy Treasure
This fun St Patrick’s Day Fizzy Pots Activity from Little Bins for Little Hands is a cute St. Patrick’s Day twist on the baking soda and vinegar experiment. Want to surprise your kids? Put a surprise drop of color at the bottom of your treasure pots and create a fizzy rainbow of color!
10. St. Patrick’s Day Math
St Patricks’ Day Hundred Chart Game Printable from Creative Family Fun is a great printable to use with your regular math program this March. Creative Family Fun also shares a simple dice game to play with it. What else can we do with a hundred chart? Color a pattern, cut oddly shaped chunks and make it a puzzle, or give your kids clues to find a mystery number: “This number is greater than ten, less than twenty, and you say it when you count by 5s.”
11. Leprechaun Logic
My kids love logic games! For some seasonal fun, check out the St Patrick’s Day Logic and Sudoku Puzzles Printable from Little Bins for Little Hands. These are great to have on hand for a little extra math or puzzle activity – especially if you have one kiddo that zooms through their work.
12. Walking Rainbow
The Walking Rainbow Experiment from Steam Powered Family is another classic that is perfect for this time of year! Create your own walking rainbow with mason jars, food coloring, and paper towels. A fun experiment to encourage predictions and make observations over time of the color mixing, absorption, and how the water levels change. Plus, it’s a pretty one to have on your counter at this time of year!
Where to go next…
Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.