Build a Leprechaun Trap

Little Guy had to build a leprechaun trap for school, and it turned out to be a really fun project!  We figured out a design, and used mostly materials we had lying around - except for the little pot of gold and the St. Patrick's day stickers.  Those, we found at Michael's.

Here's most of what we used.

We started out by painting an old shoebox green. Then I cut a square out of the lid, and we placed some green felt inside so leprechaun wouldn't get hurt when he fell into the trap.

I realized we had no popsicle sticks, but found I had these little forked sticks (leftover from our Pirate Unit), which worked out perfectly to form the ladder and the pole for hanging the bait.  I cut the forked part off the ladder rungs, and Little Guy started painting them.

Then, I hot glued the others together to form a pole to hang the bait.

We cut some foam to glue to the underside of the lid, so that the pole would stay upright.  I can't tell you how excited Little Guy was to do this part.

We glued papers to the underside of the lid, so that when the Leprechaun goes for the gold, he'll fall into the box! Then Little Guy got to work with the stickers while I wrapped the pole with pipe cleaners.

Tada!  Our Leprechaun Trap!  Little Guy had a blast with it at school today, and can't wait to see what he might capture on St. Patrick's day!

It's not too late to build a trap with your child.  This would be a perfect weekend activity.  You can also download my Free St. Patrick's Day Printables for some extra fun!