We’re always on the lookout for fun Irish Crafts For Kids. This Shamrock Craft is suitable for older kids and is a festive way to decorate your home for Saint Patrick’s Day.

This winter has been particularly long for all of us. Long Island always gets its fair share of snow, but this year, it’s been a mess. Too many of our snow days have been full of wet, slushy snow instead of fluffy white, sleigh riding snow. This means that our kids are feeling really cooped up and cranky.

I don’t blame them. We’re not really winter people here, so we get a bit flustered when we can’t get outside and run around. We try our best, but there are only so many igloos one can build and so many snowball fights one can have and so many sleigh rides one can go one before dreams of green grass start to become an obsession.

When this happens, we take a deep breath and find something fun to do inside. My kids are really into making their own canvas art right now, so I always make sure I have plenty of blank canvases waiting for them in our craft bags. I really enjoy when we craft together as a family because it lets me see their little minds at work.

I know it sounds a bit dorky, but crafting together works. It takes their minds off of the fact that it’s way too cold to go outside and it puts their creativity to good use. Plus, it keeps them from over-indulging on their Kindle Fires or the X-Box. My kids are really into Disney Infinity and Minecraft, and could easily get lost in those worlds if I let them.

As it turns out, I had been at Michael’s earlier on in the week and picked up some new art supplies just in case another snow storm came along. It kind of goes without saying that I was pretty psyched that I had everything we needed for this cute Saint Patrick’s Day Craft today.

As a rule of thumb, I never micromanage their craft sessions. I just set out some supplies, suggest a theme, and let them do what they want. Even though I sit at the table with them, I am usually just a casual bystander – offering a helping hand when asked or chatting away about whatever’s on their mind.

The cool thing about crafting with my kids is that they get a chance to show me what they think is cool. For this shamrock craft, my son wanted to use some nail heads that I had picked up for a completely different project. Even though I was planning to use them for something else, I wanted to see what he’d do with them. The end result was pretty cool, don’t you think?

My daughter, on the other hand, is all about glitz, glamour and sparkly things. For her, the more color, the better – and if you can add rhinestones to it, life is just perfect. I love that she made something completely different from her big brother and let her wild, bubbly personality shine through. Do you craft with your kids? What do they like to do?

Shamrock Craft: DIY Canvas Art

Shamrock Craft Materials:

• Canvases (I buy mine on sale at Michael’s!)
• Paint
• Paintbrushes
• Nailhead trim
• Self-adhesive rhinestone gems
• Piece of paper for the shamrock template
• Hammer
• Pencil

Shamrock Craft Directions:

Step 1: Using a pencil and a piece of paper, draw a shamrock. Cut it out. Tip: Make sure that the shamrock fits completely inside of the wooden canvas frame or it will make it very difficult for little hands to hammer them in.

Step 2: Encourage your kids to paint the canvas however they want to. This will be the background for the shamrock craft.

Step 3: Once the paint is fully dry, have your child trace the shamrock onto the canvas using a pencil.

Step 4: Then, using whatever embellishments desired, have your child place them along the traced line of the shamrock.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day,

Denine

Want more shamrock crafts for Saint Patrick’s Day?

• Easy Shamrock Canvas Art
• Shamrock Branches
• Coffee Filter Shamrocks
• Shamrock Barrette Tutorial
• A Shamrock Tree

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