St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt

(Sample)

I wanted to do a St. Patrick's Day scavenger hunt for my kids this year.  One that would appear to be left for them by a Leprechaun.  I spent a lot of time looking for a good scavenger hunt online.  I didn't really like anything I found, though.  I wanted cute and clever like a Leprechaun!  I googled Leprechaun poems, riddles, read tons of them.  They're either for adults or they are nothing like what I wanted.  So I gathered random bits and pieces of the holiday that I did like.  And I made my own riddle poems for clues.

I liked the way they turned out!  I used common Leprechaun pranks with minimal preparation.  The hunt just adds to the magic of the day for a child :).  I thought I'd get it onto my blog now, while we're still a few days out from St. Patrick's Day in case it resonated with anyone else who might also be searching for a hunt and could still be able to use it. 

 So here's a Leprechaun's Pot of Gold Scavenger Hunt:

Clue #1 (To be hidden by their pillow)

Clue #1 leads to the toilet which should look like this:

(The picture below is from the blog, www.diferentiatedkindergarten.com.
Click on the link to read her tutorial on making Leprechaun footprints.)

Clue #2 (To be hidden near the toilet)

 Clue #2 leads to the refrigerator.  If using a different container than your family's regular milk containers, (to only do this to part of the milk, for instance), have the children help set them up with regular milk the night before to see if the leprechaun will change it.  My children sort of expect this milk-changing tradition every year and I don't want to do it to a whole milk container.  So we'll use smaller glass containers.

Image from http://wutheringiris.blogspot.com.

Clue #3 (To be hidden in the fridge.)

 Clue #3 leads to wherever the children keep their shoes- front door, maybe.  Stuff toilet paper into the toes of their shoes (as though someone with smaller feet was trying to wear them) and make a mess nearby.  Maybe fallen chairs or scattered books/movies.

Clue #4 (To be hidden in or near their shoes)

.

 
Clue #4 leads to outside- near the door or in the yard.  

It should lead to a stash of gold wrapped candy 

and any other treasures you should wish to include.  

I really liked this idea from this site:

I loved (and included) this idea:

And I threw in a leprechaun figure to color.