5 St. Patrick’s Day Easy STEM Activities for Elementary

I absolutely love including some festive fun into our routines, especially when it comes to holiday activities! There’s just something magical about seeing the joy in the kids’ eyes and feeling the energy skyrocket when we give our everyday routines a holiday spin. And hey, with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, why not sprinkle some luck into our classrooms? Get ready for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with these five easy STEM activities! You don’t need a four-leaf clover for luck. These are just simple ideas to make your St. Patrick’s Day celebration a hit!

Bring in the luck of the Irish with these easy STEM activities for St. Patrick's Day.

5 Easy STEM Activities for St. Patrick’s Day

Below are five easy STEM activities I have used in my classroom year after year. My kiddos have even told their younger siblings about them! I’m excited to share with you today!

1. Build a Boat to Hold Gold

This first student-favorite activity is one full of creativity, problem-solving, and a dash of design in your classroom with this awesome STEM challenge. Before starting this activity with my kiddos, I make sure to prepare the task cards, hang the design process poster up on the wall, and have the student response sheets ready to go.

This image shows easy stem activities that students use to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. In this photo, a student is testing out a boat they made to see if it can hold "gold" without sinking.

I first introduce this easy STEM activity with a read-aloud of The Story of the Leprechaun. There is also a video read-aloud included in the slide show for quick access. Once we have set the stage, I introduce the problem they are trying to solve during this challenge. The problem is that the leprechaun needs to move all his gold down the river. So, my students are then given the task of creating a boat that will hold the pot of gold.

I make sure to have certain supplies to help make this challenge an authentic experience. I purchase black leprechaun pots (you can also find these at Halloween as “witches cauldrons”) and give each group around 30 pennies. Aluminum foil, tape, and rubber bands are also provided for them to create the structure of their boats. After the kiddos have had some time to build their designs, we test the boats out in a large tub filled with water.

After the 20-minute building time, it’s time to share their ideas! I encourage teamwork as students showcase their masterpieces. Afterward, I make sure that my students also sketch out their blueprint and reflect on how well it worked. This is an important step in the process, so make sure it doesn’t get skipped! Finally, I hand out those hard-earned certificates and stickers, creating a positive and vibrant atmosphere that celebrates uniqueness.

2. Build a Tool To Catch Gold

In our second easy STEM activity, our leprechaun friend is having trouble picking up his gold pieces. My students are given the challenge to create a tool they can use to successfully pick up gold. To help set the stage, I will often do a read-aloud of a March or St. Patrick’s Day picture book before we begin.

In this photo, a student is trying out a gold grabber that they created as part of these easy stem activities.

Once our picture book has gotten us in the right mindset, we work through the slideshow for this activity, talking about the problem in depth. Then we chat about the challenge and any constraints they might have. Once the student response sheets have been handed out, my teams can start gathering their materials. They use plastic forks, rubber bands, straws, popsicle sticks, and masking tape to build and assemble their tool. I pick up gold coins from the Dollar Store or print out gold coins for my kiddos to use to test their tool.

As they construct, my students sketch out their vision for their tool. They label which part is made with which material. Then, they have to explain their reasoning for the way they designed their tool. Once their first model has been built, they test it out. Then, they return to their student pages to reflect on how well it worked and if the design can be improved!

After 20 minutes or so, (the time varies depending on available time) I have my groups come back together to share their designs and experiences. They talk about how they designed their tool, if they had to change anything, and how well it worked with picking up coins. I love these discussions because, more often than not, I hear my students comment how they hadn’t thought of something from that perspective or give a compliment to another group.

3. Think Like an Artist Easy STEM Activities

This easy STEM activity is another one of my favorites because it makes the A in STEAM so approachable. In this activity, my students design a disguise for a shamrock. It can look like anything by the end, except for a shamrock!

This images features the book "St. Patrick's Day" by Gail Gibbons and an example of the "hide the shamrock" activity. In the example, a student turned a shamrock into a bee.

I like to kick this activity off with a read-aloud of the picture book Green Shamrocks by Eve Bunting. There are lots of other great book options too, such as St. Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons. Choose a book that looks appealing to your students and introduces the shamrock shape. Once we have the read-aloud finished, I hand out the shamrock template to each of my students. I have included different styles of shamrocks to begin with to add some variety among my kiddos.

Materials to Use

The types of materials used for this challenge can vary. Honestly, you can get pretty creative and pull out whatever you have in your room. Keep it simple by only using crayons, colored pencils, and markers, or mix it up with more craft supplies. Some fun items to throw in include things such as pom-poms, yarn, felt, and glitter! I know, I know. Your cringe was felt from over here, but I highly recommend having a glitter station if you choose to use it. It will make glitter a lot less messy and a lot quicker to clean up. I lay out a large piece of white paper, or I use a larger tub that the project can sit down in while glitter is being added. This contains the mess, plus my students have much more buy-in when these types of materials come out to play!

My kids really show their creativity with their disguises for their shamrocks! I have seen them turn them into superheroes, athletes, animals, pirates, and more! After the finishing touches on their designs, I have them write a story that describes their shamrocks. Some questions I ask them to think about include why their shamrock needs a disguise, how their shamrock changed, and what their shamrock is trying to do. Once complete, these projects make a super fun and colorful bulletin board display!

4. Free Build a Leprechaun Trap

Kiddos love those mischievous leprechauns! For this reason, my students always have a blast with this easy STEM activity for St. Patrick’s Day. In this activity, the problem is that the leprechauns keep stealing all of the gold. So, my students’ task is to build a trap to catch the leprechaun thief!

This image shows an example of leprechaun trap. A leprechaun figure is trapped in a toilet paper roll that is attached to a piece of cardboard by a pipe cleaner.

Before diving in as a class, we read aloud a fun book called How to Trap a Leprechaun. I also have included a read-aloud video in the class slideshow that guides us through this challenge. After reading our book, I pass out the student pages that will prompt them through the construction of their trap. As they build, they will keep data on the design of their trap, the height, length, and what worked well.

When it comes to materials, I make sure to pull out some of our spare cardboard pieces and scrap cardstock. My students also have access to popsicle sticks, tinfoil, construction paper, masking tape, straws, pipe cleaners, and index cards. These are just ideas, so if you have other materials in mind, feel free to add them! I also print or have the kiddos color in leprechaun cutouts to use with their traps.

After about 25 minutes or so, I have my students start wrapping up their construction. Towards the end of that time, I encourage them to test out their trap and make any adjustments. Then, we take time to share each of our trap designs and share our thinking about them. This is always a classroom favorite and spreads a heavy dose of St. Patrick’s Day sparkle! Grab the freebie here to get started!

5. Build a Rainbow Maze

The last of our easy STEM activities has my kiddos building with Legos or similar type blocks, which is a big win in the eyes of my students. Once again, our leprechauns are up to no good… They are trying to sneakily steal our gold! My challenge to my students is to build a maze that has obstacles and different paths to confuse the leprechaun and protect our gold.

This photo shows easy stem activities in which students will use plastic math cubes to build a leprechaun maze with gold as the middle.

We start off this activity by reading aloud The Story of the Leprechaun. This is a great way to get everyone excited about this activity. Once we finish our read-aloud, I pass out the student pages for them to start brainstorming their design together. They sketch out their maze design. After they draw their design, they jot down some notes about it, such as the types of materials they use, the number of obstacles in their maze, and any trouble or areas of improvement they came across.

This Activity In Action

Each group receives a selection of Legos, snap cubes, or blocks to start setting up their maze. I give them a set of fake gold coins, either bought from the Dollar Store or printed out in color on cardstock, to hide in the maze. They are also given printed-out leprechauns to be placed in their mazes as well. My kiddos enjoy moving them around through their maze and creating scenarios of the leprechaun trying to grab the gold. I also give them a marble they can try to move through their maze as they test pathways and obstacles. These props really help to bring the challenge to life!

I give around 20 minutes or so for my students to construct and test their mazes. Once 20 minutes is up, we come back together as a class. We take turns sharing and explaining our mazes. They discuss what worked well, what didn’t, and what they would change for next time. I love hearing their reflections and thoughts on this project!

Easy STEM Activities Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day

And there you have it, five easy STEM activities tailor-made for the spirited minds in your elementary classroom! These hands-on adventures infuse the joy of St. Patrick’s Day into our learning routines while also seamlessly blending creativity, problem-solving, and design. From crafting boats to hold leprechaun gold, building tools to catch elusive coins, disguising shamrocks as colorful characters, constructing leprechaun traps, to designing rainbow mazes with Legos, each activity is a spark for curiosity and unique solutions!

As we share these engaging challenges, let’s foster an atmosphere where teamwork thrives and creativity reigns. Embrace the festive excitement, ignite the passion for STEM, and watch as your elementary students embark on a journey of discovery and fun! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and may the STEM magic and the luck of the Irish be with you as you continue your classroom adventures!

Additional Resources

Help your students or kids develop problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and creativity all while learning about science, engineering, technology and math with these STEM Activities. This workbook features 30 STEM Challenges.

Discover more hands-on learning with my Let’s Explore STEM Activity Workbook! With 30 exciting challenges, your kids will be solving problems, creating amazing projects, and learning through play. Each activity uses simple materials and follows the Engineering Design Process. With two seasonal activities for every month and six bonus challenges, there’s something to inspire creativity year-round. If you are looking for more easy STEM activities for St. Patrick’s Day, make sure to check out the post below: