Shamrock Salt Painting Kids Activity for St. Patrick’s Day
How about doing a fun Shamrock Salt Painting kids activity for St. Patrick’s Day this year! It’s a great hands-on craft to for the kids to do while you’re reading a book about St. Patrick or listening to some Irish music!
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.
Supplies needed for your Shamrock Salt Painting
- Simple coloring page printed on thick white cardstock (see below for a free download)
- Watercolor paint palette
- Water
- Paintbrush
- White glue
- Salt
Directions for your Shamrock Salt Painting
- Trace around the image on the coloring page with glue.
- Sprinkle glue with salt as you would with glitter. Tape the paper to settle the salt into any grooves. Gently lift the paper and shake to remove the excess salt.
- Dip paintbrush in water and blend with watercolor to soften. Saturate the paintbrush with watercolor. Then, gently touch the paintbrush to the salt. The color will spread.
- Allow the picture to dry completely before displaying or gifting.
Another fun activity: how to make leprechaun footprints
St. Patrick’s Day Printable Pack
Use the pages from the St. Patrick’s Day Printable Pack as templates for your Shamrock Salt Painting Kids Activity or as coloring pages! There is also a fun leprechaun color-by-number page.
Get a free download of 2 shamrock pages from the St. Patrick’s Day Printable Pack
Two shamrock pages are free here:
Or, download the entire 9-page pack for $1 at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Why a Shamrock?
As you’re doing today’s craft project, you may be wondering what shamrocks have to do with St. Patrick’s Day. A shamrock is a three-leafed clover, and it’s the most common type of clover you’ll find. The word “shamrock” comes from the Irish word “seamróg,” which means “young clover.”
So, three-leafed clovers are common, but the four-leafed clover are extremely rare. How rare? Only about one in 10,000 clovers have four leaves! So if you find one, you’re considered very lucky.
St. Patrick (c.?385 – c.?461), who is remembered and honored on St. Patrick’s Day, is the patron saint of Ireland. He was a missionary to the people there and used the symbol of the three-leafed clover to help the people understand the Trinity better. He said the three leaves represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the leaf connects them all together as one. So, God is three persons, but one God.
Other Irish Symbols
In the printable pack, you’ll also find a pot of gold, a rainbow, and a leprechaun (with a hat). How did those symbols come to be associated with Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day?
Leprechauns are a part of Irish folklore. It’s believed that if a human captures one, they will be granted three wishes. The pot of gold at the end of a rainbow comes from an old Irish folk story of a couple of poor Irish farmers. When the husband and wife pulled their very last carrot out of their garden, they found a leprechaun dangling from the roots, and he promised one wish in exchange for his freedom. The greedy couple couldn’t decide what they wanted, so the leprechaun told them they could have all they ever wished for if they could find his pot of gold hidden at the end of the rainbow. And, the farmers were forever “chasing rainbows” to find the elusive pot of gold.
The moral of the story? Don’t be greedy!
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Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.
Want more St. Patrick’s Day Fun?
St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon, and you’ll love the posts from my fellow homeschool bloggers who bring you some fantastic St. Patrick’s Day themed tips and resources. Be sure to check them all out below!
Learn all about the Celtic Harp from the brand new 15-Minute Music Lesson freebie from Music in Our Homeschool. Includes a free printable pack.
Love a good round-up? In All You Do has put together one for St. Patrick’s Day homeschool activities.
Grab your little ones and pick some favorite leprechaun books for preschoolers from Homeschooling 4 Him to help your child learn about St. Patrick’s Day, leprechauns, shamrocks, and more.
The St. Patrick’s Day Unit Study for Homeschooling Families from Whole Child Homeschool brings you resources for an extensive unit study about St. Patrick and St. Patrick’s Day.
Do you use notebooking pages to help your kids practice writing skills? Then, you’ll love the St. Patrick’s Day notebooking pages from Homeschool Helper Online.
These 15 shamrock crafts for kids of all ages from Thrive at Home will make crafting time so fun in your homeschool.
Don’t forget STEM! Find some St. Patrick’s Day STEM activities over at Hess UnAcademy!
How is St. Patrick’s Day traditions get started?Learn these facts and more in the The History Behind St. Patrick’s Day Traditions from Homeschool On the Range.
If you’re still searching for the perfect activity, try out the Awesome Ideas for Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Your Homeschool from Some Call It Destiny.
Do you have some round cookies and two blobs of colored icing? Then you’ll enjoy Little Blue and Little Yellow: An Easy, Fun and Tasty Activity from The WOLFe Pack.
Download FREE St. Patrick’s Day themed repetition punch cards to use in your homeschool and find some great activities, too, over at Homeschool with Moxie.
Want to have some fun? Try the leprechaun invasion over at Our Crazy Adventures In Autismland!
This collection of St. Patrick’s Day Resources from Geez, Gwen! brings you St. Patrick’s Day craft ideas, games, activities, book recommendations, snacks, video clips, and more.
Have a preschool or kindergarten student? Then, pick up the FREE Saint Patrick’s Day printable activity pack from Everyday Graces Homeschool.
How would you like to explore Irish geography and geology, use a lens to refract light into a rainbow, graph your snack before you eat it, and share some literature together? Head to History of St. Patrick’s Day: Unit Study from Orison Orchards.
There is something for everyone on this list of 32 St. Patrick’s Day books for kids from Heart and Soul Homeschooling.
You’ll love this St. Patrick’s Day unit study for your preschoolers or kindergartners from Simple Living Mama.
The St. Patrick’s Day printable activities and crafts from Blessed Homeschool are perfect for elementary aged students and include everything from educational STEM activities to fun crafts that will stimulate their creativeness.
