St. Patrick's Day Games

Fun games to play for St. Patrick's Day 

St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt
You'll find 25 different St. Patrick's Day theme items to find in this fun Scavenger hunt. 
Print out the free St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt list here. 
How to play:  Divide into two or more teams.  Give a copy of the list to both teams along with a plastic bag (to carry the items) and a pencil (to mark off items as they are collected).   Give each team a separate territory in the neighborhood to find items.  We give one team the odd number houses and the other team the even number houses.  Set a time limit - 1 to 2 hours.  The first team back within the time limit wins 5 extra bonus points.   Each item is worth 1 point.  If a team is late they are docked 5 points.  Sometimes it's fun to give harder to find items bonus points.  Only one item per house.  Make sure an adult is with each team at all times. 

St. Patrick's Day Charades
We've listed lots of fun ideas to use for the St. Patrick's Day Charade game. 
Print out the St. Patrick's Day Charade list free here. 
How to play:  Before playing print out the free St. Patrick's Day Charade game ideas and cut them into individual pieces.  Choose a neutral person to be the score keeper and to keep track of the time.  Place in a bucket or bag decorated with shamrocks.  Divide into two or more teams.  In turn each team will choose someone to stand in front of the groups and pick a Charade idea from the bucket/bag.  The person then has 1 minute to act out the item on their paper so that their team can guess.  If after 1 minute their team has not guessed the answer then the other teams can guess.  First team to answer correctly gets a point.  First team to 15 wins! 

St. Patrick's Day Bingo
Print out free St. Patrick's Day Bingo Cards here
How to play:  After printing out the free St. Patrick's Day Bingo cards on green stock paper use this list to fill in the boxes on the cards.   No two Bingo cards should be the same so mix up the words on every card.  After the cards are made cut the St. Patrick's Day Bingo word list into individual pieces and place them in a decorated container.  Give everyone a Bingo card and some items to mark off their card.  Pennies  work well.  Call out a St. Patrick's Day word and if it is listed on their card they place a marker on top of the square.  Winner is the one who has 5 in a row horizontally, diagonally or vertically and calls out "IRISH" first.  The middle square is "free". 
Our word list (included with the free printable St. Patrick's Day Bingo cards):
Clover, Leprechaun, Pot of Gold, Rainbow, Shamrock, Blarney Stone, Gold, Luck, Irish, Lucky Charm, Irish Coffee, St. Patrick, Irish Jig, Step Dancing, Irish Wolfhound, Irish Setter, Potato, Emerald, Danny Boy, Irish Eyes, Green,  Horseshoe, Wish, Pinch, Luck, Parade, Proverb, Derby, Limerick, Brogue

St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunts are always fun for children.  There are several different ways to set up a treasure hunt:
Gold Coins - In this simple treasure hunt lots of "treasure" is hidden around an area (yard or room).   The children search for the treasure and get to keep what they find.  To prepare buy lots of gold foil wrapped chocolate coins and hide them.  Give each child a paper sack or container to hold their loot. 
Pot of Gold - In this treasure hunt clues are left for the children that will take them eventually to a pot of gold (chocolate coins, beaded green necklaces, rings etc.) that they can share.   You will need to prepare at least 15 clues (kids will want as many as they can get!) that will lead the children from the clue they are holding to the next clue.  You can tell them directly - "Go to the swingset to find your next clue" or indirectly -"where back and forth is fun" or even make up clues that will rhyme.   It's easier to set up if you make all your clues first on a piece of paper and then put them out in order - don't forget to number them!
Prizes - A fun variation of the treasure hunt is to hide "gold coins" that you make out of yellow construction paper throughout a room or yard.  Before the party buy several fun prizes and number them.   On the "gold coins" write either C for candy or a number of one of the prizes.  When the children collect the coins they can turn them in for either candy or the prize that corresponds to the number they have.

Rainbow Tag
The object of this game is to avoid being caught by the rainbow catcher.
To start: Choose a “rainbow catcher”.  The rainbow catcher will stand in the middle of a large play area. Next assign all the remaining players different colors of the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. (Don’t let the rainbow catcher hear what colors each person is assigned.)
How to Play: The players line up on one side of the yard.   The rainbow catcher (who is standing in the middle of the yard) calls out a color.   All the players that have been assigned that color try and run past the catcher to the other side of the play area. The rainbow catcher tries to tag as many of children as they can before they reach the other side. The kids who are tagged become rainbow catchers and stand in the middle to help tag other players on the next round.  Sometimes the rainbow catcher can yell “Rainbow!!” and all the players must try and reach the other side. The last person caught becomes the new rainbow catcher.