Kids can turn hearts into shamrocks as they make this colourful garland for St. Patrick’s Day.
By Andrea Mulder-Slater
I’m not big on leprechauns. In fact, the thought of them kind of freaks me out. I think it has something to do with the shoes. However, when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks and rainbows are symbols I can get really my head around.
What You Need:
- Construction paper (rainbow colours, ideally)
- Scissors
- Ribbon
- Tape or Glue
- Pencil
What You Do:
To begin with, you will need a sheet of construction paper.
Fold the paper in half. Once.
On the folded side (this is important) draw half of a heart, near the top. Incidentally, I used black marker, only so my lines would show up on these photographs. A pencil is a more prudent choice.
Now, draw a full heart outline, making sure it touches the half-heart outline. We don’t want any spaces left open here.
Draw a stem.
Cut it out!
Now use that shamrock as a template and trace around it on different sheets of paper. My goal was to have shamrocks in each of the colours of the rainbow.
Remember Roy G. Biv (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet)? Our construction paper doesn’t come in indigo so my daughter used an indigo crayon on blue paper to remedy that.
Speaking of my daughter, she was keen to do this project, until… she wasn’t. However, here’s photographic proof that even a six-year-old can make these shamrocks (as long as you aren’t pulling her away from her Lego).
Once you have a number of shamrocks cut out, arrange them on a table and – using tape – attach a ribbon to the backs.
Flip it over…
And hang it up!
When you’re through with your garland, you can use your shamrock cut-outs to make a cool pop art picture.
Simply arrange six sheets of construction paper (attach using tape on the backs).
Then glue the shamrocks onto the paper in a pop art way that would make Andy Warhol proud.
This would work really well with paint too, don’t you think? Also, the garland and the the pop art would be great decorations for a St. Patrick’s Day party!
This craft first appeared at YMC with the title: DIY Rainbow Shamrock Garland
