Leprechauns are known tricksters. And this time of year, many families have fun with that idea by playing pranks around the house and blaming the leprechauns. It's like Elf on the Shelf, but green. The idea is a pretty cute one, but it's fairly new to many parents out there. That's why I've compiled a list of leprechaun pranks to pull on your kids that are easy, quick, and don't require a ton of effort.
Unlike the elves so popular at Christmastime, there is no stuffed leprechaun that your kids meet at the beginning of the season, warning them of hijinks to come. Oh no, leprechaun pranks are a thing of St. Patrick's Day, and you do not see hide nor hair of your tricky little sprite. If your children are unfamiliar with leprechauns, you can begin with reading the book How To Catch A Leprechaun,which details the exploits of one of the little tricksters as he goes house to house, pranking families. It reads like a St. Patrick's Day version of The Night Before Christmas and your kids will undoubtedly love it, and want to read it every year. If you do read it, it's a good idea to follow some of the tricks that transpire in the pages — like gold coins everywhere, or green glitter in their shoes — to give your leprechaun some truth.
1. Green Morning
Go for a totally green breakfast. Make green pancakes, green smoothies, green oats, green eggs, or even green grits, and blame that leprechaun. Surely, it's the work of magic.
2. Turn The House Green
With green streamers everywhere. This time of year, green streamers are really cheap. Hang them all over the house before the kids wake up, and make them go through the crepe paper jungle.
3. Dry Erase A Poem Or Limerick On The Mirror
Using a gold or green dry erase marker, write up a little rhyme or limerick on the bathroom mirror. Something like, "There once was a family who lived here, and the leprechaun knew so he came near, now all is a mess, and the rainbows are blessed, just because the leprechaun came here." Or something infinitely better.
4. Gold Coins Everywhere
Place gold "coins" in the kids' shoes and in their pockets. Buy gold chocolate coins at the party store, and fill their coat pockets and shoes with the goodies, too.
5. Rainbow Their Door
Make a rainbow door trap at the front door or their bedroom door with either a roll of paper that you've colored, a paper ring curtain, or ROYGBIV streamers. Make sure there's gold at the bottom.
6. Green Hair
Spray your hair green the night before and pretend not to notice. Granted, this works best if you're a stay-at-home parent, but it also works if you can wash it before work. Spray your hair with the temporary green spray the night before, or early in the morning, and proceed as normal. Your kids will flip out. Bonus points if you're the coolest mom and can use the actual temporary dye.
7. Fill The House With Silly String
Spray green silly string over everything you know you can get it off of. I'm thinking the fridge, the table, the bathroom, and anything wipeable. They'll love it.
8. Green Milk
Just [lace a few drops of green food coloring in the bottom of your child's glass, and fill it with milk. It will turn green as it pours.
9. Green Light Bulbs
I found this one on Pinterest: replace some of the light bulbs in your house with green bulbs. Or, if you're like me and your house is fully Alexa'd, turn all your Philips lights to green and set them on a timer before bed.
10. Hidden Glitter
Green glitter in their shoes. Don't use too much, but place the glitter for maximum poof, right under the tongue of the shoe.
11. Green Bath
Fill the bathtub with green bubbles or, using a green bath bomb, draw your child's bath, and just before they're meant to get in the tub, drop a bright green bath bomb in the tub. What's great is that they'll also smell nice and clean.