Easy Pot of Gold Craft for Kids

 

A rainbow pot of gold craft is the theme for this St. Patrick’s Day preschool craft. I love a cool craft with simple supplies that younger children can work on themselves. This is a great craft because it also turns into a learning activity. Kids of all ages can make their own pot of gold and use this fun craft project in different ways.

 

 

Your St. Patrick’s Day pot of gold can turn into a purse (like ours did) or a mailbox to count gold coins into (we tried that too). This is a great time for a treasure hunt! Take this pot of gold craft and put all of your treasures in it. 

 

Materials

• paper plates – one paper plate for each pot of gold
• glue and glue sticks
• paint or markers
• construction paper
• string or yarn or pipe cleaners

 

 

 

Cut a plate in half and glue around the inside edges. Press the two halves together.

The Elmer’s Early Learners Glue Pen works great for this step because you can squeeze just the right amount of glue out without a huge mess and it goes on purple and dries clear so you can see where you have applied the glue. Squeezing the glue strengthens hand and finger muscles which is important for fine motor skills.

 

 

Decorate your cute pot of gold with paint, markers, cotton balls, paper, or glitter.

A great way to make a shamrock is to cut out 3 or 4 hearts and line up their points. Glue the shamrocks onto the pot of gold.

We added rainbow colors because we were inspired by the rainbow shape of the plate halves.

 

 

We used the Elmer’s Early Learners Glue Stick which is perfect for little hands. I love because of the triangular shape and angled tip which helps to develop the proper writing grip. I should also add that it doesn’t roll away which is an extra bonus!

 

 

Punch a hole on each side and attach a piece of yarn or string to the top of the pot on each side. If you are hanging the pot of gold from a door knob, you can use something shorter like a pipe cleaner attached to the middle.

First, this rainbow craft became a colorful purse that has inspired hours of pretend play. Then, we turned it into a learning game. That is my favorite kind of craft, one that has multiple uses. 

 

 

One of the best ways we used this fun pot of gold craft is to turn it into a counting game. It was a fun way to practice number recognition and counting. We delivered and counted “gold coins” (yellow circles cut out of yellow construction paper) into other pots of gold that we hung all over the house. 

What is the number on the shamrock? 5! So she added 5 gold coins to that pot of gold. Once we did this activity together, she was able to do it on her own over and over again while she played. 

You can also use plastic gold coins from a dollar store. Another fun idea is to write letters on the pots and coins to match and deliver.

 

 

 

Available at Michaels, Target, and Wal-Mart

You can now find these Early Learners Glue Sticks on Amazon (affiliate links).

 

This craft and is sponsored by Elmer’s Early Learners Academy. The opinions and ideas are my own.  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

More Fun St. Patrick’s Day Crafts

Your little leprechauns will love these crafts!

 

Make a handprint rainbow with your child’s handprints or the handprints of your whole family. I love how this goes from craft to colorful keepsake. 

 

 

Grow a Crystal Rainbow Science Experiment

Depending on the age of your child, you can set up the experiment and have your younger child observe what happens. Or older children can help prepare the experiment. You will see changes within a couple of hours and the chemical reaction will continue for about 24 hours. It’s so cool to watch no matter what your age is. 

 

 

Make thumbprint shamrocks! These are fun to turn into a bookmark or ornament keepsake. 

 

 

Make a beaded rainbow using a block of styrofoam, pipe cleaners, and pony beads. This is fun to make over and over again in different ways. 

 

 

Make a DIY Rainbow Scope to see rainbows everywhere!

This provided hours of pretend play and fun! We hunted for pots of gold too. All you need is a coffee creamer container, plastic wrap, tape, and markers.