Leprechaun Tricks And Pranks For St. Patrick's Day

Leprechauns are up to all their old tricks now that St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. They love to pop in for an unexpected visit, leaving their mark wherever they go.

I love how American teachers and parents embrace our favorite Irish holiday, welcoming these little Irish pranksters into their classrooms and homes for some Paddy's Day fun.

Leprechauns are mischevious little busy bodies, and they love to play practical jokes.

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Leprechauns at School

When my little girl was in kindergarten she arrived home just before St. Patrick's Day exuding pure leprechaun glee. She couldn't wait to tell me about the shenanigans of their very own classroom leprechaun.

"Our leprechaun left footprints all over our desks," added her equally enthusiastic brother, in a tone saying "our leprechaun is better than yours".

Then all four of my kids looked at me questioningly:

"Do you think leprechauns will visit our house this year?"

Let me confess - my heart sank. My ever practical Irish side thought of all the "work" involved in teaming up with leprechauns.

I grew up in Ireland at a time when St. Patrick's Day meant going to Mass, wearing a rosette on my coat, saying a few prayers, singing Hail Glorious Saint Patrick, and gorging on sweets.

I just wanted to tell my kids, there wasn't a chance of leprechauns setting foot in our house.

But I saw the longing looks in my kids' fun-loving eyes, and I knew I needed to welcome the leprechauns into our home, even if this meant facing a little inevitable havoc.

After a quick internet search to find out more about these St. Patrick's Day leprechaun high jinks, I soon discovered my fellow Americans really embrace magical capers and tomfoolery. I decided I'm game to join in some leprechaun malarkey, spoofs and escapades.

In 1959 Walt Disney featured leprechauns in the film Darby O'Gill and the Little People. This movie helped make leprechauns a symbol of Saint Patrick's Day and Ireland for Americans everywhere.

And so this year, I thought I might share the leprechaun antics witnessed in our house over the years in the run-up to St. Patrick's Day.

1. Footprints, Footprints Everywhere

Leprechauns leave footprints or shamrocks all over our house.

Try as I might to hide those green markers every year, he finds them and leaves his mark in the craziest of places.

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Flour has been spilled on my counter top with little footprints running through the white field of "snow".

Chalk footprints are sometimes seen on the side walk outside our front door.

And sometimes, our little mischievous fellow leaves a trail of gold foil rolos on our stairs, or around our coffee table.

Gold coins from his pot of gold can be found in a trail on the stairs or in the living room.

2. Leprechaun Toilet Fun

Leprechauns have turned our toilet water green. He must start messing with green food coloring, adding a few drops to the toilet water.

Maybe green toilet water is a sign of good luck like a four leafed clover.

And the toilet paper is a whole other story. You can find shamrocks drawn on it, or it can be sealed closed with a leprechaun sticker.

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Green soap and hand washes have appeared overnight. He even put up a fresh set of green towels one year, with a note - "Only green towels on St. Patrick's Day."

Shamrock patterned towels are another leprechaun favorite.

3. Leprechaun Kitchen Tricks

One St. Patrick's Day we woke up to find our kitchen cabinets wide open with little notes pinned on the doors.

I have heard tell of leprechauns spilling silverware out of drawers. Some of these crazy guys turn cups and saucepans upside down, and leave half-empty glasses of green milk on counter tops.

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And be careful if you are partial to Lucky Charms. They're not past stealing all the charms out of your favorite cereal box.

They only like green Apple Jacks, and have even been known to thread them into a lucky green bracelet.

I think I'd like a jelly bean bracelet in green, white and orange this year.

Sometimes we even find trays of green ice cubes in our freezer. They're perfect for Saint Patrick's Day refreshments.

4. Furniture Shenanigans

The little pranksters who show up at our house often turn our chairs and other furniture upside down.

Luckily our little rascal has only wreaked his havoc with small chairs and things that are easy to turn right way round.

I have him warned not to touch a big piece of furniture. My kids laugh when I start shouting out to unseen leprechauns. But who knows what that little trickster could get up to this year, if I don't give him a good warning.

5. Fun With Shoes On St. Patrick's Day

Leprechauns love to leave chocolate coins in shoes around our house.

Don't forget that most leprechauns are shoemakers, so they love to check out shoes.

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Gold foil covered chocolate kisses also work great for shoe surprises.

We have found the laces in our sneakers have been changed to none other than green shoe laces.

6. A Little Doggy Fun For St. Pat's:

Leprechauns have been known to put green bandanas on family dogs, or any pet that stands still long enough to be adorned in green.

The loony leprechaun who visits our house has even tied a shamrock scarf around our sheepdog.

And remember, leprechauns love to dress anything and everything up in Irish green. Dolls and teddy bears are all fair game, and not just cats and dogs. You'd need a little leprechaun magic to dress up a cat.

7. Leprechaun Blockades

Leprechauns use crepe paper to block the way out of bedroom doors.

What a surprise my little one's got when they woke up one Paddy's Day morning to find there was a paper ribbon barricading their path.

Green, white and orange are the favorite colors for these magical tricktsters.

8. Balloon Tricks for St. Patrick's Day

Our little Irish man leaves green balloons on our living room floor.

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Sometimes he gets very careless and puts dimes inside the balloons. He needs to be more careful with his treasure.

9. Notes and Jokes From Little Irish Leprechauns

Our little fellow loves to leave little pieces of paper lying around the house with leprechaun jokes or taunting notes printed on them.

Here are three of my favorite kid-friendly leprechaun jokes. Some jokes are way over my kids heats, but I'm happy to say my kids got these jokes even when they were pretty young.

Q: What type of bow cannot be tied?
A: A rain-bow!

Q: Where can you always find gold?
A: In the dictionary!

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Leprechauns leave "You Can't Catch Me Notes" all over our house.

Our leprechaun has some favorite places for leaving his calling card.

He has scribbled his message on the inside of the shower curtain.

The dry erase board on the side of the fridge is another spot he likes - that's my favorite one. Sometimes he uses a WASHABLE marker and writes on shower curtains and other plastic surfaces. Other times he just leaves his "You Can't Catch Me" message on little shamrock shaped notes.

10. Leprechaun Traps

Now leprechauns can be lured by golden coins, especially the chocolate variety. So get ready and set your trap.

In Irish folklore, leprechauns are considred to be a little cranky at times. It's difficult to win an argument with a leprechaun and they're the best tricksters in the world.

They tend to live alone, and work as shoemakers. They're exceptionally good at mending fairy shoes. The little people (that's the Irish name for the fairies) pay the leprechauns with magical gold coins. The leprechauns save their coins in famous pots of gold that they hide at the end of the rainbow.

Now you can never find the end of a rainbow, so if you're looking for leprechaun gold, you need to first catch one of these little Irish elves. That's where a leprechaun trap comes into the picture.

Let your imagination run free as you create a special trap to try to capture your very own leprechaun as they dart around the globe on Saint Patrick's Day.

Grab a shoe box, or a cereal box, or anything container you think might lure a leprechaun, and add a little Irish magic and a few golden coins and wait and see if your leprechaun might leave some marks behind.

And here's a little leprechaun you just might trap. Let me introduce you to Silly McGilly.

Silly McGilly

And finally if anyone is interested in exploring more leprechaun prank ideas, why not check out the Silly McGilly website.

Silly is a plush leprechaun toy you can place in your window to let the leprechauns know you are game for some Irish fun. Here's a review of Silly McGilly and all of his shenanigans.

They have a wonderful list of tricks for the home, and pranks for the classroom.

Free Printables To Help With Your Leprechaun Fun

If you need a little help creating some leprechaun fun, I've got you covered.

Here's a selection of printable jokes that you can print, and cut up to leave around the house.

Use the button or the image above and you'll be taken to a PDF file, which you are welcome to save, print and share.

Next up is a sheet with some leprechaun feet and boots. Just print and cut to spread some leprechaun tracks around the place.

Use the button or the image to find this printable file.

And finally, here are a few hats and little leprchauns, which may be a little helpful for crafts or leprechaun pranks.

You can find the file through the images or this button.

And so, there you have it, a little round up of leprechaun fun. Here's a cute leprechaun book mark that you might like to make.

I hope you all have a little leprechaun craic this weekend. But be warned! The leprechauns are in the mood for pinching.

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