10 Leprechaun Trap Ideas for Kids

Leprechaun traps are a fun and engaging STEAM activity that the kids will love this St. Patrick’s Day! The legends tell us that they hide pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, and if you catch one, they’ll tell you where they hid their gold!

Leprechaun Traps for Kids

Leprechaun Traps

Leprechauns are known to be clever creatures and they love to play tricks on humans. However, they also love gold and anything shiny, so if you make a great trap, you may just catch one.

To begin, we will share ten of our favorite leprechaun trap ideas and then some classics that you can try out this St. Patrick’s Day.

While making a leprechaun trap, kids will be engaged in lots of STEAM learning and fun – science, engineering, art and even math can all be a part of building a cool leprechaun trap.

Just grab some household items, craft supplies and gold coins or shiny objects and invite the kids to catch a leprechaun this St. Patrick’s Day!

After you finish creating your trap, here are some more great St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids!

Our Favorite Leprechaun Traps for Kids

10 Leprechaun Trap ideas for Kids

This Golden Resort trap idea is so creative! – via Moms & Munchkins

Do your kids love LEGO? If so, they will absolutely love this LEGO leprechaun trap! – via Little Bins for Little Hands

Most of us have access to a cereal box, which makes this cereal box leprechaun trap easy and fun to make! – via Crafts By Amanda

Leprechaun Trap ideas for Kids

We love this shoebox leprechaun trap! – via Buggy and Buddy

This fun leprechaun trap idea uses an orange crate! – via JDaniel4’s Mom

Make a leprechaun trap mini garden with this beautiful activity! – via Little Bins for Little Hands

Leprechaun traps that kids will love

This leprechaun hat trap is simple and fun and is sure to catch a leprechaun! – via the Best Ideas for Kids

Here is an awesome bucket leprechaun trap idea! – via Planning Playtime

This leprechaun shoebox trap idea is so creative and pretty – via Mommy Evolution

This sparkling leprechaun trap idea is so pretty! – via B-Inspired Mama

Classic Leprechaun Trap Ideas

  • The Rainbow Trap

Leprechauns follow rainbows to find their pots of gold, so use this to your advantage. You can make a colorful rainbow path with paper and markers. Place it leading up to a pot of gold made from some construction paper. Place the pot on top of a box and attach a string to the pot. When the leprechaun takes the gold, the box will tip over and catch it! You can decorate the box with decorations, shamrocks, candy, or anything else creative that your kids come up with.

  • The Ladder Trap

The ladder trap is another great classic. Get a small ladder and place it next to the pot of gold. Tie a string to the top of the ladder and attach it to some green confetti or paint. When the leprechaun climbs up to get the gold, the bucket will fall and cover the leprechaun in green!

There is another version too! You construct a ladder out of various materials, such as popsicle sticks, toothpicks, or straws. Then, you leave gold at the top of the ladder as bait. The leprechaun will climb up the ladder to reach the pot of gold, but as soon as they do, the ladder will collapse, trapping the leprechaun inside!

This trap is sure to be fun and your kids can decorate the ladder and bucket.

Ladder Leprechaun Trap
  • The St. Patrick’s Day Party Trap

Set up a St. Patrick’s Day party for leprechauns with shamrocks, a pot of gold and lots of decorations! Place a net over the pot of gold and when the leprechaun tries to take the gold they will get caught in the net! Make the party as festive as you like with candy, jellybeans, streamers, snacks and anything else your kids can think of to get the leprechaun to take the bait.

  • The Shoebox Trap

Another popular classic! Take an old shoebox and place it upside down. Then put some gold coins inside of it. When the leprechauns try to take the coins inside the shoebox they will get stuck. Add decorations to make it even more attractive to the leprechaun!

Cereal Box Leprechaun Trap

You can also use a cereal box like in the picture above!

  • The Rainbow Bridge Trap

Build a bridge out of construction paper and place it over a bucket of green confetti. When the leprechaun crosses the bridge, it will collapse, and the leprechaun will fall into the bucket of green confetti. This trap is super fun and you can have your students decorate this to make it more enticing to the leprechaun!

We hope you find lots of awesome ideas for the kids to use to make leprechaun traps! This cool STEAM activity is sure to be a hit this St. Patrick’s Day!

What do you put in a leprechaun trap?

When your kids build the leprechaun trap, fill it with fun bait. Gold coins, candy, decorations and anything shiny helps invite a leprechaun to your trap!

How do you make a leprechaun trap?

There are lots of fun ways to make a leprechaun trap. You can use shoebox traps, a fun decorated party or even a rainbow bridge that will drop the leprechaun into you cute trap!