Here’s a simple St. Patrick’s Day craft for kids that incorporates the science of sound and creative play- make mini sound shakers just the right size for leprechauns!

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We’ve been having so much fun with our mini sound shakers. There’s lots of fun learning activities you can do with them, and you can even leave them out for any leprechaun visitors you might have on St. Patrick’s Day! (This post contains affiliate links.)

St. Patrick’s Day Crafts: Mini Sound Shakers

Materials for Mini Sound Shakers

• Some old plastic caps (I used some little, white caps from water bottles.)
• Various tapes in greens and golds (Here’s a few cute tapes: green chevron, green polkadots, gold dots,  gold chevron.)
• A variety of materials to put in your sound shakers (ex. rice, beans, coins, sand etc.)

How to Make Mini Sound Shakers

For each sound shaker you’ll need two caps. Place your material in one of the caps. Carefully place the other cap on top and tape them together with some decorative tape. That’s it!

You can create all kinds of sound shakers by using different materials and different decorative tapes! The kids love exploring the different sounds made my various materials. Some materials you might want to try:

• dry rice
• beans
• sand
• table salt
• small coins
• small jingle bells
• beads

Playing with the Mini Sound Shakers

1. Explore the sound shakers. Let your children or students explore the sound shakers. They love trying to guess what material is inside each one! Encourage them to describe the sounds they hear to one another. This is a great way to fine tune those listening skills!

2. Create a guessing game. Leave a small sample of each material used out on the table near the sound shakers. Invite the children to guess which material is inside each sound shaker.

3. Gross Motor Listening Catch. Sit across from a partner. Close your eyes as your partner rolls a mini sound shaker to you. Try to catch it by listening to where it is without looking!

4. Rolling Sound Makers: Roll your sound shakers on the ground. Compare the sounds.

5. Shake More than One at a Time.  Try shaking two sound shakers at the same time. How do they sound? Try different combinations and compare the different sounds created.

6. Creative Play. These mini sound shakers would be perfect for including in a St. Patrick’s Day themed sensory box or leaving out near your leprechaun traps on St. Patrick’s Day. You never know- you might hear some little leprechauns making some music with your homemade sound shakers!

Be sure to check out STEAM Kids book and ebook for even more creative STEM and STEAM ideas!