Easy Leprechaun Trap for Kids in Under an Hour

Bring the magic of St Patrick’s Day to life with our simple Leprechaun Trap! Step-by-step directions on how to make an easy leprechaun trap project in under an hour!

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One thing I have in common with my mom is that we both dislike school projects! Don’t get me wrong, I can see why kids love them. Teachers love building a leprechaun trap because it is a fantastic STEAM activity for children of all ages! And if you are a parent to one child, really they are no big deal. I wouldn’t mind them so much.

But when you have multiple children, all coming home saying “I have to do this big project…” Mom gets a little overwhelmed and tends to get a little rebellious like I did with the leprechaun trap school project.

But I can tell you, even if you are an overwhelmed and a bit rebellious busy mom, there is still a way to compromise so that the kids can have their DIY leprechaun trap craft to catch their leprechaun’s gold coins, and you can come out the hero without too much stress!

🍀What is the Point of a Leprechaun Trap? 

 According to legend, leprechauns are a type of mischievous fairy that finds and hoards gold coins that they stow away in pots. The idea is that If you catch a leprechaun they’ll grant you three wishes to escape. Setting simple leprechaun traps has become a fun tradition, often done in school or at home, starting as early as preschool or even kindergarten. 

Traditionally a leprechaun trap is made by young children whether at home or as part of a school project and set out the night before St. Patrick’s Day.

After the children leave the classroom for the day the teacher will add signs of a leprechaun visiting, and pretend that a leprechaun did it.

Likewise, at home, the parents will do the same after the children have gone to sleep.

What do you leave in the leprechaun trap?

Leprechauns are notorious for their sweet tooth and love of gold. Legend has it that the best way to capture these mischievous creatures is to set a tempting trap. Think glittering gold coins and sweet treats like candy and green desserts. Who knows, the allure of these goodies might just be their undoing!

How do you leave leprechaun evidence?

You could use green construction paper or washable green paint and make leprechaun footprints throughout the house or classroom.

You can also leave chocolate-wrapped gold coins or treasure left behind inside the trap or scattered in around the classroom or home. It’s all fun and enjoyment in imagination for the kids.

You can sprinkle some gold or green glitter in a path to the door or a window, showing the leprechaun’s “escape route.”

You can also have the “leprechaun” leave your kid some candy or a note, bragging about not being caught and how they will need to try harder next year. 

So, grab your glitter and get creative—who knows, you might just snag a wish or two!

☘️ How to Make a Leprechaun Trap

One year I had a total Mom fail moment. Miss Jade came home with a note saying they had to make a Leprechaun trap and take them to school on Thursday, 3 days away.

Well, this mom set the note aside and completely forgot about it until Wednesday mid-morning while I was grocery shopping.

So while at the store I scrambled and grabbed an adorable bug catcher and a couple other supplies to throw together a quick and easy leprechaun trap that she could take to school with her the next day.

So let me show you how to make an insanely easy and FAST Leprechaun trap that your kids can take to school!

Or if you happen to be more on top of it than I am, you can even have your kid put it together themselves. It’s really easy. A little paint and a few accents and you are done!

Simple Leprechaun Trap supplies:

What I love about our Leprechaun trap is that it is oh-so super simple, fast, and cheap!

• bug catcher (found mine in Target for $3. But it’s seasonal, it might not always be there) In which case get a wooden Insect box.
• FolkArt Chalk Paint IRISH
• Paint brush
• Furniture Wax
• Wax Brush
• Easter Grass
• Pot of Gold accent
• Velcro 3M Command Strips
• Elmers Probond Glue
• Clover Leaf accent to put on the front for decoration or a four leaf clover sticker
• Bag of Gold Coins

I just happened to have a pot of gold and cloverleaf accent left over from a St Patricks Day wreath project that completely failed. So I took them off the wreath and used them for this project instead.

I already had the Irish Folkart chalk paint and furniture wax on hand, left over from our Furniture Makeover Project.

The first step is, you need to paint the box green. Ours was bright pink. That’s not going to work.

So I unscrewed the little trap door and painted the box and the door IRISH green.

I even went so far as to paint the handle!

Chalk paint is my favorite paint because it dries so fast and there is zero prep work! No sanding or wood conditioning is required. I just painted right over. And it covers very well!

I had to wait maybe 10-15 minutes between each coat. Which is much faster than the typical 1 hour wait period for acrylic paint to dry.

Once, you have the box and lid painted and dry, you need to seal it. I use our Furniture Wax. Just really lightly brush over with a wax brush. It doesn’t take much.

Allow that to dry 10-15 minutes.

Glue the Clover Leaf accent to the front of the trap door and set aside to dry. I used Elmers Probond glue for a secure hold.

I used Velcro Command Strips on the bottom of the Pot of gold and placed it in the trap near the back. This secured it in place so it wouldn’t roll all over as Miss Jade carries it to school.

I had to use tongs to get the pot of gold into the Leprechaun trap and secured into the right location.

Reattach the trap door to the Leprechaun trap. Now we get to fill it!

Add in some Easter Grass at the bottom of the leprechaun trap to make it look nice and inviting.

Lastly, toss in some gold coins.

This makes it even more appealing for the leprechaun.

And that’s it! You are done! Easy Peasy!

One thing I love is that this bug catcher leprechaun trap is much more durable than the go-to shoe box leprechaun trap. This means I can even save this for when Miss Rose is required to take a Leprechaun trap to school!

You now have a leprechaun trap in under 1 hour! Total Mom save!

Super fast and easy and can easily be done in an hour to save us all from the Mom Fail moment and come out a triumphant Mom Hero!

And all thanks to a cheap Bug Trap and chalk paint, you also can have this made for your little Leprechaun Hunter in under an hour!

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