If you're looking for a special way to entertain young lads and lassies for St. Patrick's Day, look no further! This adorable Shenanigans Station is not only filled with fun St. Patrick's Day activities for kids, but it also serves as a festive photo booth! The whimsical backdrop invites the cutest clovers in the patch to step up and blow some leprechaun magic into the air, and the scene seriously couldn't be sweeter. Throw in some captivating crafts and a good game or two, and the little ones will feel like they've found the gold at the end of the rainbow!
One of my favorite things about this station is it's versatility. It's a fun little station that can be used in multiple scenarios. It would be super cute in a classroom, it's a great addition to a St. Paddy's Day get-together where kids will be in attendance, or it's something fun you can set up in your house for your kids as a special surprise!
The whimsical backdrop is definitely the show stopper in this St. Patrick's Day setup. To create it, I used Bernat Blanket Big Ball Yarn in Coal to make "wind" lines, then scattered Paint Chip Circles in rainbow color order along each "gust" of wind. I then added large and small shamrock shapes, saving the largest one for last. Underneath that I secured the rainbow tassel from a Giant Happy Birthday 36" Latex Balloon with Tassel to a removable wall hook, and let it shower down into a pot of "gold" (Gold Confetti Latex Balloons). Gold Coins on the wall added shine to the display, and were the perfect magical touch! For more in-depth details on recreating this look, check out our St. Patrick's Day Photo Booth DIY.
Once the backdrop is all set up, you'll need some lads and sassy lassies! I set out a small black stool so that the kiddos would be just the right height to "blow the magic" along the wall. I secured one of the large Green Shamrock Decorations to the front of the stool to help it tie into the decor. Each kiddo can stand on the stool and strike a pose. So fun!
A printable "Shenanigans Station" sign graced the front of our bar cart and added some pops of color to the display. After cutting out the words for the sign, I used a glue stick to adhere the "station" text to Green Heavyweight Construction Paper, then secured all of the text to the bar cart using Removable Glue Dots. Be sure to download the Free DIY Shenanigans Photo Booth Sign here!
On the top tier of the bar cart we displayed Shamrock Bubble Tubes and St. Patrick's Day Foil Temporary Tattoos in Small Clear Bowls with Gold Texture Bases. The Gold Buffet Riser Set was perfect for displaying the goodies at different heights so that the kiddos could get a good glimpse of everything in the bowls. We hooked St. Patrick's Day Headbands to the arm of the bar cart so that the kids could easily access them to wear.
No celebration is complete without some sweet treats, so we included some St. Patrick's Day cupcakes! Our local cupcakery, Smallcakes Williamsburg, created some adorable shamrock and rainbow cupcakes for us. We displayed them on inverted Gold Foil Polka Dot Snack Paper Bowls to really make them stand out in our display.
This little lassie thought the cupcakes were super tasty, and especially loved the frosting!
Emojis are all the rage these days, so we thought it would be fun to incorporate some St. Patrick's Day Plush Emojis into our celebration. The "kissy face" one was a favorite! We also had some Gold Coins displayed in a Gold Foil Polka Dot Snack Paper Bowl that the kiddos could tuck in their pocket for good luck.
A St. Patrick's Day Bingo Game and Rainbow Shamrock Charm Bracelet Craft Kits are awesome for giving the kids something holiday-related to do. The Bingo Game was an especially big hit at our party! I unpackaged the bracelet kits and tucked them inside Mini Gold Organza Drawstring Treat Bags so that they'd look pretty in our display, and also so the kids would have somewhere to keep their finished bracelets later at home.
By the end of our celebration we discovered that our "pot" was also a great place to take photos...pretty adorable photos, I might add. However you choose to set up your display, have fun with it, and may the luck 'o the Irish be with ya! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Be sure to check out our DIY St. Patrick's Day Photo Booth for more fun St. Patrick's Day ideas to do with kids.
