St. Patrick's Day Cards

What You Need:

• 4 small size (3-1/2” across or so) Valentine lace paper hearts
• Piece of plain white cardstock paper, 8-1/2x11”
• Spray bottle of green liquid watercolor paint
• Glitter Glue
• Pen
• Protective table covering

What You Do:

1. Lay out a protective covering on your table—you’ll be messing with paint! Then invite your second grader to place the paper horizontally on your working space. Have her arrange the hearts on the paper so that their bottom points meet, and they make a “lacy shamrock” shape.
2. Now it’s time for some messy fun: spray the watercolor paint over the lace hearts and the paper.
3. Taking care not to smudge, carefully pull the shamrocks off. The paint should have gone through the holes in the paper “lace,” and left a beautiful shamrock design!
4. Let the paper dry thoroughly, and then you can invite your child to trace around the edge of the shamrock with a squeeze tube of gold glitter glue.
5. When that, too, has dried, turn the picture over and turn it into a card. On top, have your child address it to someone she loves, and then write: “Four Reasons I’m Lucky to Know You.” Have her write her reasons below, in her best kid handwriting. Psst: to support those year three writing skills, try insisting on complete sentences while you’re at it, too.
6. Make sure you deliver this “lucky” St. Patrick’s letter, too. It’s a great way to mark the spirit of this day of celebration and goodwill, no matter where in the world you’re from!