Operation How to Catch a Leprechaun

We were never afraid of being pinched on St. Patrick’s day when we were kids.  No sir!  We were Irish!  That’s right, we were a whole 1/4 Irish (and 3/4 Italian) and proud of it!   We dressed head to toe in green on St. Patrick’s Day and happily gobbled down our annual feast of corned beef and cabbage! So when I had my first daughter, I proudly continued the tradition.  Until ….

. . . I became obsessed with researching our family history and got the results of my Ancestry DNA test.  (Insert sound of screeching tires here) Yep!  That’s right!  You guessed it! We are exactly zero percent Irish!   Z-E-R-O!  (UPDATE: According to recent DNA updates, I am no 8% Irish and Scottish!!)

Irish or not, we will still be wearing green and eating our corned beef and cabbage this St. Patrick’s Day, and every St. Patricks day! After all,  it’s our family tradition.  This year, I proposed we try something new.  I was inspired by the only St. Patrick’s Day book that we own, The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day by Natasha Wing.

and these adorable lines-

“They decked out the den
from ceiling to floor
with streamers and rainbows
and shamrocks galore.

Later the carefully made traps
with gold charms and rings.
‘I bet we catch a leprechaun.
They love shiny things.’

For if they caught one-
so the legend told-
they’d find where he buried
his big pot of gold.”

How cool would that be?  To catch a real live leprechaun and have him lead us to his pot of gold!!!!  See all of our finished Leprechaun Traps 2018!

So, I filled them up on pancakes and threw my idea at them this morning.  “We are going to build leprechaun traps!” I proudly announced. I was not prepared for so much enthusiasm and excitement.  Not only was Miss 4 super excited about it, but daddy was too!  Neither one could stop talking about their ideas.  You guys, I can already tell we are going to do this every year!  I can see and hear the wheels turning in Miss 4’s head.  She is all over this thing! And we love it!

This activity has STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) written all over it!  My teacher brain is drooling!   Daddy, and his business mind, started throwing out words like budget, timeline, resources, brainstorming, pre-planning…… and mama started throwing out words like science, technology, engineering, art, and math We’re going to tag team this thing! And it’s going to be awesome!  Our girls are going to learn so much and have so much fun while doing it!  We might just catch a leprechaun yet!!!!

So here’s the plan….. Check back often as we will be updating daily.

Objective: To build leprechaun traps using our knowledge of simple machines and leprechauns.

Budget: $10 or less.

Supplies:  We will collect various items from around the house and garage that will be suitable for building our traps.  We have already collected the following:

*oatmeal container
*cool whip container
*colored craft sticks
*Kleenex box
*clothespins
*paper towel tube
*toilet paper tube
*chocolate gold coins

We purchased the following items at the Dollar Tree.

Resources: 

   Books– We will collect and read various books on leprechauns to gain a better understanding of who they are and what they like. We have the following books on reserve at our local library.  Check back soon to see which ones we think are most helpful.

* Jamie O’Rourke and the big potato: an Irish folk tale by Tomie DePaola
*The leprechaun who lost his rainbow by Sean Callahan
*Shannon and the world’s tallest leprechaun by Sean Callahan
*That’s what leprechauns do by Eve Bunting
*Too many leprechauns; or how that pot o’ gold got to the end of the rainbow by Stephen Krensky
*How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace
*How to Trap a Leprechaun by Sue Fliess

Purchased from Amazon
*How to Build a Leprechaun Trap by Larissa Juliano- gives ideas for building 15 traps with 13 bonus activities, including STEM.

Simple Machines– We will learn about and discuss simple machines.  Simple machines make work easier by changing the direction or the size of a force applied to it.  They only have one or two parts, they don’t have motors. There are 6 simple machines:   

*Pulley- uses a wheel and a rope to lift or lower an object.  Examples: flagpole, crane
*Wedge- two inclined planes joined together back to back. They are used to split things. Examples: knife, ax
*Lever- a rigid bar with a support called a fulcrum.  It is used to lift or move objects. Examples: shovel, fork, seesaw, scissors
*Wheel and Axle- a circular object that turns around an axle. It is used to lift or move object. Examples: door knob, bike, steering wheel.
*Screw- type of inclined plane that is used to hold objects together or lift objects. Examples: stairs, bottle cap, light bulb
*Inclined Plane- a slanting surface that works by lifting things more easily up to a higher level. Examples: slide, ramp, roof

Brainstorm: After we have collected all of our supplies and have learned about the six simple machines we will come together as a group and brainstorm ideas for possible traps.  We will try to incorporate one or more simple machines into our designs.  Since we will be building our traps as a family, this is a  good opportunity to teach about cooperative learning.  Cooperative learning promotes:

* awareness of others
*positive interaction with others
*sharing ideas and opinions
*taking turns
*caring for others
*listening skills
*learning how others think and react to problems

We will end our brainstorming session with sketches of our favorite ideas.

Wheel and Axle

After lunch today, we learned about the wheel and axle. Miss 4’s assignment was to gather her blocks and guess which one would roll like a wheel. Even though she knew the answer, we made her try to roll each of the shapes.

We then asked Miss 4 to make a wheel and axle with blocks.  She did a great job creating a rolling wagon to carry the chocolate gold coins she plans to use to lure the leprechauns.

Homework: Have your little leprechaun hunter gather or draw objects around the house that demonstrate a wheel and axle.

Here are the examples that Miss 4 rounded up.  Obviously, because of her age, she went for the most common examples of wheel and axles.  And that’s great!

Assessment– Have an adult gather small household objects that DO and Do NOT demonstrate a wheel and axle.  Place the objects on a tray or table and let your little hunter point out which ones are examples of wheel and axles.

I gathered the following: spinning bell instrument, fork, duck pull toy, banana, clock, ball, rolling pin, pliers, pizza wheel, sunglasses.

I was impressed by the thought that Miss 4 put into her answers.

Her wheel and axle pile.                                Her non- wheel and axle pile.

I’d say she did a great job!  When I told her she only missed one she immediately grabbed the rolling pin.  She studied it for a while and with a little help and demonstration could finally see the axle running through the middle of the wooden wheel.

Other Examples of Wheel and Axles: