How to Catch a Leprechaun Printable Ideas in Canva
This St. Patrick’s Day, have some fun with these How to Catch a Leprechaun printable ideas in Canva! When you pair these printable activities with the book “How to Catch a Leprechaun” by Adam Wallace, you can target your students’ speech and language skills in a fun way. Keep reading to the end of the rainbow (oops- I mean blog post!) to get tons of fun ideas.
How to Catch a Leprechaun Worksheet Links:
Here are the direct links to all the activities you'll find below:
- St. Patrick's Day Sequencing Worksheet
- How to Catch a Leprechaun Writing Worksheet
- St. Patrick's Day Trivia Flashcards
- St. Patrick's Day Sensory Bin Flashcards
- St. Patrick's Day Sentences Worksheet
- How to Catch a Leprechaun Reading Worksheets
“How to Catch a Leprechaun” by Adam Wallace
Adam Wallace's “How to Catch a Leprechaun” is a funny picture book with bright and colorful illustrations and silly situations. In this book, the characters try to catch a leprechaun by creating different traps. However, the leprechaun gets away each time!
If you don’t have the book, then you can view the video read aloud below:
Which St. Patrick’s Day books are your favorite?
How to Set Up These Printable Activities
The How to Catch a Leprechaun printable activities are free in Canva! With these activities, you can help your students improve their describing skills, sequencing, vocabulary, and writing. Check out my other blog post: “How to Catch the Easter Bunny Activities” to get more ideas for using “How to Catch…” Books in therapy..
Here’s what you’ll need to set up these leprechaun worksheets:
- “How to Catch a Leprechaun” book by Adam Wallace. You can also watch this fun book in this YouTube video.
- Canva for Education: The best part of these worksheets is that they are free when you sign up with your school email address: (sign up here!).
- Sensory bin! Use St. Patrick’s Day items, such as:
- green pipe cleaners
- shamrocks
- small pots of gold
- popsicle sticks
- gold chocolate coins
- gold coins
- Green paper or green construction paper (optional): Print out the activities on green paper. Students love worksheets in vibrant colors!
Do you want even more free and editable St. Patrick's Day worksheets? Check out my other blog post where I link 10 free St. Patrick's Day worksheets that you can use in therapy today!
1. St. Patrick's Day Sequencing Worksheet
This How to Catch a Leprechaun printable worksheet is a fun and engaging activity that will help your younger students with story structure and sequencing.
This activity is perfect for early learners because the passage is easy to read and the pictures are clear and concise.
Here are more details about this How to Catch a Leprechaun Printable:
- The first thing they will do is read the short passage.
- You can also read the passage aloud and discuss what they think will happen next.
- Secondly, students will cut out a series of 4 pictures that tell the story of how to catch a leprechaun.
- Once they have finished, have them retell the story to you in their own words.
- Last, this activity will help students develop their understanding of story structure, sequencing, and oral language skills.
Targeted speech and language goals:
- Story structure: Improve understanding of story structure and sequencing. Encourage your students to retell the story in their own words.
- Sequencing and transition words: Ask your students to retell the story using transition words (e.g., first, next, last).
- Story grammar: Afterward, the students will identify and describe characters, settings, and events.
- Vocabulary: So, here are some of the vocabulary words you can target with this fun activity:
- Leprechaun
- Pot of gold
- Rainbow
- Trap
- Lucky
- Tricky
2. How to Catch a Leprechaun Writing Prompts
This Leprechaun printable template is another fun activity that allows your students to express their creativity and work on writing skills at the same time.
The prompts are open-ended, so students can write whatever they want. This is a simple way to encourage students to write and develop their creative writing skills.
“If I found a pot of gold, then I…”:
Use your imagination to write a story about what you would do if you found a pot of gold. They can be so creative!
“On St. Patrick's Day, I…”:
Imagine how you will celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Describe the activities you will do, the food you will eat, and the clothes you will wear.
“If I found a sneaky leprechaun, then I…”:
Write a poem or story about what you would do if you encountered a sneaky leprechaun. Will you try to catch him? Will you ask him for a wish? Be creative and have so much fun!
How can I differentiate this How to Catch a Leprechaun Worksheet?
- Preschoolers:
- Provide more specific prompts to help preschoolers understand the activity. For example, “If I found a pot of gold, I would buy a new toy.”
- Use visuals: Use pictures or objects to help children understand the prompts. I have some fun flashcards that you can download for free here: St. Patrick's Day Flashcards
- Provide scaffolding: Help children generate ideas or put their thoughts into words.
- Encourage repetition: Have children repeat words and phrases to help them learn new vocabulary.
- Older Students:
- Give them topic choices. This allows students to write about something they are interested in, which can help them to stay motivated.
- Challenge older students by asking them to write longer stories or poems.
- They can also explore different writing styles, such as narrative, descriptive, or persuasive.
- Encourage them to revise and edit their work. This helps students develop their writing skills and make their work more polished.
What language goals can I target with this St. Patrick's Day writing activity?
Target the following language goals with this St. Patrick's Day writing worksheet:
- Writing
- Students can focus on writing in complete sentences while using age-appropriate vocabulary.
- Encourage your students to work on narrative writing skills by including a beginning, middle, and end.
- St. Patrick’s Day Vocabulary
- Write some St. Patrick’s Day words on the board and encourage your students to include these words in their writing.
- Here are some words you can target:
- Nouns: pot of gold, leprechaun, St. Patrick's Day
- Verbs: find, buy, wish, catch,
- Adjectives: lucky, green, magical
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3. St. Patrick's Day Trivia Flashcards
These flashcards improve story comprehension and provide a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. These flashcards include questions and multiple-choice responses to improve your students' vocabulary and ability to understand/respond to wh- questions.
There are 16 flashcards included in this set of How to Catch a Leprechaun read-aloud questions.
How can I use these flashcards with younger and older students?
- Younger students:
- For the most part, use simple language and visual cues.
- Provide extra support and scaffolding during the activity.
- Repeat key concepts and vocabulary afterward.
- First, ask them more concrete questions (i.e., “who”, “what” and “when” questions).
- Then, when the students are ready, introduce them to the “why” and “how” questions.
- Older Students:
- Start with the inferential questions of “why”.
- Following that, you can work on “how” questions.
- Encourage detailed answers and explanations.
- Have them use the question in their response.
- Then, ask open-ended questions to promote discussions.
Example Questions from these St. Patrick’s Day Trivia Flashcards
Make sure you check out these multiple-choice question cards today!
4. St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin
Sensory bin flashcards are a fun and engaging, interactive activity that can be used to improve sensory integration and vocabulary development.
How can I set up my St. Patrick’s Sensory Bin?
- Download the How to Catch a Leprechaun PDF.
- Use a sensory bin filled with items related to St. Patrick's Day, such as shamrocks, pots of gold, plastic grass, and other green items.
- Place the flashcards into the sensory bin with the words buried in the grass.
- Then, students will name the pictured objects as they pull the flashcards from the grass.
Which language goals can I target with these sensory bin cards?
After your students have picked up a flashcard, you can target their goals by asking them to:
- Describe the word by its group, parts, location, and function.
- Then, they say or write a sentence using the words.
- Match the pictures on the flashcards to another set of flashcards you already printed out.
How can I focus on sensory integration?
The sensory bin gives a tactile experience to promote sensory exploration and integration. Students can touch, feel, and manipulate the objects in the bin, fostering their sensory development.
Here are some tips for using your sensory bin:
- If you can find real objects related to St. Patrick’s Day, use these objects instead of the flashcards!
- Find objects that provide different tactile experiences (e.g., soft, hard, smooth, rough).
- Occasionally, encourage students to interact with the materials in the bin. For example, they can touch, feel, and smell the objects, which will help them learn about their different properties.
If you don’t have green grass, then you can use any green filler you have available, such as:
- Construction paper (ripped into smaller pieces or strips)
- Green play dough
- Kinetic Sand
How can I differentiate these St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin cards?
- Preschoolers:
- Provide fewer flashcards and objects in the sensory bin.
- Use simple words and phrases that are familiar to preschoolers.
- Older Students:
- Increase the complexity by introducing more challenging vocabulary.
- Swap out the vocabulary words for words the students are learning in class.
- Then, ask your students to name synonyms and antonyms.
5. Saint Patrick’s Day Sentences
This How to Catch a Leprechaun printable worksheet includes vocabulary related to St. Patrick's Day, and your students have to use each word in a sentence. In brief, this is the perfect way for them to learn and practice using new vocabulary words in context.
Specifically, here are some examples of sentences that your students could write:
- The pesky leprechaun hid his pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
- I made my own leprechaun trap out of toothpicks and green paper.
- The parade was full of people dressed in green and carrying shamrocks.
- The small children were excited because they could eat their rainbow-colored cupcakes.
- The Irish dancers performed a traditional jig at the festival.
- The bagpipes played music simultaneously as the parade marched down the street.
- I wore green today so it brought me good luck!
- The best way to catch a leprechaun is with Lucky Charms cereal as leprechaun bait.
- We had so much St. Patrick’s Day fun.
- The little leprechauns had a great time celebrating St. Patrick's Day with fun activities.
These are just a few examples of sentences that your students could write. Please encourage them to be creative and to use their imaginations. This is a great opportunity for them to learn and practice using new vocabulary words in a fun and engaging way.
6. How to Catch a Leprechaun Activities Free
This last How to Catch a Leprechaun Printable activity can be used on its own or with the book! This How to Catch a Leprechaun workbook includes 7 pages of worksheets that are free and editable.
The first page includes a short reading passage. Then, there are questions below the passage that students can fill in:
- What is the story about?
- Who is the story about?
- What do the characters do first?
- What do the characters do last?
- What happens next?
- When does the story take place?
- Why does the character like St. Patrick’s Day?
The best part is that this workbook also includes St. Patrick’s Day worksheets you can use as a book companion for “How to Catch a Leprechaun.”
What's included in this leprechaun printable template?
The best part is that this workbook also includes St. Patrick’s Day worksheets you can use as a book companion for “How to Catch a Leprechaun.”
Here are the worksheets that are included:
Wh- Questions Worksheet
Your students will answer questions about the story, such as:
- Who is the main character of the story?
- Where did the story take place?
- What was the problem?
- How did they solve the problem?
Story Retell Worksheet
- Your students will draw a picture of the story's beginning, middle, and end.
- Then, they have to describe the events by writing a few sentences.
Leprechaun Trap
- Students will draw their favorite part of the story.
- Then, they will write the reason why they liked that part.
- There are sentence starters to help them.
Catch the Leprechaun
- What are some items you could use to catch the leprechaun?
- There are 4 empty spaces for students to write or draw their responses.
Describe the Leprechaun
- Use the Expanding Expression Tool (EET) to describe the leprechaun.
- After that, use this worksheet so students can record their responses.
- Your students write about the leprechaun's appearance, location, function, and parts.
These Canva templates are free for personal use only! In brief, these templates should not be distributed or shared in any way. If you want a colleague to access the resources, then forward them the links!
Have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!