Occupational Therapy

St. Patrick’s Day Small World for Pretend Play

Colleen Beck OTR/L

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter. Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids. Check out Colleen's blog posts below:

by Colleen Beck OTR/L
March 6, 2014

St. Patrick’s Day fun is all around! We created a SUPER fun small world and imagination play activity and have been loving all of the rainbows, leprechauns, and pretending.

Maybe the best part of this small world was creating all of the little parts that went into it. Our rainbow cardboard tube craft came into play for some good imagination. Picture overload coming up here… the fun was just too much!

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Pretend Play with a St. Patrick’s Day Small World

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Small world pretend play for St. Patrick's Day with leprechaun peg dolls.

<img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" />

Our cute little leprechauns were made with assorted felt sheets, attached with fabric glue. We used peg dolls and acrylic paints that we received for free from www.craftprojectideas.com.

They turned out very cute and have been part of our play for a few days now. These cute little guys have made their way into the Little People house, into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lair, and even hung out with a few Lego guys! They’ve been well accepted into our toy collection 😉

This St. Patrick's Day craft for kids is perfect for leprchaun small world play.

The leprechauns needed a place to call their own, so Baby Girl and I painted a few leprechaun houses. Baby Girl is my little artist and always up for a painting project, so this was big time fun for her! Baby Girl’s leprechaun house is perfectly rainbow-y! I think the leprechauns are happy with their new homes.

Small world pretend play with this St. Patrick's Day sensory Bin.

<img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" />

He looks pretty pleased with his new home…

<img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" />

Leprechaun Sensory Small World

Adding in our rainbow cardboard tube and some rocks as a base, we had a pretty cute tray for sensory play. This was an invitation for imagination, pretend play, and fun!

Small world for St. Patrick's Day

<img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data-src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" class="lazyload" /><noscript><img decoding="async" src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png" />

Little Guy got right in there and had the leprechauns visiting each other’s houses, building a rock side walk, and chatting it up!

Use a small world for imagination and pretend play

Baby Girl baaaadly wanted her leprechaun to get into his house. She tried. Repeatedly.

The leprechauns made a few trips under the rainbow and just had good St. Patrick’s Day fun!

Play with imagination and pretend play with these leprachaun homes

Looking for more rainbow or St. Patrick’s day ideas? Stop by and follow along on our Pinterest board:

Follow Sugar Aunts’ board Rainbows and St. Patrick’s Day on Pinterest.

1 thought on “St. Patrick’s Day Small World for Pretend Play”

Yuliya Fruman

March 6, 2014 at 8:54 pm

Those bird houses are so cute! What a fun craft! I'll be trying this with my toddler!

Comments are closed.

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