If you read my last post, you know that I am working on a new set of activities for the book, "How to Catch a Leprechaun" by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton. St. Patrick's Day is such a fun holiday so I wanted to take advantage of that with while still having a full educational day. Making leprechaun traps was fun, but my kids want more STEM. So today they got an opportunity to be the leprechauns.
After rereading the story, we talked about the story from the leprechaun's point of view. The kids decided that it was unfair for people to try and steal the leprechaun's gold. We talked about ways the leprechaun hides his gold. I suggested they try to build a container that would help keep the humans from getting their gold. At the end of the lesson, a kind mother volunteered to be our human. We timed her as she tried to get the gold coins. The leprechauns who built the trap that kept her out the longest won bragging rights. If I had thought about it, I would have purchased some gold chocolate coins for them.
Much like my other STEM activities, with this book series, we had a special store that the students could use to purchase their materials. It is filled with my usual collection of STEM building materials, but for this activity I had a few extras. I collected a few small plastic salad containers from our local grocery store for them to use. I also had some empty tissue boxes. And I gave them the ultimate weapon, if they could figure out how to use it....plastic food wrap. I must say, the kids were as creative as ever.
Most of the younger children focused on trying to keep the human out by taping a box closed. But my older children thought about how many different ways they could use to keep the human busy. One group even used weapons (toothpicks) to keep the human from putting her hand in the box. They were so funny and clever.
In the end, the toothpick weapons turned out to be a good idea. The human was slowed down when she had to remove them before reaching in to grab the gold. But the group that used the plastic wrap and tape to wrap their gold into a small tight ball before placing it in a taped box won. Simple but tricky, just like a leprechaun.
If you would like to purchase the activities to go along with this story, please head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers store, Under One Roof. You will find all the printables and worksheets you need for this wonderful story.
Remember to protect your gold,
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