This year, the best day to wear green falls on a Tuesday and during Spring Break!

There should be plenty of activities to keep the kids busy on their break; but, as many of us know, adults tend to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a green beer and Irish shenanigans.

If you’re looking for some family fun, here are a few things you can do outdoors to celebrate St. Patty’s Day.

Saturday, March 14
3rd Annual Round Rock Fire Department Pipes & Drums pub crawl
2:45 at Downtown Round Rock Plaza – Family Friendly
First responders will perform in the plaza first and will keep it going all night by going pub to pub in the Round Rock downtown area.

Sunday, March 15
Pioneer Farms – 10621 Pioneer Farms Drive, Austin, 78754
Noon to 6pm
Adult Tickets: $20
Children 13 & under: $10
Pioneer farms will have two music tents for live music, dancing, hayrides, petting zoos, and other areas to learn skills and play games. Parking is free. http://www.stpatricksdayaustin.com

Tuesday, March 17
Wee Party for Little Leprechauns
Toybray Austin – 2001 Justin Lane, Austin, 78757
Event by Spunky Kids Co and Toybrary Austin
10:30am to Noon
Tickets: $10 per child
They’ll have a “Wee Bit O’Fun” on St Patty’s Day with a chance to get a tattoo, play with glitter slime, make an edible rainbow, search for gold treasure, and learn your leprechaun name.

If you won’t be able to get to the events above, there are plenty of things to do indoors at home.

In the kitchen:

One of the best and easiest ways to be colorful on St. Patrick’s Day is to use food coloring. Just a few drops of blue in your child’s apple juice will bring a smile their face.

Mint Chocolate Chip cookies – there are two ways to do this. Either make chocolate cookies with mint chips or make sugar cookies and add mint extract and green dye with chocolate chips.

Try your hand at making a shepherd’s pie. Here’s an easy recipe that may have your older children asking to help in the kitchen.

The Campbell’s Kitchen website also has a ton of other St. Patty’s Day recipes to try to expand your pallet and share with the whole family.

Arts & Crafts:

The most notable icons on St. Patty’s Day are the 4-leaf clover, a leprechaun, and a pot of gold. Pinterest has a TON of different crafts for kids and I’m sure some of you have already scoped it out. But, in case you haven’t had time to look, here are a few that I picked out based on ease.

Simply printing out images to color can give your child hours of fun. Try a clover or try searching Pinterest for St Patrick’s Day coloring pages for kids. There are many options to choose from.

Thumbprint craft – Cut out a clover and tape to a second piece of paper. Use finger paints to color all around the clover. Once dry, remove the clover to show the clover outline. Write a fun message inside the clover like “I’m A Lucky Guy/Gal!” or “One Lucky Day.”

Create a rainbow and a pot of gold using fruit loops – First, draw a pot on the bottom left side of the paper that your child can color. Then, draw a cloud on the bottom right side and glue cotton balls in that space. Finally, glue the colored fruit loops in a rainbow pattern. To make it easier, draw the rainbow on the paper so it allows the child to match the colors.

Create Personalized Rainbow Bracelets  – something fun for kids to make for themselves or for a friend.

What are you doing in Austin for St. Patrick’s Day?

Photography: Lindsay Herkert Photography

Lindsay is a San Diego native, living the Austin life for two years now. She loves outdoor adventures with her three children; Declan, Lexi, and Nate and her quick-witted husband Adam of 14 years. She has a passion for documenting life’s ordinary magic through photography and is a proud contributor and team member of Offset Artist and Click Pro. When she’s not taking pictures, you’ll find her running, doing yoga, drinking a chai tea latte or baking chocolate chip cookies. You can find more of her photography on instagram @lindsay.herkert