Since having kids St. Patrick’s Day has become less of a relevant holiday for us than it was when I was 22 and thought green beer was the height of culinary delights (just kidding, that was Count Chocula cereal). While there’s still plenty of running around while pretending to be a leprechaun, I’ve been feeling like we needed something significant to mark the holiday. Something that didn’t take any time to put together and costs me practically nothing to do. Easy, right?

Well, lassies and lads, I believe I’ve struck gold. All this project takes is a trip to the Target $1 bin and a wee bit o’ luck with your yarn. I promise ye it will yield results that take your kids o’er the rainbow. (Do leprechauns talk like pirates? Because I feel like that’s where this is headed).

Follow the Rainbow to a Pot o’ Gold Kids’ Project:Supplies:
-several balls of yarn to make the rainbow; I used what I had on hand so ours was very baby-centric (all those blankets I never got around to making…)
-a pot for the gold, or in this case a witch’s cauldron masquerading as a pot (you could use anything!)
-treasures for the pot o’ gold
Step 1: Ready the rainbow that the kids will “follow” through the house to get to the pot of gold.

What you don’t want to do: Take all the ends of the yarn and start marching through the house. This will cause a huge tangle with the yarn and you will be tempted to throw in the towel immediately.

You will then have to enlist the help of your very patient sister to untangle the ends while you recover from the trauma of almost ending the project before it began.

What you do want to do: Tie the ends of the yarn to a doorknob to keep them all nice and tidy and give you a good start.

Step 2: Walk the yarn through the house, one ball at a time, creating a maze that the kids will have to follow. I recommend going over pillows, crossing back over the yarn, heading into closets – make ’em work for their treasure.

I tried doing two balls of yarn at a time, but found it took more time keeping everything untangled than just doing one at a time, over and over.

Also, I found it was good to anchor it occasionally throughout the maze to bring all the yarn together (also my yarn was kind of a mess when it was all laid out, but it didn’t matter).

Step 3: End your rainbow in your pot o’ gold (I hid mine behind a chair and under a blanket because I thrive on drama and the big reveal).

Step 4: Let the kids have at it.

Like I said, it’s important to make sure they have to really work for it.

Step 5: Revel in the excitement of finding a pot o’ gold in the middle of your living room (those tricky little leprechauns, am I right?).

Celebrate the Frozen paint kit that will buy you eight minutes of time later when you’re trying to figure out your car insurance.

Marvel at the stickers you will find stuck to every wall in your house for days to come.

Wonder at the fact every kid in the world loves edible jewelry. Try some and remember why you prefer yours to be hard as diamonds.

Step 6: Take a second to acknowledge the luck that has brought you here.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all you lovely mamas!

Photos by Erica Bean.