Colorful head shot of a leprechaun.
Activity

Lucky leprechaun lessons for littles

St. Patrick's Day themed tactile graphics, lucky concepts and writing activities.

The previous Lucky Leprechaun Lesson post was geared included a story, vocabulary worksheet and writing activity. This leprechaun post has been created for the “littles” otherwise known as preschool or elementary students. St. Patrick’s Day-themed educational activities are popular in March. Do your young students know what a leprechaun looks like and how to identify the leprechaun by his characteristics?

Leprechaun description

First ask your student to describe a leprechaun. Ask open ended questions, such as, “What type of shoes does a leprechaun wear?” Next, share details about the leprechaun; be sure to include a description of a leprechaun hat, shoes and face.

Note: Practice screen reader skills by sharing the written descriptions in a digital format with students who know the Read All screen reader commands to listen to the text.

In our previous post, we learned that a leprechaun will usually reach a height of around 6-inches and may have green-colored skin. Leprechauns are old men with red hair and beards. Leprechauns have pointed ears. They normally wear green-colored clothing, which for some leprechauns may be made from leaves. These tiny men like to dress formally wearing vest, jacket and top hat with a large gold buckle. They tend to wear curled, elf-like shoes with gold buckles and small heels. Although they look like little humans, it is unlikely that they are related to humans.

Tactile graphics

While a student can often parrot back descriptions accurately, does the student actually understand what the words mean? Using tactile graphics is a motivating way to build a mental image of the wee little leprechauns! Start by breaking down the leprechaun’s distinguishing features before introducing the full leprechaun image. These digital images can be run through a tactile graphics machine. If you do not have access to a tactile graphic machine, use the image as a template and create a tactile image using various textures such as felt, foam, etc. Raise the outline image with puff paint, glue or a tactile tool, if you want your student to color the image. The main goal is for the student to learn more about the distinguishing characteristics in order to identify and/or write about a leprechaun. Pair these activities with books about leprechauns!

For younger students who are learning tactile graphic skills, choose the simple images. The leprechaun face and leprechaun dancing images are more complex and may require more guidance students. If necessary, add textures to represent some of the areas, such as cotton for the beard or felt for the hat.

Leprechaun hat

Outline image of a leprechaun top hat with a buckle.

Leprechaun shoes

Outline image of a leprechaun shoe.

Leprechaun face

Outline image of a leprechaun's headshot with a hat.

Leprechaun dancing

Outline image of a Leprechaun dancing.

St. Patrick’s Day is a day of luck and associated symbols include the leprechaun’s pot of gold, rainbow and shamrock.

Pot of gold

Outline image of a pot of gold.

Pot of gold at the end of a Rainbow

Pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Shamrock

Outline image of a shamrock.

Santa elf

What does a leprechaun remind you of?

An elf!

In order to demonstrate that your student can identify a leprechaun, let’s compare a leprechaun to one of Santa’s elves. How are they the same and how are they different?

Santa elf description

Christmas elves are small and range in size to fit in the palm of your hand to 3 feet. They have long pointy ears and wearing pointy hats that flop over – some hats may have a bell at the end. Christmas elves live at the North Pole and can be girls or boys. Christmas elves wear green or red clothes and wear tall red and white striped socks. Their ankle boots are green with upturned toes with a red pom-pom on the end. The top of the boot turns over and has points. Each point may have a small bell attached. These elves make toys and candy for children in Santa’s workshop. They also wrap presents, help keep a list of naughty and nice children and take care of Santa’s reindeer. Santa elves are very active and always busy.

Outline image of a Christmas elf's hat and a Christmas elf's striped socks and shoes.

Writing activities

Story telling can be so much fun! Students can write stories or simple descriptions on their preferred device. If writing is challenging, ask the student to tell his/her story and record it using a voice recording app like Memos. Another option is to use dictation – the student retells his story and dictation automatically converts the story into text.

Resources

Download the image templates here:

By Diane Brauner

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