On St. Patrick's Day of 2011, we adopted a wee leprechaun from an Irish shop on Pier 39. (He promptly spent the next few hours touring San Francisco from the vantage point of Eli's overalls bib.)
He was a well-behaved leprechaun -- at first. Then last year, he took to wandering. He was part of the spring decorations on our mantel, but at night he'd explore the house and invariably get stuck somewhere. For several weeks before St. Patrick's Day, Eli would have to find and rescue the leprechaun each morning. The leprechaun had his own pot of gold, so after every rescue he would reward Eli with one of his coins. Upon earning all the leprechaun's gold, Eli got to "buy" treasure with the gold and the game would start over. (Click HERE to see that post.)
Wouldn't you know it. That leprechaun hitched a ride with our moving van this summer and this March is back to his old tricks in our new Georgia house.
As I think you can tell, I love holidays and get a kick out of traditions. Hiding the leprechaun for Eli is much like the Elf on a Shelf book-based activity that many parents do at Christmastime, which I admire but find I'm too busy for in December. (A web or Pinterest search for The Elf on the Shelf shows the spirit of the game and can give you great elf/leprechaun mischief ideas.)
If you'd like a leprechaun hunt on a smaller and more predictable scale, Eli loves Hooray for St. Patrick's Day by Joan Holub. The book explains the basics of the holiday and a leprechaun hides on each page.
The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by Natasha Wing goes into greater detail about the antics of leprechauns and offers up a traditional Irish folk tale.
Would you like a leprechaun to come to your house?
