Gather round, leprechauns. Let's seek and find that illusive pot-of-gold, shall we?
Before we can have a Rainbow's End stake-out there is some behind the scenes, top secret, clue-dropping prep work that must be done. Whoever you desire to surprise by the treasure hunting process must not know anything about this trickery, either. They'll discover your secrets in due time. You, my Simple Saturday friend, are the one that I intend to surprise.
Follow me.
Oh, my stars! What is that I see beneath the plant draped over my dusty coffee table? A leprechaun's top hat?
Let's look closer. Oh, my! There's a note tucked under the coaster! I wonder what it says, don't you? I'll open it and read it to you. Don't be scared.
Candles burn all in a row, that's where a clue can be found, you know.
Candles in a row! I have a long wooden rack with a row of yellow candles in my den! Could it be? Let's see!
Yes! There it is. Another clue...I wonder what this one says.
Wipe your feet when you come through the door. No leaving tracks on the clean tiled floor.
Door? Wipe feet? Could that mean a rug? Oh! There's a rug by the front door! Take my hand. Let's check together, shall we?
What do you know...There's another note. See it? Tucked under the rug? Well, I'll be (Old people always say that, don't they? I'll be.).
What does this note say? (I'm having fun. Are you?)
Where Tripod rests his sweet head, we're told, is where you'll find a Pot of Gold.
Where Tripod rest his sweet head? Where could that be? He snoozes all over the house...but he sleeps in his kennel at night. Oooo...let's check there. Come on!
Will you look at that...on top of Tripod's kennel...a clay pot and a little green hat. How cool is this?
Let me open it to be sure that there is gold inside.
Stay close.
I'm a little freaked out, here.
Why...yes! There is gold in the pot! We found the Rainbow's End right here in Tripod's bed! Yippeee!!! We did it!
Note to parents and teachers: I have found this game to be a wonderful motivator for kids who are resistant to read or to write. If they're non-readers, lay out the clues for them. Early readers will need only one word for a tip. More advanced readers willingly read full sentences with the hope of finding a pot of gold at the end of the quest. Talk about natural reinforcement!
If a child is resistant to write, employ them as a clue maker. Kids love to play a role in a secret ploy such as this one. Once again, clues can be composed in conjunction with the writer's level of expertise.
In this game, the Pot-O-Gold Treasure Hunt, readers painlessly practice reading skills. Non-writers become prolific poets and, together, everyone joyfully discovers that illusive literary Pot-of-Gold!
Old St. Pat was quite a guy! Did you know that he was captured by pirates when he was 16? Dang. And, as the story goes, that when he was a monk, he charmed all of the snakes in Ireland into the seashore to be drown there? And, that he used a 3-leaf clover to explain the Trinity? That's cool. (Thanks, apples4theteacher.com, for these and more interesting facts about St. Patrick. I wish I could've known him personally.)
To honor St. Patrick by celebrating the holiday named for him, I'm going to re-post a Simple Saturday Pot-of-Gold Scavenger Hunt that I did a couple of years ago. It was great fun then, as it will be now. It involves reading clues in search of that wonderful pot of gold! Try your luck, laddie!
I once did this activity with a band of 3 and 4 year olds. In addition to using written clues, I cut tee-tiny little leprechaun feet out of green constuction paper and laid them about as tracks. I wish you could've seen their faces. They were in awe! One wide-eyed boy breathed, "They're real."
Maybe so. Who's to say?