Well, I hadn't planned on making Leprechaun Traps this
year, but when the student interest is high, how could I say no? After reading How to
Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace, the students
begged to make Leprechaun traps. I pulled out various STEM and craft materials
and let the students work individually or in small groups to plan out a way to
construct the perfect trap.
As the students were planning, some were requesting to
bring items from home, so we postponed construction until the next day.
Here are some things the students came up with:
I love the conversations I hear when we do STEM type
activities:
"What if this doesn't work?"
"What if this doesn't work?"
"How ELSE could we make sure he can't escape?"
"What if the door trap fails? Can we still capture
him?"
"I think we should try it your way this time."
"That won't work. What other ideas can we come up
with?"
By the end of the day, we had 18 Leprechaun traps set up
throughout the classroom. We were sure to catch one this year!
When we entered the room this morning, there was no
Leprechaun in site, but there was a trail of gold and chocolate coins leading
from the doorway, through every failed trap, and back out of the room again! We
were so close this year!
