If you haven’t started planning your leprechaun traps yet, you’d better get started! It’s almost time to catch those leprechauns!!!! My oldest son just finished his. He did an awesome job designing it. He decided to go with the classic box and bait trap, but cleverly disguised it as a Leprechaun Carnival. Totally fun! He created a “Hit the Bulls-eye” game and placed the bulls-eye perfectly so that when one of those sneaky little green men hit it, the ball knocks the Lego support down and GOTCHA, the cage falls and traps him. He didn’t forget the bait either, green Mike & Ikes and Sugar Babies, green, gold, and sweet, which make them perfect for attracting leprechauns. If you aren’t sure how to design your own trap, we’ve talked about it before, but don’t mind helping you out with the tricks we have learned through our trapping experience. Here’s what we know:

First –  Leprechauns love GREEN! In order to lure them to your trap, you must use green. It reminds them of the rolling green hills from their Ireland home that is so far away!

Second – Leprechauns are pretty CLEVER, so you have to be tricky. We like to hang signs that say things like, “Leprechauns Welcome” or “This is not a trap!” You can download them here if you would like to use them. We have even tried to make ours look like a little Leprechaun home.

Third – Just like any magical creature, leprechauns love sweets. So leave a treat of some kind. We like to leave a little crumb of bread with honey. Really anything sweet works, but you know how much the little green men like gold things, so honey seems to be a good choice.

Fourth – you must make your trap. There is something about a trap from the store that tips them off. They seem to smell those traps from miles away. They won’t even get close. And every trap has to be different or else they get suspicious! Anything you make works though! Try Legos, shoe boxes, oatmeal cartons, nets… anything! How will you trap yours?

Fifth – BAIT! You have to leave bait. What do you use for bait? Why GOLD, of course!  Again, anything seems to work.  The shinier the better! We have tried pennies, gold ribbon, sprinkles, honey, confetti… be careful though! Don’t use anything very valuable because, if that rascally leprechaun escapes, and chances are he will, he just might take your beautiful golden bait with him! Now, we have been lucky and our leprechaun has always left chocolate gold as a treat for us (even though they are tricky, a leprechaun is honest and fair and won’t take your gold without leaving something to trade with.) We have found gold wrapped coins, rolos, and even peanut butter cups. I have been told they sometimes leave a trail of green glitter or gold dust. They’ve been known to turn our milk and even our toilet water green. And one year, he even left a tiny green footprint behind with a note that said, “Ha! Ha! Fooled you again!”

We saved the signs that we made for our traps just in case you wanted to use them. We are going to leave a trail made with them and candy bait to lead the leprechauns to our traps. 

Click here to download my leprechaun traps printable

We’d love to know about your experiences with leprechauns. The more we learn the better chance we have of catching one. Hopefully this is our year! 

Good luck to you!Did you know Leprechauns can grow rainbows? Read about their magic seeds and how to create your own St. Patrick’s Day treat bags here.

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