Leprechaun Traps

Modern leprechaun folklore

Leprechaun Traps are not difficult to build. The most important thing before you start is "To believe that Leprechauns are real". They know if you are a non-believer and will not appear anywhere near you. So now then, if you are a believer, and you want to Know How To Catch A Leprechaun, continue on...

To try and catch a leprechaun, we will show you some ways to build your trap. There is no right or wrong way, but you must be smart and know a lot about leprechauns to build a trap that will work. You can use most anything: a net, boxes, a clean can, paper towel rolls, empty containers, tin foil, paper, string or yarn, sandwich bags, or anything else you can think of!

When you are making plans to build a leprechaun trap, make sure it is disguised well, making sure it blends into its surroundings. Place it outside, because it's only natural that a Leprechaun prefers the great outdoors. After all, Leprechauns wear a lot of green and it stands to reason that green trees and grass provide perfect cover for them. Look for Leprechaun tracks...

A Leprechaun will leave a trail of gold and/or green glitter, so watch for it! If you see any, follow the trail and place your trap in this area, where leprechauns are known to frequent. Be quiet! You won't find any leprechauns if you're loud! In fact, this is the principal reason why Leprechauns are never found.

Simple instructions for how to build leprechaun traps.

Leprechaun Trap Example

What you'll need:

  1. Shoe box (do not need lid)
  2. Aluminum foil
  3. Glue
  4. Tape, optional
  5. Green felt, craft foam, or paper
  6. Shamrock stickers, optional
  7. Scissors
  8. Choose a bait that a Leprechaun will be attracted to
  9. A Stick about twice as long as the depth of the box.

How to build your trap: See Picture.

  1. Cover a shoe box with aluminum foil using glue or tape to hold it in place.
  2. Cut shamrocks out of felt, foam, or paper, or use shamrock stickers.
  3. Glue or stick the shamrocks to the box.
  4. The night before St. Patty's Day, set the trap by putting a stick under one end of the box and place it out by your front door. Don't forget to put your chosen bait under the box.
  5. If a leprechaun stops by, he'll leave a surprise for you! (I like to leave some green candies or a few shiny pennies for the kids)

Once you have figured out how to build your trap, don't forget to add bait to help lure the Leprechaun. Since real Leprechauns are very greedy, one of the best things you can use for bait are coins! If you don't want to use real coins, you can easily substitute candy coins. Gold nuggets made by painting small rocks are another option. Old gold-colored jewelry might work, too.

Some Leprechaun Traps Examples

Leprechaun Traps were made by many children from all over the country.

Chloe Jane's Trap - Submitted by Kathy

Leprechaun Trap Example

"Chloe, age 8, made a leprechaun trap for her second grade project. She quickly decided to lure a leprechaun with a rainbow, lots of 4 leaf clovers and gold. Chloe even set up a tease with a sign reading "too much gold and it's all mine"! The hat covering it all is rigged to fall and trap the leprechaun as he moves towards the gold!" ~ Kat

Valerie's Leprechaun Trap - Submitted by Merrilee

Leprechaun Trap Example

Merrilee, Valerie's mom, explains the trap: "This is the leprechaun trap my daughter Valerie built. She's 7 years old and is submitting it as a class project. The leprechaun climbs the ladder to get the treasure chest and falls through a trap door in the center. There is Easter basket grass inside the box so the leprechaun won't get hurt, and the signs read "No leprechauns allowed" because we know they are contrary fellows and ignore signs. We used a plastic box that we had lying around, along with gold Christmas wrapping paper. We bought shamrock stickers at the store and made the ladder out of scrap wood. I had the material on the walkway left over from another project."

Pasted from:
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/leprechauns/ig/Leprechaun-Trap-Photos/Valerie-s-Leprechaun-Trap.htm

Brothers Build 2 Leprechaun Traps
Submitted by The Boys Mother

"My kids did the design by themselves and figured out how to build these traps. I had no idea how much FUN my kids would have building these. Listening to the conversation going on while they were working was priceless!

The part I liked the best was that both the boys wanted to be sure that when the leprechaun fell through the trap hole he wouldn’t get hurt, so one put grass at the bottom to soften his fall and the other blew up a ziplock bag to act as a mattress. Priceless. One built his with an empty girl scout cookie box (green of course) and the other used legos and an old milk box. Their ideas just kept growing and growing! And best of all, they weren’t running crazy around the house all Saturday afternoon – they were intently concentrating on their leprechaun traps! Brilliant!"
Leprechaun Trap Example
Leprechaun Trap Example
Leprechaun Trap Example
Leprechaun Trap Example

Pasted from: 
http://http://crafts.kaboose.com/leprechaun.html

Grace's Leprechaun Trap - Submitted by Kara Lynch

Leprechaun Trap Example

Grace shares her plans on how she built her trap:  "I made this leprechaun trap this evening. You can't see it in the picture, but once the leprechaun climbs the ladder, he or she will find two gold coins, but when he (or she) goes to grab them, he or she will fall through the trap door. If you look closely, you can also see slithering snakes and a pond, and there are several notes to the leprechaun that you can't read from here. I attached the rainbow by putting two straight pins into the edges of the rainbow and then into the erasers."

If You Catch A Leprechaun

If you figured out how to build a leprechaun trap, you must decide what to do if you succeed in trapping a Leprechaun. See the "How To Catch A Leprechaun Page" for more information on how to treat your Leprechaun. Some people keep them, and some people just take their picture. You can ask him to tell you where his pot of gold is hidden, but he'd rather give you three magical wishes if you'll leave his gold alone. Choose your wishes carefully as he will try to trick you!

Be careful and GOOD LUCK!

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