By Pam Molnar

St. Patrick’s Day is a pretty easy party to host. You ask everyone to come dressed in green, you serve festive green foods and drinks and you play some Irish music in the background. Now the only thing you need to make your party a success is some St. Patrick’s-themed games. Looks like you’ve come to the right place!

1. Throw Me the Money: Fill a canvas bag with coins – pennies will work nicely – and tie it closed. Players stand in a circle, with the reader holding the bag. A St. Patrick’s themed question (i.e. Name a food that is green) is read and the bag is tossed to the person who answered (correctly) first. That person is now the reader and the bag holder cannot answer the question, allowing someone else to get a chance. If anyone answers incorrectly, they are out. Have a prize for the last person standing.

2. What’s in the Bag: This game is like the game Spoons in that you will need a spoon for every player, minus one. You will also need one lunch-sized paper bag for every two players filled with a variety of St. Patrick’s or green items like shamrocks, gold coins and green pom-poms. Place the bags in front of every other person. 

On “go,” the players choose something inside the bag and pass the bag to the next player. The bags continue around until a player finds four of that same item and they grab for a spoon. Like in the game Spoons, everyone else grabs a spoon quickly and the one without a spoon is out. Offer a small prize for the winner.

3. Competitive Hot Potato: This is such a simple game and only requires one potato. Traditionally, players pass the potato around in a circle while music plays. When the music stops, the one holding the potato is out. If that is too simple for your group, you can add a challenge.

Ask everyone to stand in two lines across from each other, tossing back and forth. If the potato is dropped, the catcher is out. To make it more difficult, start every new round by taking a step back. You can also play with your eyes closed, pouring a smaller potato from cup to cup or play with a carrot and a potato going in opposite directions around the circle.

4. Tic Tac Gold: You will need gold and green plastic coins for this game. Set up a Tic Tac Toe board on the counter or table with tape. Players will slide their coins across the table to try and get three in a row. If one player slides his coin into a space that is already occupied, he gets to remove his opponent’s coin. This can also be played with a bigger game board (four or five in a row) and more players. However, this game will take a little longer.

5. You’re One Lucky Spella: For this game, you will need Scrabble tiles and a cup for each player. You will also need a list of St. Patrick’s Day words. The tiles are laid out upside down in the middle of the table. For each round, players choose 10 tiles without looking at them and put them in their cup. On “go,” players dump out their cups and try to make a St. Patrick’s Day word out of their tiles within a minute. Players get one point for each letter they use. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. 

6. Rollin’ for Coins: This game is great for larger groups as it is played in tables of four. Each player will need a score sheet. For each table, you will need a pair of dice and a suit of cards 2-Queen only. Cards are laid out face up in order in the middle of the table. Players take turns rolling the dice and removing the corresponding card — Take the six when you roll 2 threes, 1 and 5 or 2 and 4. 

The next player rolls and takes their corresponding card. Play continues until a player rolls a number that has already been removed. When that happens, the roller must give all his other collected cards (if any) to the player holding that card. At that point, the round is over and players tally their scores — a point for each value rolled. Switch tables as you would for bunco. Play for a set time or number of rounds and give a prize to the person with the most points. 

Pam Molnar is a writer and game-loving mom of three. She believes every good party has a fun theme, delicious food, and of course, plenty of games.