Leprechaun Trap

This was our first year making a leprechaun trap. We've been wanting to ever since Lenny the Leprechaun stole some of Nichole's candy last year. So this year we decided to catch him and get wishes.
The kids and I had it all figured out weeks ago. We even wrote out a plan.

The trap would have a ladder with a sign that said, "Don't climb." There would be gold wrapped chocolate coins in a pot at the top. We'd draw a leprechaun on the Lenny trap so he could think, "Oh, a new friend."

This is how Nichole figured we'd catch the leprechaun:
"Close all the doors and windows. Then Lenny will come into the living room, see the trap, and climb the ladder, and uh... see pot of gold, go on piece of cloth or paper, step on it, and fall in the trap. Then we'll catch him before he escapes. The End."

We even planned how we'd keep him after we caught him. We could make a cardboard cage, but he could squeeze through the bars. We could put him in a jar, but he could roll it and break it. We could put him in an empty water bottle, but he could turn it over and roll off with it. We finally decided that after we caught him, we would put him in an empty water bottle inside a cardboard cage. Then we could distract him so he's not bored.

We also thought, what if it's not Lenny? What if it was a different leprechaun? Then we'd just call him Mr. Leprechaun. Jr. would write this note to the leprechaun:
"Dear Mr. Leprechaun.
I hope that you can be safe. I'm sorry that the trap is not good, but I know that you are handsome, but you are not nice stealing all our things.
From, a Telford boy"

We made sure to hide our plans, so Lenny wouldn't know about it before he got trapped.

This is how the trap actually turned out.

It did have a ladder with a sign that said, "Don't climb."
At the top, we had a half circle of paper glued to the trap for the chocolate coins to lie (we decided against having them in a pot), and another half circle of paper loose across the top, so he would fall in when he stepped on it.

Nichole pointed out, "Or if he's light enough to not fall, he would grab the coins and then fall in." This is because we found out through trial and error that the chocolate coins are heavy enough to slide and knock down the paper over and over again. Six coins are too many, but we decided four is an okay amount. Two for Nichole to put on and two for Jr. to put on the trap.

Jr. saw me typing what Nichole said and wanted to add something as well. "Or we could get Lenny when he's almost in the leprechaun trap. The End."

The trap did have a picture of a leprechaun on the side like Nichole wanted.

We even made a cardboard cage with a water bottle inside.

We ended up having the trap on the table in the kitchen because there was more room in there than currently in the living room (see my post about Leap Year to know the reason why).

Nichole also made up a recipe for hot pepper soup, which is apparently Lenny's favorite food. So I made some of that for him to try. I didn't do it in quite the amounts and proportions as in the recipe, but I think that's okay. Here is her recipe:

Lenny's favorite food. Hot pepper soup. Lots of hot pepper juice. 1 cup sliced onions. 2 cups flour. 4 cups spaghetti. 1 pitcher of water. 1 cup apple juice. 5 1/2 cups orange juice. 2 1/2 cups grapes. 1 1/2 cup spinach.

So we left the Lenny trap on the kitchen table when we went to bed and I put some hot pepper soup next to it.

This is what the trap looked like this morning.

Jr. noticed that the chocolate coins and paper had fallen in so he reset the trap. He didn't notice there was a little rope hanging from the ladder. He also didn't notice the extra candy in the trap, which used to be empty. And there were only two coins instead of four.

When Nichole got up, I explained to the kids that leprechauns are very tricky and very hard to catch. He must have had a rope with him and got away with two of the gold coins, but he left behind some of the stuff he'd stolen from us plus a little more.

The kids were disappointed they won't get their wishes, but he gave back what he took. The kids are already making plans for next year how they're going to stay up and wait for him (not if I have anything to say about it). And we'll have to make a few adjustments to the design of the trap next year.

When I was a kid, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing green on March 17. Now we set traps for leprechauns. My how things have changed since I've been a mom, especially a mom of these kids.