Just because you’re not participating in a pub-crawl for St. Patrick’s Day this year, doesn’t mean you’re out of luck in the fun department.

Here are six ideas to ensure your party wins gold:

Green Beer (or Sparkling Cider). This is an obvious one, but still fun! Use light-colored beer: the lighter the beer, the brighter the color. A dark beer will require more food coloring to get the same green hue. Too much food coloring and you’ll end up with green teeth. Add beer to the coloring. To avoid flat beer, grab a large frosty beer mug, and squeeze in 3- 5 drops of green food coloring. Slowly pour beer from a 12-ounce can or a 16-ounce bottle into the glass. Watch the color mix as the beer goes in. Want more color? Add a drop or two more of food coloring. Don’t put the beer in first-- you’ll have to stir the beer which will make it will go flat. Make sure you stick with the green food coloring that comes in the little squeeze bottles. And avoid coloring pastes.

Coin Hunt. This St Patrick's Day game works just like an Easter egg hunt! Hide coins all over the inside and outside of your house (or just the outside if you don't relish the idea of your guests sifting through your possessions). Then set your guests free to find them. The three people who collect the most coins win a prize. For an adult version, create a Coin Hunt Drinking Game: Make this into a St. Patrick's drinking game by adding instructions to each coin (make up little white stickers ahead of time-- it'll be much easier). Write things like: "take 1 shot," "assign one shot," "down your drink," etc., on each coin.

PotaTOE PoTATto. Lay a hula-hoop on the ground. Starting close to the hoop each player tosses his/her potato so that it lands within the hoop. Each player who is successful moves to the next round that is played from a greater distance-- say 1 meter or so away from the hoop. The players who miss the hoop are OUT. The game continues with each round getting more distant from the hoop. The player who gets his potato into the hoop from the longest distance becomes the winner. Play a game of hot potato (the spud can be room temp) to the background of an Irish jig or see who can peel the most potatoes in 5 minutes. Give prizes for the winner.  

Healthy Greens. St. Patty’s doesn’t have to be all about over-indulgence! Cheer on the runners of the 9th Annual Shamrock’n Half Marathon in Sacramento or the Gnarly Neon 5k in Roseville while sipping on a healthy (forget Mickey D’s) Shamrock Smoothie.

St. Patrick’s Day Sushi. Replace the nori with steamed cabbage, swap rice for mashed potatoes, and use corned beef or ham instead of fish. Voila-- majorly creative finger food your guests and family will love!

Clover Crafts. Make clover straws by threading green construction paper clover cutouts through green straws and placing in orange soda bottles. Dip your children’s hands in green pant and press 4 times, creating the shape of a clover, onto a blank canvas or butcher paper (don’t forget to add a stem!) Use a clover cookie cutter to make St Patrick’s Day pancakes, sandwiches, or anything else under rainbow!