AUSTIN (KXAN) – As bars and restaurants close across Austin, many families are looking to stay busy this St. Patrick’s Day. One method: a shamrock hunt. “A lot of us have little kids and so it’s hard to keep them occupied. They’ve been looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day for a while,” said Marci Tarvin, a North Austin mom who organized a shamrock hunt for her Oak Brook neighborhood.

“This is a way to be outside and still celebrating and still interacting with each other but keeping a safe distance,” Tarvin said. She found the idea on social media and then shared it with her neighborhood group on Facebook. “Immediately people said they would do it. (They began) posting downloadable shamrocks they could color.”

Here’s how it works: families around the neighborhood placed shamrocks on their home. Sometimes they were hung on windows, other times doors, while some neighbors had fun hiding them in the yard. Families around the neighborhood would walk around the Oak Brook neighborhood, taking pictures of any shamrocks they found.

Families sent KXAN dozens of photos of their adventure. One boy, 12-year-old Beck Seitsinger, made shamrocks to put on the homes of elderly and health compromised neighbors’ doors. Other neighbors created mini scavenger hunts where candy was the prize.

“This morning the hunt started. People were taking walks. Getting fresh air,” Tarvin said. “There had already been a bunch of neighborhood posts about people willing to shop for each other and do stuff for each other. So, I knew everyone would get involved.”