The Pirates Themed Activities were a lot of fun and the kids had a blast! They loved making Pirate Hats and Telescopes, Sorting coins and making patterns with these, going on a treasure hunt and making their very own Pirate story up and putting this in a big class book.
Pirates Themed Activities
Creative Space
Play dough, stamps, scissors, lacing beads and cards, puzzles and blocks are set out for the children to choose from, and get creative during this 30 minute period.
Pirates Themed Circle Time
Every day during Circle Time we do the morning routine, which includes the Calendar and ‘Number, Color, Shape and Letter of the week’. We then read a story, sing a few songs and do a group activity.
On every Monday we change the ‘Classroom Helpers’ Classroom Jobs. Each child has a name card on a popsicle stick, and they get to choose their job of the week.
Pirates Themed Circle Time Activities
Activity 1: Weekend News
Every Monday morning each child gets a chance to talk about their weekend and what they did. The children then draw a picture in the ‘weekend news’ journal, and the teacher writes down what they have said.
Activity 2: Where’s the Treasure?
Draw a treasure map. Tear the edges and crumple the paper up to make it look old. Mark the treasure with a red “X” on the BACK of the map. Make little X’s, let the children write their names on it and ask them to put these on the map where they think the treasure is. Hold the map up against a window or bulb to reveal the X that is on the back and where the real treasure is.
Activity 3: Walk the Plank!
Stick some masking tape on the floor (about 2 – 3 meters in length). Tell the children to pretend this is a plank and that all around them the ocean lies with sharks in it. Children balance on the ‘plank’ by walking forwards, backwards, tip toeing and hopping on it, trying to not fall into the shark infested waters.
Activity 4: Pirate Ship Race
You need two cardboard boxes for this game, one for each team. Each team is made up of two people, one sits in the box, and the other pushes the box. On the mark of “GO”, the person standing on both teams pushes the ‘ship’ and the other team member sits in the box. They race down the ‘ocean’ till they get to the end. The team members then switch places and race back. The first team to get back is the winning team.
Activity 5: Pass the Parrot!
You’ll need: A stuffed parrot and pirate music in a music player you can stop at random points. The children sit in a circle and pass the parrot around while the music plays. When the music stops the person with the parrot is out. Continue until there is only one person left that hasn’t held the parrot.
Pirates Themed Songs
Fourteen action songs and rhymes all about Pirates to get those bodies moving and grooving. Click on the image to head over to the post.
Pirates Themed Books
Twenty-five of the best story picture books that are perfect for a theme all about Pirates. Click on the image below to read what these books are about.
Pirates Themed Math & Literacy Activities
Activity 1: Pete the cat and the Treasure Map
What you need:
- Pete the Cat and the Treasure map Book
- Activity Sheets
- Scissors
- Glue
How to complete the activity:
Read the story or watch the read-aloud on YouTube. Talk about the characters (Pete, Callie, Parrot, Octopus Monster, Toad and the Crew), the setting (the ocean), the problem (a storm) and the solution (the octopus). Hand out the activity sheets. Children cut the pictures out and paste it in the correct blocks.
Activity 2: Pirates Big Class Book
What you need:
- A3 sheets of white paper
- A4 sheets of white paper
- A computer to type the story out
- Coloring pencils
- Glue
How to complete the activity:
Explain to the children that you are going to write your own Pirate Story. Use a prompt such as ‘Once upon a time, there was a pirate named Blackbeard. Each child then ads a sentence to the story as the teacher writes these down.
Divide the class into pairs and split the story up into the same number as the pairs of children.
Give each pair an A4 sheet of paper and tell them what they need to draw and color for their story part (i.e.., a pirate ship, a sea monster etc.). During this time, the teacher writes each part of the story on A3 paper at the bottom. When the children are done drawing, the teacher pastes their illustrations on the right pages, assemble the book, then read it back to the kids.
Activity 3: Pirate Hat
What you need:
- Black A3 construction paper
- Skull templates
- Scissors
- Glue
How to complete the activity:
Watch the YouTube for instructions on folding a paper hat. Use A3 black construction paper instead of A4. Print out and copy the skull pictures that you will find in the free lesson plan at the beginning of this post. Children cut these out and stick it on the hats.
Activity 4: Treasure Hunt
Print out the cards, roll up and tie with string. Hide it in all the correct places. Wrap a cardboard box up in brown paper and fill with chocolate gold coins and other small pirate themed toys. Pretend to find the first card and start the treasure hunt! Children can wear their pirate hats.
Math center 1: Coin Sort
Cut out and laminate the pictures of the coins provided in the free lesson plan at the beginning of this post. Stick these on the side of little containers. Children use plastic coins to sort into the correct containers.
Math center 2: Coin Patterns
Print out and laminate the pattern mats you will find on the next page. Children use plastic coins to make ABAB, ABC, ABBA and AABB patterns.
Math center 3: Roll & Stack
Put some plastic coins in a container. Children throw a dice and stack that number of coins. Throw the dice again, and stack that number of coins on top of the previous stack. Continue until the stack falls over.
Math center 4: Roll & Save
Put some plastic coins in a little container. Children throw a dice, then take that number of plastic coins and put them in a piggy bank. Continue until time is over.
Pirates Themed Art
I found this activity over at craftprojectideas.com. We did not have enough time to complete it in the class this week and instead made simple paper telescopes (which you can see in the picture of the pirate hat) . We will definitely try the proper telescopes next year! Click on the image to head over to their website for full instructions..
Pirates Themed Science
I found these Fun Science Experiments on Water Density and Waterproofing over at science-sparks.com. Click on the images to head over to their blog for full instructions.
STEM: How many coins to sink a pirate ship?
Another activity from science-sparks.com. Children make pirate ships out of aluminum foil and load the ships up with coins until it sinks. Click on the image for full instructions and remember that this activity can get quite messy, so make sure to put down some old newspaper.
Pirates Themed Snack Idea
I also found the idea for these cute bees and flowers snacks at www.eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov. You will need apples, cheese slices and pretzel sticks. Put these all together as seen in the picture, and enjoy!
Click on the images below to download the Pirates Themed Math & Literacy Centers for the week.
