Pirate Event Activity Ideas Drawing What children will learn: To apply their creativity and improve descriptive writing skills Children use their imagination to draw a picture of a pirate ship, treasure chest, or sea creature. Below the picture have them write about what they drew. Encourage younger children to write simple sentences and older children to write as many details about their picture as they can. • Materials needed: White paper with space to draw and lines at the bottom, crayons or markers, pencils. • Where you can get them: Make copies of “Drawing Activity Template.” Art supplies from home.

Story & Play What children will learn: Reading comprehension, creative writing, cooperation, and organization skills Read the beginning of a story about a group of pirates and have the child write a dramatic ending. Then let them make their own pirate hat and act out their story with friends! Consider making a video of their production and e-mailing it the children’s parents, so they can view their work later. • Materials needed: Story template, pencils, pirate props, hat template, black paper, white crayon, eye patch, video recorder and TV or computer screen to watch videos. • Where you can get them: Make copies of “Pirate Story Template” and “Pirate Hat Template.” Find props at homes of parents with young children. Borrow a video recorder from a family or library.

Treasure Hunt What children will learn: To apply the knowledge they have gained from reading to a real world situation and develop higher level reasoning skills Create a fun treasure hunt with clues that lead the children around a large room. When children come to the first station, hand them the first clue. Once they discover that hiding place, they should read something with the next clue. After four or five clues, they discover a treasure chest with a prize inside! • Materials needed: Clues, treasure chest (decorated shoe box), final prize! • Where you can get them: Around the house.

Treasure Map What children will learn: To read a map, understand coordinates, and use critical thinking skills to answer questions Children will create their very own treasure map! Have them draw pictures on the template and then write questions about their map. Then they will answer their own questions. Assist younger children by writing the questions for them. • Materials needed: Treasure map with coordinates and spaces. • Where you can get them: Make copies of the “Treasure Map.”

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Pirate Event More Activity Ideas Make Your Own Compass What children will learn: To follow step-by-step instructions and understand cardinal directions Children make their own compass out of simple household materials. Stroke one end of the magnet along the entire length of the needle, about 30 times in the same direction. Test to see if the needle has become magnetized by picking up a pin. Next, tie one end of a piece of thread to the center of your magnetized needle. Tie the other end of the thread to a pencil. Place the pencil on the rim of the cup with the needle hanging horizontally down into the cup. Place the completed compass on a table. Once the needle comes to rest, the thickest end of the needle will point north. Then teach children the compass directions (north, south, east, west). Make up a silly acronym to help them remember the order of the directions. For example, Nobody Eats Soggy Waffles. Give them a set of simple directions to follow, so they can test out their new compass! For example, ask them to walk 3 steps north, then 2 steps east, etc. • Materials needed: Clear plastic cups, pencils, thread, and needles for each child. Bar magnet. • Where you can get them: Around the house.

Build a Pirate Ship & Navigate through Stormy Weather What children will learn: Teamwork, construction and design skills, weather patterns, wind currents, cloud formations, and how to make wise judgments based on evidence Build a pirate ship out of a large cardboard box (about refrigerator size). Flatten the box and then cut it into 2 ship-like shapes for the sides. Then cut a base in the shape of a trapezoid. Use duct tape or hot glue to attach the sides to the base. Now cut a piece that fits between the sides as a back. Make a mast by attaching an old sheet or towel to a broom. Stick the mast into a large piece of Styrofoam, so that it will stand up on its own. Use a permanent black marker to decorate! Using your pirate ship, teach kids about weather patterns a pirate might face. Use a fan to show them what a mast looks like when there is wind. Using a compass, ask them what direction the wind is blowing. Make posters with different kinds of clouds (cumulus, stratus, cirrus, nimbus, cumulonimbus) using cotton balls. Explain what kind of weather pattern is associated with each cloud type. Ask the children what kinds of clouds and wind they would want if they were sailing a pirate ship. • •

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Materials needed: Large cardboard boxes, old sheet or towel, broom, hot glue or duct tape, Styrofoam, permanent black marker, fan, compass, blue or white poster board, cotton balls. Where you can get them: Ask a large appliance store for the box and Styrofoam. Sheets and towels from home or Deseret Industries. Fan from home. Dollar store for craft items.

Pirate Event More Activity Ideas Sail the Seas What children will learn: Patterns of the major ocean currents and influences of wind, water temperature, and water density on currents Fill a tin pie plate to the inner rim with cold water. Have the children sprinkle a teaspoon of oregano or chili powder over the surface. Using a straw, have the children blow across the middle of the tin from one side and observe the pattern of motion of the herbs. The “wind” the child creates shows that the currents on the surface circulate around the edges of the pan. These are similar to the Equatorial Currents flowing west at the Earth’s equator. Next, an adult will demonstrate how temperature affects ocean currents. An adult should fill a beaker with 50 mL of hot water. Exercise proper safety procedures and use safety equipment such as hot mitts, heat resistant gloves, and/or goggles. Add a tablespoon of salt to the hot water and several drops of food coloring. Stir the mixture. Then carefully pour several milliliters of the hot water into the same water-filled pie pan. Ask the children to observe how the denser mixture behaves when poured into cool water. Teach them about the effects of temperature changes on ocean currents. • •

Materials needed: Tin pie plates, water, oregano or chili powder, straws, food coloring, 150 mL beakers, access to cold & hot water, table salt. Where you can get them: Your home kitchen or local grocery store.

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Drawing Activity Template Draw a picture of a pirate ship, treasure chest, or sea creature! Then write a paragraph describing your creation.

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Treasure Map

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Treasure Map Part II Color your treasure map and draw special items on the grid. You may want to draw a treasure chest, pirate ship, sea creature, island, forest, ocean, pirates, telescope, etc. Write some questions about your map. For example, ask where certain objects are? Or ask how you can get from one object to another?

Question Example: Where is the pirate ship located? Example: How can you move from the island to the shore?

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