Arrrg! It be pirate week!

To help us prepare and celebrate "National Talk Like a Pirate Day" on Thursday, September 19 - we decided to spend the week learning with pirates.  Here are a few of the things we've been doing...

"X marks the spot!" - Of course our letter this week is the letter X!

 

Maps - Maps are so fun to teach with.  We started the week with a simple map (found this 12x12 paper at a scrapbook store).   The kiddos practiced writing a letter X on all their buried treasure spots.  Some kids just did one X, some did several.  Ha.

National Geographic Maps - I happened to have a couple of these stashed away from our subscription.  So great for pirate week.  The kiddos enjoyed opening up this huge map and exploring on it.  I pulled the small kiddie pool, that is the basis for our cozy corner, out in the middle of the room for the kiddos to have a pirate ship.

Classroom Maps - The next day I created classroom maps for the kiddos to use.  We started out the morning with a bit of mischief.  Just as it was time for journal writing, we realized pirates had hidden our journals...

 

 Fortunately the pirates had left maps for the kiddos...

The kiddos scurried around the preschool finding their journals.  Ha!  It was great!

Treasure Tins - I always save my Altoid tins, because I figure there's always something fabulous that can be done with them.  This time they became treasure boxes for little hands.  I painted a smear of black paint over the tops...

 Then the kiddos painted them.  I added a pirate sticker inside (found these at a party store).

 I gathered up some treasure.

 The kiddos got to fill their treasure tin (counting skills).

 Once the kiddos had their tins, they used their classroom map to hid their treasure and then see if a friend could find it.  Ha.

Pirate Plate - It started raining just as we were heading outside this morning, so we settled back into the preschool and made a craft.  A pirate face on a plate.  Ha!  Cute, simple, easy.  A few of the kiddos wanted a kerchief for their pirate or a hook.

Locks and Keys - I had my hubbie dig around in the garage for some padlocks with keys.  Taa Daa!  The kiddos have really enjoyed working with these.   The key and the matching lock have the same letter, so there is great letter recognition too.

Walk the Plank! - I rummaged around in the garage and found this plank of wood, perfect for walking the plank!

Pirate Stamps - 

 

Simple Pirate Hats - I sketched a pirate hat shape on black construction paper (card stock probably would have been better).  The older kids cut out their own hats.  Then I taped/stapled them to teacher boarders I had lying around.

Digging for Treasure - The kiddos really enjoyed digging in the sandbox for their treasure tins.

 

Letter Quest -  Another map activity.  The pirates took our letters and hid them around the preschool.  So using a classroom map, the kiddos had to find them all again.  The missing letters were noted on the map.  Pretty fun.