Art Activity: Pirate Necklaces

We gave the children beads and pirate themed medallions to use to make necklaces.

Science Activity: Cannon Ball Splash

We gave the children 4 different sized balls, and a container of water. The children first predicted which ball they thought would make the biggest splash. Next they dropped the balls into the container of water to see which would make the biggest splash.

Art Activity: Pirate Story Drawings

This activity was a combination of art and language. First the children glued a picture of themselves dressed as a pirate to their paper, and then made a drawing around their picture. Next, they dictated a story to the teachers about their artwork.

Art Activity: Spy Glasses

On this day the children made spyglasses using cardboard paper towel tubes. They decorated their spyglasses with pirate themed stickers.

Cooking Activity: Hardtack

For this cooking activity, the children made Hardtack, a bread often eaten by sailors and pirates. The children poured bisquick and milk into a mixing bowl. The stirred the mixture and them rolled out their hardtack biscuits.

Math Activity: Treasure Counting

We had the children counting treasures for this math activity. We gave the children numbered cups, gold coins, and glass gems. The children touch counted out the correct number of coins or gems to go in each cup.

Art Activity: Treasure Mosaics

For this activity we gave the children playdough and glass gems. The children smashed the playdough down flat like a pancake, and then pressed the gems into the playdough to make a mosaic.

Story Books for December 7-11, 2009

Our story books for the week of December 7th through 1th for our theme of Pirates and Treasures were:

Pirates Ho! by Sarah L. Thompson

Do Pirates Take Baths? by Kathy Tucker

Pirate Treasure Hunt by Jan Peck

On a Pirate Ship by Sarah Courtauld

The Pigrates Clean-Up by Steven Kroll

Science Activity: Sink or Float?

Once again we did the Sink or Float Experiment.

Art Activity: Pirate Ship Sails

For this activity we gave the children a drawing of a pirate ship missing its sails. The children glues fabric pieces to their paper to make the ship's sails. They also used colored pencils to decorate the rest of their ship.

Art Activity: Treasure Chests

The children decorated these treasure chests using tempra paint and glitter.

Art Activity: Pirate Hats

We gave the children paper hats and asked them to decorate them using stickers, ink pads and rubber stamps.

Woodworking Activity: Treasure Sculpture

For this activity, we let the children hammer plastic, gold coins into a piece of wood to create a sculpture.

Art Activity: Playdough Parrots

We gave the children various colors of playdough and feathers and asked them to create a pirate's parrot.

For this activity, we asked the children to transfer water from one container to the next. We gave them sponges to use. The children figured out that if they used the sponge to soak up the water from the first container they could squeeze the water into the next container. The kids learned about the concept of absorption with this activity.

Science Activity: Eye Droppers

We put some clear containers full of colored water and some eye droppers in the science area. The children practiced using the eye droppers by moving the water from one container to another. There was also some color mixing going on with this activity.

Art Activity: Treasure Maps

On this day the children made treasure maps. We gave the children paper, markers, and pirate themed stickers to make their maps with.

Story Books for November 30 to December 4th

Our story books for the Pirates and Treasure theme for the week of November 30 through December 4th were:

Pirate Pete by Lynne Benton

Tough Boris by Mem Fox

The Little Pirate by Phillemon Sturges

Peg Leg Peke by Brie Spangler

Sloop John B. by Alan Jardine

Art Activity: Pirate Sails

Our pirate ship in the dramatic play area needed a sail, so we let the children make one. We gave them a white sheet to paint with various colors of tempra paint.

Bulletin Board for Pirates and Treasures

Our bulletin board for the Pirates and Treasures unit featured a pirate ship with all of the children dressed as pirates aboard.

For this activity, we let the children transform themselves into pirates. We gave each child a laminated photograph of their face. The children glued various accessories onto their faces. The accessories included pirate hats, bandanas, eye patches, mustaches, beards, and scars.

Story Books for November 23 & 24, 2009

Our story books for our theme of Pirates and Treasures on November 23rd and 24th were:

I love My Pirate Papa by Laura Leuck

Once Upon a Tide by Tony Mitton

Art Activity: Potato Prints

For this activity the teachers cut a few potatoes in half and carved some simple designs into the potato halves. The children pressed the potatoes onto different colored ink pads to create designs on their paper.

Cooking Activity: Pumpkin Muffins

On this day the children made pumpkin muffins for our cooking activity. With the help of the teacher, the children followed the cooking rebus to make the muffins. They mixed all of the ingredients including the pumpkin, eggs, flour, etc....