Play Like a Pirate with These Fun Pirate Activities for Kids

Sept. 19 is National Talk Like a Pirate Day, a holiday I’ve never completely understood, but why not have a day devoted to pirates? Kids seem to love stories of daring and plunder and adventure on the high seas, so why not make a day of it with some fun pirate activities for kids?

Since pirates lived their lives on the ocean, Pirate Day is a great time for some water-related STEM activities. Why not try a pirate-themed version of a sink or float challenge, like this one from Science Sparks? Or you can have kids design a boat and see if it floats. This one from Red Ted Art is made from cork so it’s easy to make and will float every time.

Have kids make their own treasure maps with this idea from The Imagination Tree. Or they can map the playground or back yard and decide where they think treasure is likely to be buried.

Try some pirate-themed play dough activities with these printable play dough mats from PickleBums. Or hunt for sight word treasures by writing your words on “gold doubloons (this one is also from The Imagination Tree).

I Can Teach My Child has a printable pirate map for letter matching (and I love the wipe box painted gold being used as a treasure chest; brilliant!). Or add a writing component with the alphabet treasure maps from Powerful Mothering.

Practice number recognition with the count and cover pirate treasure activity from Fun Learning for Kids. This one has different options based on the numbers the kids need to work on, and it’s so fun to use gems as your treasure counted out to cover each number.

Powerful Mothering has a free printable pirate activity pack with a maze, I-spy, memory game, flag design sheet and more. And Miniature Masterminds has a 50-plus page activity pack with math, writing, coloring, games, cutting practice and more.

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Ocean Unit Studies and Activities

I’ve written a lot about different Fourth of July activities and crafts over the years (see links below) but one thing I haven’t touched on much is the Fourth of July party. A backyard hangout and barbecue is a classic event, so why not bring some fun outside with red, white and blue games the whole family can play?

Games like these can help develop fine motor skills, and getting kids up and moving is always a good idea. If adults join in, so much the better.

Six Clever Sisters has collected a dozen fun Fourth of July games you can make for the backyard to play for the holiday or any time during the summer.

A lot of these are regular sorts of backyard games like hitting targets with squirt guns or tossing balls into buckets, but given a red, white and blue twist for the patriotic holidays.

These games would be fun throughout the year regardless of whether you put a patriotic spin on them.

For example the tic tac toe game shown here, which is from Hey Let’s Make Stuff, would be cute with x’s and o’s painted in any colors you like. And of course you could make it even easier and just play on the sidewalk with red, white and blue chalk if you don’t have a ready supply of wooden letters.

Check out all the ideas for backyard party games for the Fourth of July at Six Clever Sisters.

Looking for more things to do for the Fourth of July with kids? Check out these posts from previous years for even more inspiration:

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