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.

Leif Erikson Day is celebrated on Oct. 9, and it’s a great time to learn more about the Vikings and why we still remember Erikson all these years later.

If you don’t know about Leif Erikson (sometimes spelled Eriksson), he’s believed to have been born in Iceland, and is considered the first European to set foot on continental America, more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a printable mini book about Leif Erikson and the Vikings for kids to read and color. It talks about who the Vikings were, what kind of ships they used, how they got to America and more. It’s a good overview for younger kids to use.

A good unit study is available from Simple Living Creative Learning, which includes a page where kids can write what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned through the unit, as well as information on the Vikings, longships, helmets, clothing and more.

Get a printable Viking unit study with reading passages, comprehension questions and other activities aimed at grades 4-8 from Creative Classroom Core at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And see more Vikings content from TPT here.)

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has some great unit study ideas, too, including suggested books and videos. The post includes information about the Viking voyages, society, mythology and ships, as well as some vocabulary and a list of famous Vikings. While you’re over there also check out her free printable lapbook, which includes mini books on ships, a timeline, a Viking women coloring page, draw your own Vikings, geography, ancient runes and more.

Piqolo Kids has a lesson on Viking women with (available for purchase) worksheets about a day in the life of Viking women. Even if you don’t grab the printables there’s some good resources on that page and a link to a video on Viking women.

Learn how to draw a Viking ship with instructions from Drawing How to Draw, or grab Vikings coloring and labeling worksheets from Kids Puzzles and Games.

There’s a Leif Erikson Festival annually in Norway, Michigan, which you can learn more about here.

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