There have been times when my children have declared aspirations to be pirates. My children have a romanticized belief that piracy is all about talking parrots, peg legs, hidden treasure and walking the plank. The idea of sailing the seven seas on a pirate ship sounds exciting to them both. They think it will be fun. They are yet to realise the reality of such an occupation.
The picture books that we read at night such as Pirate Pete, Tough Boris and even Pippi Longstocking make it look so grand. They’re keen to try it themselves. Imagine all the treasure they could find! It’s how “have a pirate dress-up day” landed on our Bucket List.
So one weekend, when the sky was not promising adventures far from home, I pulled out our dress up box and indulged their need to be pirates. For a day anyway. They obliged with enthusiasm.
We walked the plank (albeit into a small wading pool), went on a treasure hunt (loving the gold coin chocolates from our local supermarket), fought with swords and even tried to catch a wild parrot with plans to teach it to talk (thankfully we did not succeed. I hear they bite hard!).
To add some fun to our day I headed over to sparkle box and downloaded their Pirate Ship Role Play Pack. It includes some great sorting coins, vocabulary cards, a flag and a treasure map that you can print and use for some fun games. I hope you enjoy!
Whilst we love our adventures outside our home, both locally, interstate and overseas, activities right in our backyard offer lots of opportunities to learn and laugh. A pirate today, maybe a superhero tomorrow or a fairy perhaps. We have so many opportunities.