Pirate Week for Preschoolers Part 1

Welcome to Sorting Sprinkles' 100th Post...and Pirate Week! I had hoped to hold pirate week later in the school year since it's more of  a "lighter" theme and more of summery/party theme but somehow, it came upon me that the school year was pretty much over (it is mid-May after all) unless like us you live in Germany where children like Adrian attend school until July 31 (Adrian attends a German Montesori-styled preschool 4 mornings a week). Anyhow, pirate week, whenever you choose to have it, is a blast! I am not big into pirates and don't know much about them but it seems like a topic well liked by children and I felt Adrian should know about "common" themes such a this one despite the fact that it's not exactly anchored in reality (at least not in the way it is usually portrayed to children).

 
Art: Handprints & Footprint Parrot Craft

Pirates are often seen with a parrot perched atop their shoulder or perched on top of their pirate ship so I tried to include the beautiful tropical bird into the week.  After seeing this beautiful craft on, I knew I had found what I was looking for. Adrian doesn't mind getting dirty so painting his foot red and stamping it on the paper was no trouble. For the hand painting, considering it was two colors on each hand, I had to help a bit. The next day, when the prints were dry, Adrian glued the goggly eye, the construction paper beak, leaf and branch (he rolled a sliver of paper). The tail of the parrot is an actual "oops" so don't ask me how to replicate it! :) While cleaning, the red paint fell and made a puddle. Adrian was not at all happy about his art having a mess on it so I had to think quickly and told him it looked like the tail of the parrot. He was happy with the possibility and didn't ask for a do-over.

Fine Motor: Retrieving coins at the bottom of the sea

You are welcome to submerge your treasure chest and coins into a bin if you wish. I did not want our Theraputty or chest to get wet so I we just pretended the table was the bottom of the sea where a big chest fell and coins were stuck in the sand. Adrian the Pirate then had to retrieve them using his fingers. If you are not familiar with Theraputty, we've been using it for a few months now in medium strength to strengthen Adrian's fingers and hands. It is similar to silly putty but comes in different strengths. The activity could be done with Play dough or sand of course but the coins would not be stuck at all in this case so a pair of tweezer might be nice to add a little challenge.

Practical Life: Matching and Opening Locks

Looking for an easy set-up activity? This is it! It kept Adrian working for a loooong time! The task, as simple as it seems to grown ups, can be tough for kids. Adrian first had to find the right key for the right lock, insert, turn and get the lock to open. The first time around was the hardest. Finding how to insert the key took a bit of time. These keys are meant to go in only one way. Once he found how to get the key to go in, he had to realize that the key would turn only if it was inserted fully. Some help was required at that point despite the initial demonstration (excitement must have overtaken him during that time). Then, the real fun began. Unsatisfied with his initial speed at opening locks, Adrian set to perfect it the way a pirate would. :)

Math: How Many Coins did the Pirate Find on This Continent?

Adrian loved using the World Puzzle Map last week and has been wanting to do more with it so I brought it out thinking we'd revised the continent names. The scenario? Pirates are going around the world finding treasure chests filled with gold coins. How many did they find in Africa? To play the game, I would first ask Adrian to find a continent and to set it on the table. Then I'd tell him how many coins were found (practicing oral numbers is fun too!) on that continent and he'd set them down below the continent. Once finished, we discussed which continent had the most/least coins in their chest. We also discussed which continent had an even/odd number of coins found. The game was big success.

Fine Motor: Making an Emerald Beaded Bracelet

Who wants to fool a pirate? Wanting to protect his real treasures, Adrian made a pony beads and pipe cleaner bracelet so the pirates wouldn't steal the real emerald bracelets in his chest! It could have been any color honestly but Adrian decided to pick only the green beads that day! :)  He's used to stringing only shoelaces and big beads so I was massively impressed by how well he could thread these small beads onto a fuzzy stick!

Adrian Focusing on the Task

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Montessori Monday, The Kids Co-Op, Show-and-Share Saturday, Link & Learn, TGIF, Share it Saturday, Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, Sun Scholars's For the Kids Friday, Stress-Free Sunday, Thursday Toddler & Preschool, Tuesday Tots, Preschool Corner &5K, Hammock Tracks' Look What We Did, Money Savings Monday, Serenity Saturday, Virtual Montessori Sharing Fair, Artsy Play Wednesday, and We Made That, Empty your Archives.

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