Sorting Sprinkles: pirates

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Pirate Week for Preschoolers Part 2

As a child, I never really cared much for pirates and so my knowledge of them is quite limited. I was a bit afraid I wouldn't come up with enough activities for this week but in the end, the planning was quite smooth. How I wish sailing through some waters was as smooth! I did not tell Adrian that pirates really exist because he's a bit young and far from the affected waters (why worry him?) but older children might be interested in comparing and contrasting the "tale" pirates from the "real" pirates currently "plundering" around Indonesia, Somalia, Nigeria and al.

Science & Art : Pirate Island

Having learned a few weeks ago about different land forms and water forms, I thought it'd be great to re-visit the island form. Pirates love islands after all! A square bowl was used as a way to contain our island and some gems and coins were put in a small bowl so the island would be filled with treasures. Prior to going outside, Adrian designed his own pirate flag. He took it very seriously and colored the entire flag template. Once outside, I asked Adrian if he remembered what the island looked like on the forms cards and he did. I asked him if he could replicate it in the bowl. Of course, a pitcher of water (lightly colored blue) and a bucket of sand and small shovel were available for him. Adrian loved his island so much that we brought it inside and kept it in for the entire day.

Math: Measuring Pirate Swords

Measuring with a measuring tape is something Adrian loves to do. You'll see him pick the tape out of the drawer just for fun. Today, I introduce a ruler with both centimeters and inches to show him we have other ways of measuring. We usually measure in inches but today we used centimeters to be more exact with the sword length. I made the swords myself using card stock and aluminum foil. Once all the swords were measured, we also discussed which was the longest and shortest and ordered them from longest to shortest.

Sorting Pirate Jewels

For the next activity, Adrian first needed to sort the jewels. I put in a "pearl" necklace, some "silver" coins (US dimes and quarters), some "gold" coins (euros cents), and mosaic gems of various colors. I color coded the names of the gemstones and Adrian quickly set to sorting them. Once they were all sorted, he was able to weigh them all separately. This gave us a nice discussion after. The gold coins weighed the heaviest and amazingly, the "sapphires" weighed less than the "agate" although there was more of it! It was quite surprising to Adrian! :)

Weighing the bounty; Adrian loves weighing things

Art: Cutting Strip Sails & Pirate Ship Craft

A pirate ship...as seen in the movies! Although there are many ways to craft a pirate ship, I chose to go with Busy Bee Kids Crafts's template and idea because it looked really cute and simple for a preschooler. Adrian likes to practice his scissor skills so I cut turned the sails into cutting strips as well. I also had Adrian tear the dark blue sheet so it would look like water a bit more. Tearing paper is a good exercise for little fingers after all. As for the rest, he inserted the mini popsicle sticks (where did my regular sized ones go?) into the sails and glued them, just like he glued the sea, ship and "Cheerios" cereal. For a craft, I thought it involved Adrian much more than usual and he liked it. Hey, he's nearing 5, he can do a lot more now!

Sensory: Pirate Bin with I Spy Map

Seeing that Adrian's interest was back in regards to sensory bins, I prepared this one after seeing Counting Coconuts'. With a "I Spy" map to accompany the bin, it was "grown up" enough for Adrian to enjoy it yet very simple for me to put together. I used black beans as a filler, added our big treasure chest (Michael's), a jewelry velvety pouch, a silver spoon, some mosaic gems in different colors (was hoping to get our big "jewels" we ordered but they arrived too late), our pirate gold coins (Hobby Lobby), a pirate figure our neighbors gave Adrian, and a few necklaces from my huge stash of Mardi Gras bead necklaces. Then, armed with the I Spy "map", Adrian started looking for items. It was very easy of course but it gave him a little task other than simply "play" with the bin which he still did by the way...An agreeable surprise indeed!

I Spy "Map" for the Sensory Bin

Matching Eye Patches

What's a pirate to do without an eye patch? Here, a simple matching and memory game with eye patches I printed from Guildcraft Arts & Crafts. I also wanted to do some bandanna folding but I had none on hand. Shame! :(

* * *

Your comments make my day !
(Please note : comments won't be visible until after my approval!)

* * *

Today, I'm happily linking up to

If you would like me to link up with you, please don't hesitate to ask, it might take me a week or two, but I generally do!

Monday, May 20, 2013

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!