This idea came to me after looking at Jo-Ann’s new Cape Discovery crafts they have put out encouraging families to spend time crafting and exploring together this summer. I was asked if I wanted to recreate one of the projects and share it. After looking at them all, I was torn between THREE projects! I ended up doing two of them (tutorials to come) and the boys and I had a Pirate Adventure Day. It was a BLAST! We all had so much fun – well, maybe not Gator, since he napped through half of it. But my 3.5 year old Monkey thought it was “the best day ever!”
PIRATE ADVENTURE DAY
Here is the basic rundown of our adventure day. Actually it was only about a two-hour activity, not all day. I cut down some of my activities to fit my kids’ attention spans. You could expand or condense it as your kids allow.
Set up:
– First I made our treasure map. I did most of this while Monkey was at preschool since I wanted it to be a surprise. It’s pretty self-explanatory. I used brown shipping paper from Dollar Tree and crayola markers. The hardest part was deciding what to name all the landmarks. Guess I need to spend more time watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates or something. Not to worry, Google quickly came to my rescue. The full tutorial on that is coming.
– Then I constructed the Faux Chalkboard Signs using black foam board and sidewalk chalk. Click the link for the full tutorial.
– I then prepped a few pages from the Pirate Pre-K packs at Over the Big Moon. Who says adventure can’t be educational?! I also got the pirate hat from 2 Teaching Mommies. I cut the pieces out, but left them un-assembled, so Monkey could do that.
– If I had thought it out more and it hadn’t been 1am… I would have then set up Deadman’s Cave by throwing a blanket over the dining table and set up the Obstacle Course at Rattlesnake River. But I ended up doing that during snack time on Smuggler’s Isle. More work for me during Adventure Day, but it worked out just fine.
– We use pony beads as a reward system for good behavior and call them “treasures”. So I took about 25 of the beads and buried them in our small, makeshift sandbox in the backyard for the treasure hunt.
– I took a 1/4″ slice of mozzarella cheese and cut it to look like a “Jolly Roger” (skull and cross bones). Then I cut the slice and cut it into strips for easier eating.
– I cut swords out of and old cardboard box, because what’s a pirate without his sword?
Adventure Time!
– First I fed my kids breakfast because they are ornery and whiny when they are hungry. Not the kind of adventure I was looking for. Then I pulled out the treasure map! That was a big deal. I let Monkey study it for a few minutes while I set up our pirate ship in his bedroom.
I stuck the mop and broom, handle side down in between his bed frame and his mattress. Then I took a some of my fabric and draped it across the two to make a sail. I’d forgotten about a wheel for driving the ship, so we improvised with a colander. Encourage that imagination, right?
– After the ship was set up, I came back and helped Monkey construct his pirate hat. He loved it! Then we got on the ship and charted our coarse. First… Deadman’s Cave.
– At Deadman’s Cave we had story time by glow stick. We have a touch and feel Pirate book and I’d planned to read that, but Monkey wanted to tell stories instead of read them. So that’s what we did.
– Then it was back to the ship and on to Smuggler’s Isle for snack time! Upon landing on Smuggler’s Isle, I ushered the boys to the breakfast bar and fed them goldfish crackers, the Jolly Roger cheese and mandarin orange “slugs”.– After snack time – and putting Gator to bed – we had to make our way to the other end of the island. Only there was an obstacle course at Rattlesnake River. This was Monkey’s very favorite part of the whole adventure day. And why not? I let him climb on the furniture and “walk the plank”. Why wouldn’t that be his favorite part, right?
– After we finished the obstacle course we “found” our boat on the other side of the island. We took the boat to Treasure Island and made our way to Emerald Isle and Jewel Coast where we found “X” marks the spot and we dug for buried treasure. I let Monkey keep all the treasures he found and that was a fun surprise for him (he gets to cash them in for treats, toys or outings).
If you need a day activity for your kids, an adventure day is a great way to get them playing and keep them entertained without any screens! It gets you playing with your kids and creates some fun memories. I know we’ll be having more adventure days this summer. It takes a little bit of planning, but it was totally worth it. My boys LOVED it!
Any ideas for a themed adventure day you’d like to try?
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