Pirate Day AHOY!

Today was PIRATE DAY at preschool-a day that comes around only once every 2 years (since I never repeat curriculum themes with the same kidlets)...it is a MUCH anticipated day during the month of "Ocean Adventures"

SO....I made "real" Aztec Gold pieces....placed them in a manila envelope adorned with a GIAGANTIC "X" on it, and buried it under the swings on the swingset....as you can clearly see by following the weathered looking map! lol :) fun times ahead....

who knew mini doilies and a little gold spray paint could be so fun? the kids were OVER THE MOON for them! ha ha ha-at minimum they were a little out of the norm of your typical plastic gold coins???? We were going to turn them into pendants for necklaces, but completely ran out of time. oh well-maybe on the next go round.

the kids all came dressed in their finest swashbuckling attire....they totally got into it if you can't tell! he he-Boy I LOVE my job. What's not to like about these munchkins? They EAT UP stuff like this. You know-the simple joys in life. Nothing beats an imagination filled childhood. Nothing.

One of Em's FAVORITE people....Shipmate Kamryn :) Em is making her best attempt at a pirate face....lol

So we started the day with the kids entering the classroom hearing the "Peter Pan" soundtrack-specifically "A Pirates Life" song. Great fun. There were IMMEDIATE grins & giggles, especially when they watched each friend arriving dressed in different pirate garb :) We gathered together on the carpet & read a story called "Dirty Joe the Pirate" (about a pirate who plundered for dirty socks!) It had them in stitches. Pretty cute story. Then I gave them the rundown of the days schedule of events...first being the Jolly Roger Puzzle-an independent focused activity. We put one together as a group, and then I  sent them to the table to put one together by themselves. They LOVED having their own pirate flag when they had completed the puzzle correctly.

(yes-Bryce came to school in his pj's AGAIN! ugh) :)

The treat for finishing their puzzle & putting away their materials correctly was getting to pick a "treasure". Either a tattoo or a pirate ring! Funny thing-the boys ALL picked the rings & the girls were all over the tattoos! ?????

Outside I had set up a couple "stations". 1-an ocean (blue bedsheet) full of SHARKS (grey file folders that I cut to resemble fins). Grabbed a couple pieces of scrap wood to serve as a PLANK & placed them from the front of the pirate ship, down to the end of the "ocean".

2-Bryce's water table filled with blue "ocean" water, and acrylic gems leftover from EmmaLee's 3rd birthday cake! :) Told you I save EVERYTHING :) There is always another use for stuff.

The kids had made mudpies in the pirate water table the day before & I didn't realize it was such a mess until this morning when I went to fill the table with treasures....well-no time to SCRUB it, just had to hose it off the best I could. Oh well-they are kids & a little dirt won't kill em right?

figured my classroom sensory table could serve as "Davy Jones Locker" if I filled it with skulls???? Worked wonderfully! I'm so glad I purchased a clear table all those years ago-this is why. The effect just isn't the same when you can't see all the way through.

I've been using the same bag of pirate skull confetti since the year I began teaching! That stuff goes a LOOOOOOONG way! :) That's a lot of kids really....to be using ONE bag of confetti? :)

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with our pirate adventures today-but it was too cute to not include a picture of. It makes my heart happy. The kids did a great job making Nemo & Dori for a math project earlier this month. This is one of my favorite bulletins we've ever done. So simple-but so cute :)

so the kids all went out and sat around the "sea" while each of them waited for an opportunity to take a walk down the plank & thus earn them a spot on their teachers pirate crew-completed by being given their own pirate hat! (Love Love Love that Dollar Tree! 6 hats for $1-SCORE!) In previous years, we've made the hats, but I figure things out pretty quickly when it comes to working SMARTER, not HARDER! 12 hats for $2 and I have to do NOTHING???? NO BRAINER!

This little man thought it was his birthday! He was OOOBER excited about all the pirate crap going on at our house today! I don't think it has much to do with the fact that I've used it as leverage for a month now. Do you? :)

Cutest little crew of misfit sailers EVER!

Our cooperation activity was a focus on the treasure map.  I explained that they had all earned their pirate hats & thus were REAL pirates now, so I could let them in on pirate secrets....like maps locating BURIED TREASURE! I wish I could have bottled those squeals. :) Pulled the crumpled up map out of my pocket, laid it in the middle of the crew, told them that pirates use teamwork to figure things out, and stood back to watch them work together.

It was a tender moment for me as their teacher-they came up with different ways to read the map, talked about what the different pictures probably meant, some got excited about the dashed line and how IT lead to the treasure "x"....

(funny kids reading with hook hands to point things out...ha ha ha)

....then almost like a LIGHTBULB went off-Finn excitedly tried to explain to his friends that he realized it was a map of the BACKYARD and that it said the treasure was under THAT swingset! The kids all agreed and jumped up & down before BOOKING IT over to the toy structure to begin digging ferociously!

Finn was ALL OVER IT! 

I told them (in my best pirate voice-which throughout the day changed to more of a scottish/irish blundery mess) "BE YE WARNED! That gold be cursed treasure! The one who be findin it, need be sharin it-or else they be cursed FOREVER!" Finn had NOOOOOOO problem with that! :)

Of course this was a HIGHLIGHT for him, and he held the map looking "lovingly" at it, so I let him keep it. He's my little collector of random things. One of my favorite things about this kiddo.

The next activity was our daily "following directions" activity. Making discovery bottles! I always save the mini water bottles from our Costco trips, so I just pulled 12 out of the stash for this fun activity. I typically tell the kids at the start of this type of activity, "This is all about following directions. If you don't follow the directions, will it turn out right? Nope-which means you didn't listen & won't go home smarter today if that happens! YIKES! We don't want that to happen do we!?" They LOVE completing these projects and having them "miraculously" look the way the example does. HUGE sense of accomplishment & pride in themselves.  :)

Did you see that! This activity is a prime example of how I teach my little peaches....they have NO IDEA that they just spent all that time learning! SWEET SUNSHINE!

Saw this gem online somewhere.

I literally just had to crack open all the little bags of chocolate zingers, cut them in half, and shove a chocolate gold coin inside. Decided it needed "that special touch" so I stuck in one of the leftover pirate flag picks (again from Em's birthday) and viola! An instant pirate treasure chest snack! This was the first year I did this and I LOVED how it turned out. So did the kids!

Also used the rest of the napkins & leftover Captain Hook plates from Em's party-not enough of both for each kid, so I alternated on the table. No one said boo about not having the same as the other, etc.

It was Gwen's birthday snack today to top things off, so her mom dropped off Pirates booty & juice to go with their twinkie cakes :) Who doesn't love them some Pirate Booty? lol

These cherubs really earned their snack today! Non-stop Pirate Adventures....that's some HARD WORK people! I've never had so many little arms wrapped around my legs in a hug, with sweet "I love you teacher" sentiments expressed, all in one day-as I have today!.....well guys-it's no secret

 I love you too!