With a house full of boys we are all about the pirates these days! My 3 year old and his little cousin LOVE the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates so we decided to do a pirate training camp. I got a lot of my inspiration directly from the book “How I Became a Pirate”.
We started off by making “sand” castles out of rice krispy treats. I sprayed the table and their hands with non-stick spray, gave them a big glob and let them go to town.

I gave them each an eye patch and a pirate hat to start a treasure hunt. I totally love how they look like Jake (spiky brown hair and a sword) and Cubby (blonde with a map) from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
And what kind of treasure hunt would it be without a map?
I just drew a rough sketch of our backyard on cream colored cardstock, crumpled it up and burned the edges. I tied it closed with some net from a bag of oranges. There is a little path with X’s for different pirate tasks.

-aka- inside out cardboard box taped to a point at one side.
They sailed to their next two tasks: walking the plank and the peg leg race.
Last, they searched for the big red X, strategically placed in a tree, where they found two little treasure chests full of “gold.” Made by covering plastic baby food containers in brown card stock and filling with Reese’s Pieces.

They also each got a gold piece (penny) to add to their treasure chest (tissue box covered in brown cardstock) for each task they completed along the way.


At the end we counted up their gold and they got to trade it for paint stick swords (pictured above) and spy glasses made from yellow and gray card stock.

I’m fairly certain my son thought it was the best day ever as he played with it all day, long after his cousin had to go home.
Purchased:
Reese’s Pieces $1
Rice Krispies and Marshmallows $3
Everything else on hand
Total cost: $4
I am posting the linky party separately this week so the post won’t be miles long, but be sure to link up your $5 or less project!
So cute! Wish I had boy’s to do this with… my 12 year old step daughter I’m sure wouldn’t enjoy it as much!
Adorable!
My son loved that book…great memories!
Ellen at ellenscreativepassage.blogspot.com
How fun! I got this book for my nephew several years ago. I’ll have to show my sister these ideas!
If you want a great pirate book you should try this one http://brandondorman.blogspot.com/2011/04/avast-me-maties-today-be-da-day.html!
this is one of our favorite books!! thanks for the inspiration!
I adore this Michelle! What a lot of fun for your little man and his buddy! 🙂 And cheap too, my kind of fun!
xoxo,
Amy
I love the way you brought the book into their lives in “reality.” Such fun!