I’m not sure where it comes from but Monkey has a little love of Pirates. It could be from a pirate episode of Postman Pat or that pirate programme on cbeebies Swashbuckle (does that do anyone else’s head in?) or it could just be because he has loved looking through cardboard tubes for a long time. We call them telescopes and his Nanny and Pops say things like “I don’t see no ships” in a piratey voice whenever he has one. Maybe it is a combination of these things but wherever he has got it from Monkey likes all things pirate.
So for a while we have it in mind that we would like to do some pirate themed fun and on one weekend recently we had some spare time and Hubs decided he and Monkey would make a treasure chest and some treasure.
They had great fun painting the chest and making treasure out of tin foil and painting those.
Then another day in the week Monkey and I drew a treasure map. Monkey told me where to put the cross and he drew some ponds… then I had to go get LM and came back to discover there was some lakes added on too and the X is now at the bottom of a lake 😉 whatever you say Monkey! I drew on some trees and then was instructed to draw peppa pig and her house – so that is what the red and pink bits in the top corner are supposed to be lol! Hmm maybe Peppa Pig has something to do with his interest in pirates?
To continue the piratey fun we then made Monkey his own pirate hat.
He loved running around with his hat and telescope, but the treasure map held very little interest for him. The real winner with this activity is the treasure chest and treasure. He absolutely adores his treasure chest and can spend ages in the conservatory (excuse the mess, this is the messy play room/laundry drying area) putting the treasure in and taking it out, posting his treasure through the telescope, and collecting it all in one of his treasure cups.
The hat and telescope often end up in the treasure chest too bless him! It has been great fun doing all of the pirate activities and best of all it is an activity that lasts as he loves playing with his treasure!!
It’s the first time we have really done a themed week of activities, but I think we will again.
what a lovely idea for creative fun!
my monkey adores jack and the never land pirates, Peter Pan etc so this has given me lots of inspiration for playtime! Looks like he had a ball xxx
Oh that looks like so much fun – and doesn’t he just look adorable in his pirate hat!
Sounds so fun, love the idea of doing a theme and having it through all different activities!!!
That looks like such a fun week… my kids would love it thanks to their obsession with Swashbuckle (yup it does my head in too!) x
Looks like great fun! My eldest loves painting but my little boy hates it as he doesn’t like getting his hands dirty! x
How lovely, it’s great to do a theme. I often think of doing something like this but it doesn’t really happen. When finance is extremely tight it’s hard to justify as we have other things we can do. He looks like he’s had an AMAZING time, thank you for documenting it for us too 🙂 inspirational #ordinarymoments
This looks like so much fun
Lizzie Dripping
Oh, it looks like he had so much fun! Boo likes that Swashbuckle, too, though Little Man’s not that interested – it’s not Gigglebiz, after all! x
Ah what a lovely idea and I wish I was more patient to do things like this- a week of themed activities sounds like a great idea. In fact maybe you have inspired me to do it. Mads loves pirates! xx
Your ordinary moments are always so inspiring, you do some great things! I am tots doing a pirate week with the kids this week – they’re both pretty much always playing pirates too, 2 weeks ago they pushed their beds together to make a ship and its been that way ever since! I think a map, telescope and chest is exactly the icing on the cake they need haha
This looks fab, I can’t wait to be able to do more ‘crafty’ things with Archie, he loves Jake & the Neverland Pirates so I bet he’ll love this x #ToddlerApprovedTuesday
I love the treasure chest idea – it would be great for a pirate themed birthday party 🙂
#letkidsbekids
Themed activities are great and pirates create a great theme. Love the hat and telescope. It looks like he’s having a lot of fun with all his activities.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Pirates are fun, although I’m not quite sure how they got such a ‘cuddly’ reputation, but anyway. I love the pirate treasure box. And yes, Swashbuckle does my head in too, fortunately my son doesn’t like it much either 🙂
No I agree Iona, I think the same about cowboys too to be honest – let’s go get some indians, um really? So far Monkey isn’t interested in playing with swords or guns but I guess it may come. One of my fave childhood games was Murder in the Dark, slightly inappropriate though isn’t it? xx
Fran loves Swashbuckle too and likes to dress up like a pirate. We’ve not done any themed activities like this though, you’ve inspired me. The treasure chest is fantastic. x #letkidsbekids
looks so much fun! #Letkidsbekids
These are ace – we had a pirate themed week last year and the kids loved it. They still play with their telescope now! #minicreations
Such a fun activity! I love his hat and telescope. My toddler has developed an interest in pirates too, so we’ll be doing some pirate crafts too. #minicreations
Some great pirate-themed activities and Monkey looks like he is having a wonderful time doing them all. Jessica loves pirates too (mostly due to the pirate show at Legoland which she saw a few times over the summer) and I think we will have to try doing a treasure chest together as she would love this. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Love it!!!!These are all great, I’ve pinned to my Pirate Theme pin board as well as the #ToddlerApprovedTuesday board.
Thanks for linking up,hope to see you next week
Looks like you had lots of fun this week, I love the fact the ‘treasures’ of the hat and telescope go in the chest #letkidsbekids
Ahoy there shipmates! What an awesome thing to do with little ones, an incredible effort!
T adores pirates so we’re playing with treasure and swashbuckling quite a lot at the moment too!
Thanks for linking again #toddlerapprovedtuesday
Lucas says – RRRRRRR me hearties. Monkey – you make an AWESOME pirate. One day we are gonna have to go treasure hunting together. This is MEGA COOL!!
PS We were fans of Tumble Tots too!!
Thanks for linking to #minicreations