Carrying on with our Pirate theme, I thought it would be fun to explore what it would be like to live on a boat at sea. Pirates would spend many months at sea sometimes with calm, still waters without wind in their sails and therefore travelling very slowly. Whereas sometimes they had to endure strong windy storms causing their ships to rock endlessly from side to side and up and down crashing into huge waves.

So let us pretend for a moment we are on a Pirate ship:

First of all, you could practice your Pirate warm up to get you into the mood! (see previous blog)

Now lets see if you can find something that could be a pretend boat, a cardboard box that could fit you and your grown up in will do or you may even have a small inflatable dingy. You could even use some cushions or a duvet for a more comfortable boat! Oh and don’t forget to take a telescope with you (a kitchen roll tube would work well for this unless you already have some binoculars or a toy telescope)

• Once you have your boat or Pirate Ship ready shout “All aboard!” and sit in your ship with your grown up.
• Now you will need to pretend to row out from shore to the deeper sea. Strongly Push and Pull your oars in a circular movement with your arms pretending that you are rowing against the breaking waves.
• Once you are out into the deeper sea it will be time to “Raise the sails” so that your ship can travel using the power of the wind!
• Now pretend you are at sea and the weather is fine…. You can make gentle rocking movements up and down and from side to side as your ship travels along.
• As the weather picks up and the sea gets rougher your rocking movements get bigger and bigger until sometimes your ship comes crashing down on the huge waves! Don’t forget to tighten your sails too!
• If the storm gets too bad you may need to tuck down as low as you can get in your ship and wait until the storm passes before you immerge again!
• Once the storm has passed look through your telescope for land so that you can take your ship nearer to shore, with land in sight shout “Land Ahoy” Now you will need to lower your sail and row into the shallower waters.
• After being at sea for along time Pirates would get “sea legs” this is when their legs and balance got so used to being on a rocking ship that when they walked again on firm ground it was difficult to balance properly and therefore just walking and standing would make them very wobbly! Pretend you have “sea legs” and try practicing a wobbly walk, where you keep losing your balance!

I have found a couple of clips on youtube related to the sea, you may like to listen to the sounds and the story and even have a go at making a paper boat with your grown up.

I hope you have fun “Me Hearties!”

There is so much fun to be had Treasure hunting and so many ways to do it, but first of all you will need a map and some treasure.

Find or make a box that would be suitable to hide some treasure in. Some ideas for treasure:
• Beaded necklace, rings, bracelets, tiara
• Chocolate coins
• Wrapped snacks like raisins etc
• Finger puppets
• Dress up costume/accessories
• Small toys
• Glow sticks
• Stickers
• Shells
• Precious stones
• Old photograph

If you fancy making a Treasure Chest, then here is a link to help:
http://www.createinthechaos.com/pirate-week-cardboard-treasure-chest-tutorial/
or you may already have a special box in the house that could be used instead!

Now you will need your map: with some help from your grown up, create a map of the area that you will be exploring whether it is around your home, garden or just your bedroom. On your map you will need to pretend you have some:

• Mountains (something you can climb like a settee, bed, chair, climbing frame etc)
• Sinking mud (a fluffy rug, a duvet, sand pit that you can sink into)
• Crocodile infested beach (a space for running and jumping over crocs!)
• A cave (a dark covered area to crawl through, under the dining table, or use a blanket for a den)
• Stepping stones across the river (find some mats or something to create balance pads to cross the river without falling in!)
• Tall reeds or jungle foliage (hang some ribbons or bits of fabric, to duck away from on your pathway)
• A whirl pool (find a hola hoop and spin round and round)

Find somewhere to hide your treasure box and mark an “X” on your map! But before you reach the treasure chest you will have needed to have adventured all around your Island…… and don’t forget you will need to be able to go all the way back again without letting the Crocodiles get you or Sinking too deep into the mud!!!

There are lots of other ways to have fun with Treasure hunting, these are some of my favourites:
• Use pieces of a jigsaw puzzle as clues, once you have all the pieces you can find the treasure!
• Use a piece of string that you must follow all the way to the hidden treasure box!
• Take photographs to show where the next photograph clue is!
• Go outdoors and use chalks or natural markings like twigs or rocks to lead the way!
• Put a message in a bottle and hide it somewhere for someone else to find!

Don’t forget you also have your “Pirate Ship” warm up from last week you can do too….

Have fun Floor Explorers!

Fun activities for Early Years children and their grownups!

Here are some Pirate Ship themed actions that can be added together for a weekly warm up! 

1. “DROP ANCHOR” An anchor is a very heavy and strong piece of iron that Pirates used to use to anchor their ship to one spot and stop their ship from drifting at sea. With strong metal arms can you drop to the floor like a heavy anchor and land in a similar shape to the one in this picture?  Look at the shape of the anchor in this picture, can you land in a similar shape?

2. “WALK THE PLANK” Pirate ships had a plank of wood that used to hang out over the ship sometimes above Crocodile or Shark infested water! Can you walk along the plank without falling into the water? The plank is very narrow, so you need to carefully put one foot in front of the other, so you don’t topple in! 

3. “LAND AHOY” Pretend you are looking for land from your ship with a telescope, holding the telescope in 2 hands, sway from left to right with your feet still, reaching around as far as you can each side searching for land… 

4. “RAISE THE SAILS” Using one arm reach up and pull down your pretend rope attached to your heavy ship’s sail, then using the other arm as well alternatively reach and pull your pretend rope until you’ve raised your ship’s sail! 

5. “SCRUB THE DECK” Pretend your Captain of the ship has ordered you to scrub the ship floor! On your knees pretend you are holding a scrubbing brush and push and pull it in front of you and to both sides.

So here is a warmup you can practice with your grown up at home and I will be adding more Piratey ideas next week for you! 

This is a link to some typical Piratey music you could use for your warmup too: 

And here are some Pirate sayings you could use to get into the mood! 

If you fancy having a go at making a Pirate ship at home, here is a link on how to make a simple Pirate ship that you could decorate and add some netting and sails to too. Please post some pictures to our Pirate Facebook post if you do, I’d love to see them! 

So, Me Hearty’s have fun and tune in again next week for more! 

Sometimes I stop and think about all the little movements that our bodies are doing without us even realising, the rest of the time I am just taking my movements for granted. But if you actually stop and think about it, it’s incredible how our movements coordinate, how our muscles switch on, how our nerves transmit messages and most of the time we aren’t even aware of it. This led me to thinking how it would be if certain activities felt uncomfortable, hard work, or required concentration to action or if movements made you feel unsteady, nauseas, or wobbly. We all have different experiences of this as we all have unique bodies. This got me thinking of how beneficial vestibular activities are for all young children, so today I have a link for you that explains their benefits and how you can action them at home.

Click on this link to The Inspired Treehouse site for more information and lots of activities for The Vestibular System from their website. There are a few quick ideas below.

Most activities require some equipment, but most things can be found or substituted from household items.

Have Fun Floor Explorers!