These Ideas Have Been Gathered from Various Sources from the Internet and Should Give

These ideas have been gathered from various sources from the internet and should give you some ideas for pirate activities that your Mob can run at a normal meeting night, an Adventure Challenge program, or a Sleepover/Mob Holiday.

Craft

Costumes

Costumes are easy to make (real-life pirates weren’t too fashion conscious). Tie a bright scarf over the top of your head and fasten at the back. Use face paint to make cutlass scar marks and tattoos on cheeks and arms. Each pirate can make a patch for their eye with a piece of black cloth (or construction paper) and string. Make a spy glasses with paper towel rolls. Punch holes in the end of each telescope and thread a piece of yarn through so the telescopes can hang easily from Joey necks. Using a sheet of clear newsprint, make pirate hats by folding the paper. Decorate with skulls and crossbones.

Eye Patches

The Joeys cut out circles of black paper – punch a hole and attach a piece of hat elastic for an eye patch.

Pirate Flags

Start by breaking your group up into roving pirate bands. Then make individual skull and cross bone (Jolly Roger) flags. Set the atmosphere by sprinkling your conversation with pirate expressions like Shiver me timbers! Ship ahoy! Keep your eyes peeled laddies! and Yo-ho-ho! Leaders could name themselves Black Beard, Long John Silver, Captain Kidd and Captain Hook.

Hats

Pirate Hat - fold a sheet of newspaper in half along the middle fold. Place it with the long open side toward you. Fold down the upper corners to meet in the middle and crease the folds well. Now you have a triangle with an extra strip at the bottom. Fold up the front strip to the front and the back strip to the back. Open up the hat and fit it on the head.

Pirate Head Gear

These were pieces of material approximately 1.5 meters long by about 15 cm wide. At the end the material was cut into strips of approximately 1.5 cm thick. Onto these strips, gold painted pasta was threaded and finished off with a big brown bead. This was very striking.

Captain Hooks Arm

Give each child a cardboard tube 40 cm long (wide enough to slide an arm down), a pre-cut Styrofoam block large enough to fit into the end of the tube, and a 20 cm piece of coat hanger wire. Crew members should paint their tube black with gaudy colours. Form a circular hook shape in the coat hanger and push one end into the foam block taking care not to force it through to the other end. Now slide the block into the end of the tube.

Hooks

Hooks - Draw a hook on cardboard, cut it out and insert it in the bottom of a Styrofoam cup. The kids then insert there hand and it looks like a Pirate's Hook Hand.

Pirate Jewels

String beads on elastic to make pirate jewels.

Pirate Ships

Obtain some very large cardboard boxes from local electrical store and make/decorate pirate ships – one for each crew. After making the ships you can play some pirate games. Race your pirate ships through a course. Throw cannonballs – beanbags at each ship – or on a hot day could throw wet sponges at the ships.

Variation - Get a refrigerator box and cut in half. Divide children and put each team in their box. Give team one, 2 dozen ping-pong balls and see how many "cannon balls" they can toss into the other teams "ship" to try and sink it. Team two can catch the "bombs" and toss back into team ones ship, but they cannot pick "bombs" up off of the floor. After team one has used their 2 dozen balls, give team two a try, then count the bombs to see who sunk who's ship.

Swashbuckling
Joeys will want to make their own cutlasses to defend themselves against marauding buccaneers. Make these from 50 cm lengths of foam insulation. Use crumbled foil near one end to act as the sword guard. Leaders could cut out a design for a cutlass from stiff corrugated card-board. Little shipmates will want to decorate and colour them according to their own imagination.

Treasure Chests
Let each child paint a shoe box. In-side they can keep little treasures they find during the weekend or evening. These might include gold-covered chocolate coins, nuggets (pebbles spray painted with gold), a treasure map, pirate puzzle or a pirate flag.

Treasure Maps

You can also do a treasure map on crinkled paper which has been aged by tea (with the edges ripped off to create that parchment effect).

Activities
A yarn about a pirate that lived in the area. With a small bit of a map hidden near where you tell the yarn. We hid bits of the map around the camp place. So kids found them when they least expected it. Once all the pieces were found they got dug up the treasure which was chocolate money.

Campfire – sing pirate songs and shanties – interspersed with skits.

Obstacle Course

Arrange chairs, tires, boxes and blankets (forming tunnels) around your room or play area. Set up a plank (resting on the floor or raised off the surface) at the end of the obstacle course so all pirates get to walk the plank. Alternatively, set up the obstacle course outside – walk the plank, perhaps a cargo net can be set up – approach friendly Scouts/Venturers to help with this.

A Pirate Story (BSA)

Divide the audience into seven parts and assign words/motions/actions. Practice as you assign the parts. You could have a leader or parent leading each of the parts.

Old Sea Pirate / Ho! Ho! Ho! and a bottle of Rum
Long John Silver / Ahaarrrr me maties
Bosun / snore, snore
Polly Parrot / Polly wants a cracker
Black Cloud / Blow wind Blow
Croaky Crocodile / Tic Toc, Tic Toc (shake head)
Sea Gulls / caw, caw (flapping arms)

Once upon a time there was aPirate and his Bosun who sailed out on the ocean blue in their sturdy ship the Black Cloud.Far off in the distance he could hear the Sea Gulls cry.

The Old Sea Pirate and his Bosun dropped anchor and went fast asleep first making sure all the hatches were secured on the Black Cloud. Now creeping up the side of the ship came Long John

Silver and his parrot Polly looking for the treasure of theOld Sea Pirate and his Bosun.

Looking for Long John Silver was Croaky Crocodile who had swallowed a clock.

Just as Long John Silver and Polly the Parrot discovered the treasure chest, Croaky Crocodile's clock woke up the Old Sea Pirate and his Bosun who thought it was the SeaGulls landing on the deck of the BLACK CLOUD.

Well Long John Silver grabbed hold of Polly Parrot and turned to run, only in his haste tripped overboard much to the glee of Croaky Crocodile. The Old Sea Pirate and his Bosun chased after them, but the Black Cloud rolled in the waves, clearing the deck of Sea Gulls, the Old Sea Pirate and his Bosun.

Now from a very good source I am told that the last anyone heard of all these characters was strange sounds inthe night as the Sea Gulls flew overhead followed by Long John Silver and Polly Parrot, chased by the Old Sea Pirate and his Bosun. All frantically swimming away from Croaky Crocodile with his ticking clock while to this day, the Black Cloud is anchored far out at sea withits treasure chest still aboard.

Talk Like a Pirate

Learnhow to talk like pirates

Any pirate worth his salt needs to be able to talk the talk; To instantly become "pirate-like," just add "arrr!" at the end of your sentence--it's the one thing EVERY pirate says. Here are some more piraty words that any scoundrel-in-training must master:

WORTH HIS SALT:Salt was a very precious item on board so to be worth your salt meant that you were a valuable member of the crew. Example: “Any pirateworth his salt needs to be able to talk the talk. Arrr”

SCURVY DOG: Not a very nice person, this is a pirate insult. Example: “Red Beard is nothing but a thieving scurvy dog”

SWAB THE DECKS: Scrubbing the deck of the ship to keep it clean sometimes used as a punishment for naughty pirates. Example: “I’ll have you swab the decks for a year you scurvy dog! Arrr”

AVAST: A nautical term meaning "What's up?" or "What are you doing?"
Example: "Avast, me matey?"

PIECE OF EIGHT: Spanish silver coin often cut into pieces to make change.
Example: "We be searching the high seas for Long John Silver's lost Pieces of Eight. Arrr"

WALK THE PLANK: A dire punishment in which one must walk off a wooden board on the side of a ship and fall into the ocean.
Example: "The scurvy scoundrel stole me favourite pirate hat; I'll make him walk the plank. Arrr!"

DOUBLOON: A gold coin minted by Spain or Spanish colonies, worth about seven weeks' pay for an average sailor.
Example: "I'll be saving my doubloons to buy me own pirate ship. Arrr!"

LAND HO:This is what a sailor would call out from up in the crows nest to let every one know that land had been sighted. Example: “Land Ho Captain! Arrr”

SHIVER ME TIMBERS!: An expression of surprise or fear.
Example: "Shiver me timbers! I just saw a ghost ship! Arrr"

SEA DOG: An experienced sailor.
Example: "Black beard is one famous sea dog. Arrr"

JOLLY ROGER: The pirate flag with its skull and crossbones.
Example: "Look lively lads! She is flying the Jolly roger there is no doubt she’s a pirate ship.

SCALLYWAG: Bad person.
Example: "Although Sir Francis Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, his fellow pirates thought he was quite a scallywag."

SEA ROVER: Pirate ship.
Example: "Look! On the horizon, there be a dozen sea rovers heading this way!"

ME HEARTY: My friend

Example: "Ahoy, me hearty, will ye be helping me look for buried treasure?"

Treasure Map

Joeys would enjoy searching for a large cardboard map that has been cut into puzzle pieces. After assembling the puzzle and deciphering a cryptic message, Joeys have to use their compass and map-reading skills to pace out distances and locate the treasure (keep it simple).

Treasure Hunt

Poetic Beaver leaders from Digby, NS, thought up this treasure hunt for their ragtag crew. It proved a great success. Their rhymes were written on cardboard. The hunt began with a cryptic message: When you have found Clue #1, you’ll know that your searching has just begun. Soon the children found their first clue a note fastened to the wall. It read: There is a book, the colour is blue, under the book is Clue #2. Again Beavers scattered and soon found a note. Go to Bucky, it said. There you will see, under his tail is Clue #3. With a clamour, everyone ran to our Big Brown Beaver. Under his tail were the words: Go out by the washroom door. There you will find Clue #4. On the washroom door a message read: Out by the door, in which you always arrive, there is a pirate map... Clue #5. Made on a large yellow sheet of paper, with all edges burned to make it look old and mysterious, the map was rolled up and tied with thin rope. Bouncing with excitement, the Beavers eagerly unrolled it. The messages had numbers and illustrations so no one would confuse the directions. 1. Go to the spot marked with an X. 2. Turn to the piano and take five steps. 3. Turn to the right and take four more steps. 4. Enter the closet. Inside the closet Beavers found a treasure chest decorated with silver and gold foil. The chest held gold foil-wrapped chocolate loonies and multi-coloured, foil-wrapped bubble gum. Everyone shared a handful to take home. Marooned on a treasure island. Is there any fate worse?! Heres my new matey.

Walk the Plank

Use a bench as a plank for each Pirate crew. In turn, Joeyswalk the plank as they reach the end; the leader asked them a question about their Joey law, promise, or motto. If they answer correctly, they turn around and walk the plank back to the ship. If not, they have to swim back at the mercy of sharks played by enthusiastic parents/leaders.

Games

Blow the Sails (Sandy Bay Cubs)

In two teams and in relay fashion, each Joey blows the sails across the ocean (a plastic cup with a fairly large hole in the bottom, threaded on a string strung between two chairs).

Bomb the Pirate(Sandy Bay Cubs)

Everyone stands somewhere in the hall with their feet apart and cannot move their feet. Using one or more balls the Joeys try to get the ball between the legs of another Joey who cannot move their legs but can either catch the ball or deflect it with their hands. If the ball goes between their legs they are out.

Cannonball Fight

Pirates used to fire cannonballs from their ship at merchant vessels that refused to stop and be boarded.Organise your own outside battle by marking off the position of two ships. Give each child three water-filled balloons. On “go” each side can fire broadsides at their enemy until the cannonballs are all expended. Thedriest crew firing the last shot wins.

Cannonball Run(Stuart Leacy)

Need 4 large sponge balls and 4 long thick ropes.

The ropes are laid out on the grass to make a clear river shape, and a large sinking sand stretch (A).

The adults stand along the river bank, behind the sand, with the balls. The Joeys (Pirate Courageous) start at one end of the river, and have to make it to the other end without being hit by the ball below the knee. If they are out they can help throw the balls, again from behind the sinking sand. You are allowed quickly on the sinking sand to collect the balls.

Variation – substitute balls for water bombs or sponges in warm weather.

Catch the Pirate (Sandy Bay Cubs)

All line up one behind the other holding onto the waist of the person in front. The first person tries to tag the last person without breaking the chain. When the first person catches the last person they move to the end of the line and so on.

Find a Gold Coin at the Bottom of the Sea (Cassie Rec – 1st North Rocks)

Fill a large container with similar objects – e.g. milk bottle lids, and sea objects, shells etc. While blindfolded Joeys feel for the treasure, gold coin, and can eat it once they find it.

Find a Sea Monster in Jelly (Cassie Rec- 1st North Rocks)

While the Joey’s hands are tied behind their backs, Joeys use their mouth/teeth to pick up a lolly snake from a plate of jelly. They can eat it and the jelly. Very messy! (use runny jelly).

Hit the Deck!

This game will teach nautical names for the sides of a ship.

Label signs starboard (right), port (left), bow (front) and stern (rear) and mount them on your walls. When the captain calls out, All hands to starboard! her pirates must run toward the appropriate wall. When the captain calls, Boom coming over! all pirates must hit the deck (flatten on the floor).

Lighthouse – Shipwreck

Divide into 2 groups – ships and rocks. A Leader is the lighthouse. The lighthouse is at one end of the hall. The lighthouse goes “WOO WOO”. The rocks distribute themselves on the floor around the hall. The rocks go “SWISH SWISH” quietly if a ship is getting near. The ships take it in turns to navigate through the rocks to reach the lighthouse. If a ship touches a rock they are sunk. When all the ships have had a turn – swap over.

Pieces of Eight (BSA)

Need an egg flip and “pieces of eight” – something round that can be flipped over.
Can play as a relay game and each Joey has to flip over one of the pieces of eight. The pieces of eight could be a coloured laminated circle – different colours on each side so that you can easily see when they have been flipped over. Alternatively you could time each Joey Scout and see who can do it the quickest, slowest etc.