Special Ways to Enjoy a Simple Pirate Mini-Unit Study

Ahoy! If you want to boost learning at home with educational fun days, a pirate mini-unit study is an excellent theme to include in your plans.

You can learn all about pirates any day of the year but did you know that September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

If you're looking for special ways to celebrate this fun holiday, you'll love this simple pirate mini-unit study.

 

This pirate mini-unit study uses our FREE printable Learning Fun with Pirates pack. (If you're already a subscriber, get your set in our VIP Resource Library using our super-secret password 😉 )

Plan Ahead for Your Pirate Mini-Unit Study

One awesome idea that's sure to be a hit with your kids is to set up your learning fun day as a treasure hunt.

To add this simple yet super fun activity to your pirate mini-unit study, you'll need to make a special treasure map. You can either freehand your map or use this treasure map generator that makes the actual map-making part easy.

You could use each new “clue location” on the map as a location in which you learn each different subject. 

For example, the first clue could be in the living room. This clue would indicate that your kids will do their pirate math at this location. The second clue could be found in a bedroom where they'll do pirate language arts.

Once your kids are done with their pirate challenge for that subject, they “earn” the next clue and continue their hunt.

The big "treasure" at the end of the day, when they finally arrive at “X marks the spot”, could be a range of things from simple chocolate coins to a fun family activity.

Start Out with a Bit of Pirate Fun

Learning a few new pirate phrases is an excellent way to start out your day. Grab our the Learning Fun with Pirates pack for the Talk Like A Pirate Cheat Sheet and encourage your kids to use pirate phrases or words all day long. 

You can also challenge your kids to find other pirate phrases to add to this list.

Oh, and you can take all this fun to the next level by making your own accessory with this pirate hat template!

Pirate Mini-Unit Study Math 

In addition to your math lesson, you can use the color by number sheet from the Learning Fun with Pirates pack to practice recognition of even and odd numbers. Have your child first color all the even numbers and then all the odd numbers. 

Language Arts for Your Pirate Mini-Unit Study

Using the memory cards in the pirate pack, have your kids make up their own pirate story.

Your kids can write a sentence or two under each picture and sequence the pictures to practice story writing and sequencing. 

Another fun idea is to make your own pirate comic strip with this free printable pack for DIY comic strips.

Handwriting Fun with Pirates

Check out the fun handwriting practice worksheets in the pirate pack.

Reading:  Treasure Island

The book Treasure Island is a classic that most kids read in high school.

But, you can introduce the classics to your kids at any age!

**You may want to pass around some junk (beef jerky) Hardtack (crackers) and grog (apple juice) during reading time as a “piratey” snack. 

Here are some age-appropriate versions of Treasure Island:

• Preschool-1st Grade:  Treasure Island (from Igloo Books)
• Grades 1-4:  Treasure Island (A Stepping Stone Book)
• Grades 5-8:  Treasure Island (Signet Classics)
• Highschool:  Treasure Island (Amazon Classics)

Treasure IslandTreasure Island (Little Golden Book)Treasure Island (Great Illustrated Classics)Treasure Island (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))Treasure Island (Signet Classics)Treasure Island (AmazonClassics Edition)

History for Your Pirate Mini-Unit Study

Learning facts about pirates and where they came from is a good history lesson. Here is a short video for children:

Once you’ve watched the video together. You can have your child color on a map of Europe each country mentioned in the video: Greece (where piracy started), Wales, Ireland, England, and Scotland.

This article about pirates from Kids Britannica may also be useful.

My boys and I love the book, Pirateology. (We check out a copy from our local library. You can buy this fantastic book HERE.)

Science:  Learning about a Healthy Diet

Even though pirates were tough and dangerous, they spent long months, even years, on the sea without fresh fruit and vegetables. A common problem among pirates was scurvy (a disease you can get when you don’t get enough vitamin C).

Learning about healthy eating, which vitamins come from which foods, and why they are important to our bodies would be a good science lesson to go along with this mini-unit study. 

Here is a video to watch which teaches how vitamins work and protect our bodies: 

Music Appreciation:  The Pirates of Penzance

A fun “Piratey” finish to your day could be watching the movie “The Pirates of Penzance” for music appreciation. The music by Gilbert and Sullivan is wonderful.

If you have a child that plays an instrument, they may want to learn to play the song: “The Very Model of a Modern Major- General”. Here is a link to some sheet music for this piece.

Here is a link to a Synthesia tutorial on YouTube for that song:

At the end of the day, your kids have learned so much about pirates that they may want to become honorary pirates. Print out this certificate to celebrate all of their learning fun!

If you have any questions about this simple pirate mini-unit study,
please contact Amy at rockyourhomeschool@gmail.com.
And please use #rockyourhomeschool to share your learning fun experiences with this mini-unit study!

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