Ahoy there!  Amber Carvan from kids craft weekly (www.kidscraftweekly.com) has given us some fantastic ideas for Pirating. 

Read on...

Our 'pirate' theme is one that lends itself to imaginative and pretend play.

I am a big believer in giving kids as many opportunities as possible to use their imagination. Recently I was thrilled to come across a brilliant idea to encourage pretend play.

It's not a new idea but it was new to me - it's called a 'prop box'.

A prop box is a box that contains small toys, clothing and household items that are used to enrich pretend play. Each box is grouped together by a particular theme and rotated every so often to keep things interesting. Where possible, prop boxes should contain 'real' items (a real phone rather than a toy phone) as kids can always learn more from actual items than they can from replicas.

It's also a good idea to include literacy materials (pencils, paper, books) so that your little one can pretend to read and write and can practice associating literacy/numeracy activities in different scenarios.

I have found prop boxes to be a really effective way to instigate imaginative play and they're quite easy to put together. 

For example, a 'pirate' prop box might  contain:

• bandanas
• belts
• hats
• a vest
• an eye patch
• a pair of gumboots 
• a bag of coins
• a pair of binoculars
• a treasure box
• necklaces
• a toy dog
• a paper scroll and pen

There's a good article about prop boxes at Education World which makes some useful suggestions for those putting one together for the first time. It also has some links to prop box ideas.

Once you get into the swing of preparing prop boxes you'll never again have to rack your brains for pretend play ideas.

MAKE: a pirate hat

Your mums and dads will remember making paper hats as kids. This simple hat is bound to get you in the mood for some pirate fun and games. We decorated our hats with a crossbones stencil and colourful feathers but you could use whatever you have on hand.

You will need

•  sheets of newspaper
•  sticky tape
•  feathers
•  black acrylic paint
•  small paint roller (available from hardware shops or good art supply shops)
•  cardboard (thicker cardboard will make a more reliable stencil)
•  scissors

Note: A full page spread from a broadsheet paper makes a large adult hat. A full page spread from a tabloid paper will make a perfect sized hat for a kid. If you need an in-between size, cut some length from two sides of a broadsheet spread.

1. Turn the folded page horizontally, with the folded edge on the top. Fold the two top corners down so that they meet in the centre forming two triangles.

2. To make the brim, fold the top piece of paper from the bottom edge up halfway to the body. Fold the same edge one more time so that it overlaps the triangles.

3. Turn the hat over, and repeat the two folds on the opposite side. Tuck in the paper at each end and fasten with a little sticky tape to keep it all together.

4. Draw some crossbones on the centre of a piece of cardboard and cut out the shape to form a stencil.

5. Paint over stencil using a tray of black acrylic paint and a small roller. It's a good idea to have a number of things to stencil or paint (in case you have a little brother or sister helping) because trust me, you aren't going to be getting that roller back any time soon!

6. When the paint is dry stick some feathers on for good measure. When it's done, don hat and retire to pirate ship, shouting 'shiver me timbers' at the top of your voice!