Opportunity 1: Pirates crafts
Time: 40 mins

• Start by first asking your child what s/he knows about pirates.
• Create a web and write down any information that your child knows about the topic.  (Refer to picture 1).  You might also ask some questions like:
• How do pirates look?
• How do they dress up?
• What does the cross-bone flag mean?
• What do pirates do?
• What do they have on their eye?
• What do they use to sail across the seas?
• Have you ever seen a pirate?

• Play the rhyme

If you have a book about pirates you can read it instead of playing this song.
• Tell your child that pirates are thieves who sail across the seas and are always on the lookout for treasures. They fly the crossbones flag on their ships to let us know who they are and that they show no mercy.

Representation
Resources:
Paper plate
2 small black circles cut from a piece of paper/cardboard
2 small white circles for the eyes
Paint- peach, black and another colour (optional to paint the hat)
A small paper punching machine
7cm pipe cleaner
Cork
Empty cups or containers ( for the paint)
Apron
Paintbrush
Wool
Glue
Black marker
Crayons
Hat template (picture 3)

• Show your child picture no 2 and talk about it.  Let your child use his/her imagination to create the pirate’s face. The craft does not need to be perfect and might differ from the one in the picture.
• When this craft is ready, ask again your child how the pirate looks and how pirates can be recognised .

Opportunity 2: The letter ‘p’ of ‘pirata’ and ‘pappagall’
Time: 35 mins

Throughout this activity your child will learn the letter ‘p’. The letter ‘p’ was chosen because the child can easily link the letter to the topic and think of words which start with ‘p’- like ‘pirata’, ‘pappagall’. At this stage letters are all taught in Maltese.

• While your child is not looking, put the letter ‘p’ in a box and ask him/her to shake the box and guess what is inside.
• Ask your child to open the box and say the letter.
• Play the video: l-ittra ‘p’ kantata

• Tell him/her to think of words which start with ‘p’ and show the following video:

• After this introduction write 4 letters and the letter ‘p’ repeated four times on pieces of paper or cardboard and put them in an opaque bag. Your child has to put his/her hand in the bag and each time pick a letter. In this opportunity your child has to distinguish the letter ‘p’.
• Each time the child finds the right letter ‘p’, encourage him/her to link the letter to words which s/he can remember.
• You can also present a set of toys for instance: a doll (pupa), a spade (pala), a parrot (pappagall), a ruler (riga) and other objects and your child has to pick up the toys which begin with ‘p’.
• Finally show your child how to write the letter ‘p’. You can use the letter ‘p’ template (picture 4) and encourage your child to fill it with green split peas.
• Afterwards give him/her a paintbrush and some water in a container and encourage him/her to write the letter on a wall in the yard or garden or on the bathroom tiles. Tell your child that ‘pinzell’ also starts with the letter ‘p’.
• Each time the letter is written down, tell him/her to say words which start with ‘p’ and remind your child of words that might be forgotten.

Resources:
Laptop
Paintbrush
1 cup filled with water
An opaque bag to put the letters in (if an opaque bag is not available, simply turn the letter cards facing down).
Letters written on small pieces of paper/cardboard
A large letter ‘p’ to put inside the box
Toys or objects which start with ‘p’ and other two different letters ( to make the game more challenging).

Opportunity 3: Facts about pirates/making their own orange juice
Time: 50 mins

• Start this activity by playing the video:

You can play this video more than once if your child enjoys it. Pick up some pirates’ vocabulary which is easy to remember and ask your child to guess the meaning.
• Bring out points and interesting facts about pirates for instance:
– Pirates wear earrings, an eye patch, have beard, wear hats, their favourite pet is the parrot etc…

Representation – A healthy drink
Resources:
Chopping board
A round knife
2/3 oranges
Orange squeezer
A plastic cup

• Prepare all the resources and observe the child while s/he uses the knife, but try to let your child cut the oranges on his/her own.
• Let your child describe the oranges’ shape, colour, texture etc.
• Ask your child what will happen if the oranges are cut in half? (‘’We’ll have 2 halves’ and the inside of the orange feels wet.’’)
• Tell your child that oranges improve eyesight and orange juice is a healthy drink full of Vitamin C.
• Show the child how s/he should squeeze the oranges and let him/ her do it on his/her own.
• While drinking the orange juice remind your child how the juice turned from solid to liquid.

Opportunity 4: Treasure chest number play
Time: 40 mins

During this activity, your child is going to enhance his creative and fine motor skills whilst painting and revising numbers through play.

Resources:
Pebbles
Spray or paint
Confetti/diamonds/buttons/glitters to decorate the treasure chest
Paint brush
Marker
Shoe box
Small toys

• Pirates are thieves and are always on the lookout for treasures, so this time your child is going to create his own treasure chest!
• Pirates use maps to guide them to find the treasure and when they get near the treasure or they spot it on the map they say the pirate’ phrase: ‘X marks the spot!!’ (picture 5) as a sign that they have found or know where the treasure is.
• Optional: Find some time to take your child to the beach to play with pebbles. You can also provide a set of binoculars for the child to use and to tell you what s/he can spot!
• Let the child explore, touch, and smell the pebbles and ask him/her what smell they have and what they remind them of. Once you arrive back home use bottle caps instead and tell your child to imagine they are pebbles.
• Let your child choose whether s/he would like to paint/spray the bottle caps.
• When the bottle caps are dry write numbers from 1-10 on them.
• In the meantime, give the child a shoe box and let him/her paint it and decorate it to make it look like a treasure chest.
• Finally, the child can dress up like a pirate to make the game more exciting.
• Put the ‘pebbles’ in the treasure chest.
• Cover your child’s eyes or tell your child to close his/her eyes and to pick up a ‘pebble’.
• Your child can open his/her eyes, say the number and pick the same amount of small world toys.
• Repeat for each number.

Opportunity 5: Parrot crafts
Time: 45 mins

• Start the activity by asking your child to guess what the favourite pet of the pirates is.
• Tell your child that pirates love parrots, but since this animal is very expensive to buy, they rob and take the parrot of other people.
• Parrots keep pirates entertained during long voyages, they sing, repeat words, they have colourful feathers and brighten up the pirates’ days.
• Play the story about pirates

• After playing this story present the resources for the craft. Cut 1 paper plate in half.
• The 1st half is going to be used for the parrot’s head. Let the child paint it however s/he likes or similar to picture 5.
• The 2nd half of the paper plate is going to be used for the parrot’s body. Give your child some glue and colourful kite paper to cover the parrot’s body. Or else s/he can paint it in any colour.
• Finally give your child some feathers/streamers and let him/her create the parrot’s wings and tail.
• Add a googly eye or a white circle (eye) and let the child print his eye colour with paint using a cork or draw a smaller circle with a crayon.
• Put the parrot somewhere reachable where the child can easily see it.
• Give the parrot a name!

Resources:
Paper plate
Glue
Paint
Kite paper (optional)
Feathers
Small circle or googly eye
Cork (optional to print the eye colour)
Streamers (used to decorate the classroom during Christmas)
Stapler

Opportunity 6: Sand box treasure hunt
Time: 20 mins

This activity might be a bit messy, but it is an amazing learning invitation for kids as they can participate by exploring a treasure chest and understanding better what it is and what it contains.

• Play the rhyme about pirates:

• This activity can be done either by the beach or at home.
• If you’re going to do it at home, present a large container or use the treasure chest crafts which your child did in opportunity 4.
• The child will need an empty bucket and a spade to dig into the rice.
• When the child is not nearby, hide things like a necklace, coins, bracelet, earrings and other shiny things in the rice.
• Let the child dig and find things which pirates are most likely to rob!
• Finally, when your child finds all the treasures, ask him/her to talk about the things s/he found, why h/she likes them and why pirates are interested in such things.

Resources
Bucket/ Treasure chest (done for opportunity 4)
Rice/Kinetic sand
Empty bucket
Spade
Shiny and attractive toys like – coins, bracelets, necklaces etc

Opportunity 7: Floating and sinking (picture 7)
Time: 30 mins

Children love to play with water and during this activity your child will observe which things float and which things sink. During this activity you can ask questions to your child to extend his/her knowledge.
• Start the conversation by telling your child to close his/her eyes and imagine s/he is diving under the sea.
• Provide a set of goggles to make this activity more interesting and ask your child, ‘What can you see at the bottom of the ‘sea’?’ The goggles are going to be used for pretend play only.
• Afterwards play this video about floating and sinking:

• Present a large container or else you can use the bathroom basin/bath for this experiment.
• Give some objects to your child for instance: pebbles, seashells, coins, duck toy, face cloth, fork, a piece of jablo, a bottle tap etc.
• Start by encouraging your child to put light things in the water. Ask him/her why the object is floating.
• Your child can reply for instance: ‘These objects are light or small.’
• Your child can use other toys/objects to check out which objects float, and which ones sink. Let your child experiment on his/her own.
• Objects like cloths, absorb water thus they sink.

Resources
Water
Bath/basin or large container
Objects which sink/float– coins, paper clips, a metal fork, a plastic fork, bracelets, facecloth, sponge, plastic mug, ball, mobile cover, brush, cork etc

Opportunity 8: Walk the plank (picture 8)
Time: 40 mins

This is an exciting activity for your child. It will take some time until s/he understands the concept of the game, but with patience, s/he will understand the game and find it fun to play whilst enhancing number recognition skills.

• Cut a 6x40cm rectangle on a cardboard and divided into 10, like a number line.
• Write a number in each column.
• Give your child a large piece of paper and encourage him/her to paint it or colour it in blue. The blue is going to represent the sea. Your child can then add shark stickers or pictures to make the game more exciting.
• Start by playing the number song:

This will serve your child as a workout too.
• Demonstrate to your child how s/he is going to play this game.
• Roll the dice and then move the pirate (or something else to represent the pirate) along the plank according to the number shown on the dice. Let your child do the same.
• This game is aimed to enhance number recognition and counting.
• The more the pirate moves forward on the plank the riskier it becomes for him to fall into the sea and be eaten by the sharks.

Resources:
Large paper
Blue paint/colour
Shark stickers or shark pictures
Number plank
Small pirate toy/a shell/something to represent a pirate
Dice

Opportunity 9: Literacy
Time: 40 mins

During this activity, your child will revise the letter ‘p’ and other letters, enhance his/her recognition of the letters and have fun playing whilst learning at the same time.
• Start by playing the rhyme:

• Present a feely letter ‘p’ made of sandpaper or corrugated paper and encourage your child to feel it, describe it and say its sound (use picture 4 as template).
• Encourage your child to remember words that begin with ‘p’ like ‘pirata, pinzell, pupa, pappagall’. You can also play this video to help your child remember the words:

• Give your child some playdough and some loose parts like sticks, buttons, pebbles, flowers, beads, seashells etc.
• Let him/her model and pre-write the letter on his/her own. Afterwards, let your child explore and play with the playdough.
• After finishing the first part of the activity take your child next to a reachable window and write down different letters including the letter ‘p’ with a whiteboard marker. The whiteboard marker is very easy to clean.
• Tell your child to erase all the ‘p’ letters and each time s/he erases a letter, ask him/her to link a word to it (refer to picture 9).

Resources
Window
Whiteboard marker
Duster or wet wipe (to erase the letters)
Play dough
Loose parts (like sticks, buttons, pebbles, flowers, beads, seashells etc)