It's always fun to do crafts at home, especially for a day like International Talk Like a Pirate Day coming up on September 19.
Last year we did this craft on Good Day Acadiana with Alex Worstell, and if a room full of grown adults talking like a pirate and making crafts can have fun, I promise your kids will love to make this too.
To celebrate International Talk Like Pirate Day, we came up with three fun, easy kid's crafts that require a few everyday household items and a little imagination. Your kids can create a pirate puppet, a parrot puppet, or make their own pirate ship. Children will love coming up with their own version of these pirate puppets and have fun while creatively learning.
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Let the kid's get creative! They will love to put on a a puppet show for the family once they have completed their craft. Craft time will keep them creatively entertained and allow them to come up with their own versions of each using their imagination.
Pirate Puppets
- Toilet paper roll and/or paper towel rolls
- Hot glue
- Paint and paintbrushes
- Packing peanuts, straws, and leftover fabric
- Construction or other decorative paper
- Other decorative items such as pom-poms, beans, noodles, stickers, and glitter
First decide on the size of your puppet. We used empty toilet paper rolls for ours and these may work better for smaller hands. I got the idea from the Attachment Mommy blog and we put our own spin on it.
We started off painting our empty toilet paper rolls the desired color. While they dry, you can decide on the other items you would like to add to your puppet to make it stand out. Here are some options you can do:
- Use leftover beads for earrings
- Use the fuzz from a pom-pom or cut up construction paper for hair
- Cut out a sword for your pirate
- Use a leftover fabric to create a headwrap
- Use construction paper for an eye patch or pirate hat
Now that your puppet is dry, you can begin to add the extra items listed above. Hot glue will work best but you can also use scotch tape or Elmer's glue to let the kid's do this one completely on their own.
 Image by Tracie Ysaguire |
Parrot Pirate
Our second craft involved a little more imagination! We used the following items to make our Parrot Puppet:
- Wine bottle cork
- Crafting feathers
- Googly eyes
- Packing peanuts or a wine bottle cork
- Popsicle sticks
- Construction Paper
Our parrot is small and we decided to make him float on his own boat. For our boat, we glued together five popsicle sticks. Again, you can use hot glue for a faster dry, but Elmer's glue or Mod Podge will work. It will just take a little longer to dry.
Once your popsicle stick boat is dry, you can paint it. After the paint dries, glue a wine cork or packing peanut underneath to help your boat "float". We used two packing peanuts under the boat to hold it up. Next, start painting your wine cork the desired color for your parrot. Once our parrot was dry, we decided to add googly eyes and feathers to make him stand out.
You can also let the kids add a flag or lookout tower to their boat by simply using a straw and a piece from a egg carton. Or, maybe they want to create a pirate flag! It's totally up to them to decide.
 Image by Mia Barletto |
Pirate Boat for Littles
Our final pirate craft is for the littles in your family. This craft will keep younger brothers and sisters entertained and feel like they are part of the puppet show. Here's what you will need for your pirate ship:
- Paper or styrofoam plate
- Poster board or cardstock paper
- Paint, colors, or markers
- Stickers and cotton balls
- Construction paper and straw
We cut up our poster board into a smaller piece for the show, but you can also let the kids use an entire piece of poster board. They can draw or paint a background of a pirate ship, an ocean, or mountains. Let your poster board dry and begin to paint half of your paper plate. Once that dries, cut your plate in half. Next glue your plate on the poster board.
You can let the kids decide who gets to ride on their boat. We used printables from Bip Bap Bop and just cut them out and glued them on our boat. The kids can also use cotton balls for clouds, make a flag with construction paper and a straw, or even create a plank on their pirate ship using a popsicle stick.
Once all your crafts are done, don't forget to name your pirates.. and find out what your pirate name would be! We have a fun quiz on the website that will allow your inner pirate to be free! Check out the free Pirate Name Generator to guide your inner pirate as they sail the seven seas in style!
Looking for more craft inspiration or at-home fun?
Watch our past crafting segments with Alex Worstell on Good Day Acadiana on the News 15 YouTube Channel.
