Rainy Day Projects

Pirates Arts & Crafts for kids

Paper, glue, paint, and recycled-material projects with a finished thing to keep.

Part of Pirates activities and all arts & crafts.

No-prep ideas for this

Something to say right now while you get the pirates set out — or instead of it. All the quick ideas.

  • What are the ranks on your pirate ship, and what does each one do?

    Decide on five crew ranks for your pirate ship and what each one does. Give a short speech promoting each crewmember, and then give the adult — the newest sailor — their first orders.

    30 minutes · Ages 5–10 · Adult alongside · No mess · Needs nothing

  • Guide me across this room using only whispers — I close my eyes on your count.

    You are a spy giving directions. I will close my eyes and you guide me across the room using only whispered words — left, three steps, stop, turn. Get me to the target without me bumping into anything.

    30 minutes · Ages 5–10 · Adult alongside · No mess · Needs nothing

  • Say your name backwards, one letter at a time — that's your pirate code name.

    Say your full name backwards, one letter at a time, out loud. That is your pirate code name. Use it for the rest of the afternoon.

    5 minutes · Ages 5–10 · Kids can run it · No mess · Needs nothing

Pirates Arts & Crafts at home

Pirates are an unusually good fit for arts and crafts because almost every classic pirate image — the chest, the map, the ship — is something you can actually build or make. That means children aren't just decorating a generic shape; they're constructing the props of a story they already care about. A treasure chest that holds foil coins gets played with after the glue dries. A map that took half an hour to plan and tear gets rolled up and carried around. A ship that took problem-solving to stand upright earns real pride. These three activities use paper, cardboard, and a few kitchen staples to put a finished, holdable, story-ready object in the child's hands.

What is in this set

The three pirates Arts & Crafts activities here run from 30 to 60 minutes — Crumpled Paper Treasure Chest is the quickest, Cardboard Tube Pirate Ship with Sails the longest. Between them they cover ages 3–5, ages 5–8 and ages 8–10, and each card below says which. Each one wants an adult at least nearby.

Choosing one

Reach for the Crumpled Paper Treasure Chest when you have a 3–5 year old who needs something hands-on and forgiving — painting and scrunching foil are both satisfying whatever the result looks like. The Torn-Paper Treasure Map suits ages 5–8 and works best when you have 45 minutes and a child who likes arranging things before committing — it's the lowest-mess of the three. Save the Cardboard Tube Pirate Ship for an 8–10 year old with an hour to spend; it involves real structural decisions and rewards patience.

Before you start

For all three, cover the work surface before calling the child over — newspaper or a trash bag saves cleanup time and signals that something real is about to happen. For the Treasure Chest, pre-stain or wipe the box. For the Treasure Map, steep and cool the tea in advance; never hand a child a bowl of hot liquid. For the Ship, collect the cardboard tubes the day before. The one thing that stalls all three activities is wet glue with nothing to do while it dries — have a small side task ready, like tearing extra paper or planning what goes on next.

More pirates activities

The other formats available for this theme.

This site uses Google Analytics. See our Privacy Policy. The picker and your list keep saved items in this browser’s local storage — not a cookie, and nothing is sent anywhere.