Shiver me timbers! What do you see when you imagine a pirate? Perhaps they have a wooden leg, or a parrot on their shoulder. Are they carrying a sword, or wearing an eye patch?
These are the images of pirates we see in books and films, but what were pirates really like?
Teach your children about pirates using our handy topic guide!
Teaching Ideas
- This fun idea for building a poem about pirates will get children thinking about alliteration.
- Our acrostic template is perfect for poetry writing.
- Ask your children to design their own treasure map. Older children can use this coordinates sheet too!
- Create a wanted poster for a pirate, or write a character profile.
- This treasure chest activity is great for vocabulary building.
- Take your children on a treasure hunt and revise their maths knowledge at the same time with this PowerPoint.
- Continue this adventure story about Pirates.
- Use the teaching ideas about one of these great Pirate books; The Pirates Next Door, The Night Pirates, Pirates Love Underpants, The Pirate Cruncher, Class Three All At Sea or Captain Pugwash.
- Write a message to go in a bottle.
Resources
- Our Pirates Pack is bursting with facts and resources for your topic.
- Print off our free banner for your Pirates display. You could add our Pirate and Pirate Ship posters too!
- Download these illustrated Pirates Vocabulary cards for your classroom.
- Younger children will enjoy our free Pirates colouring pages.
Pirates Facts
- A pirate is someone who robs ships.
- The period known as the “Golden Age of Piracy” occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Mary Read was a female pirate in the early 18th century. She dressed as a man and was a fierce fighter.
- The pirate flag that shows a skull and crossbones is called a “Jolly Roger”. It was flown to warn ships that they were about to be attacked, and frighten the crew.
- Welshman Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart) is widely thought to be the most successful pirate ever; he plundered (stole from ) hundreds of ships!
Videos
The Pirates Next Door
A lively reading of the book by its author, Johnny Duddle.
Running time: 8:23
We are the Pirates
A catchy song that children will enjoy singing along to.
Running time: 3:01
The Definitive History of Pirates
A brief animation that gives a good overview of pirates in the Golden Age for older children.
Running time: 4:05
Putrid Pirates
A collection of Horrible Histories sketches and songs all about pirates.
Running time: 15:44
Books
Pirates Don’t Go to School
Jake’s family are horrified when he wants to go to school. Pirates just don’t go to school! Or do they?
Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs
Flinn stumbles across a pirate in the art cupboard, and they set sail to rescue his ship!
Captain Jack and the Pirates
A family day out turns into a piratical adventure.
Pirate Stew
What happens when your babysitter turns out to be a pirate?
Voyage to Magical North
A magical story with a pirate adventure for older children.
The Night Pirates
When Tom is woken up by noises, he finds out that pirates are stealing the front of his house…
Meet the Pirates
This appealing and funny book is packed full of facts about pirates.
Pirates (Horrible Histories)
All the foul facts about pirates!
Pirates Magnified
Use the magnifying glass to search out facts about 10 real-life pirates.
Links
- Set Sail with Pirate Bunny and discover the world’s oceans in this fun game.
- Use your phonic knowledge to decide if the words written on the coins are real or not in this game.
- Find out why historians think pirates wore eye patches at the Children’s Museum site.
- Explore the Pirate Section of the British Council site for games, resources and songs.
- Play pirate-themed games on this site.
- This page from Royal Museum’s Greenwich is great for independent research or as a reading activity.
Are you teaching your children about other topics? Explore our full collection of guides!
