The children have been inspired by 'Captain Flynn and the Pirate Dinosaurs' by Giles Andreae and in response to this we created a mini-topic on 'Pirates.' Extending on our recent map work, we created our own 'pirate dinosaur' treasure maps; with rips and tea stain for extra effect. These included some great features such as 'skulls and crossbones, cutlasses and treasure chests.' We then used these outside to search for treasure!

We have also been making our own pirate ships, using construction equipment, junk modelling and natural materials. We thought hard about materials appropriate for boat making and how these might effect our boats ability to stay afloat. To help us in this we tested out different objects to see if they were 'floaters' or 'sinkers;' and used this knowledge to inform our boat building. Issac and Talia thought carefully about what they could do to fill the holes in the bottom of their boat containers; using playdoh to stop the holes.