Pirate Day

The following is a program I did for a large multi-age group of children. There were about 60 kids ranging in age from first through fifth grade.

Read: Dirty Joe the Pirate: A True Story by Bill Harley, illustrated by Jack E. Davis

Act Out: Three Pirates Gruff (an adaptation of the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff, I actually used a version of this book to help me tell the story as we acted it out)

Craft: Create a pirate treasure map by wrinkling brown paper bag paper and then drawing with colored chalk (supplies needed: brown paper bags, colored chalk, scissors, cleaning wipes, but I wrote it out below for easy use)

The 3 Pirates Gruff
(props needed: large pirate hat, medium pirate hat, small pirate hat, fishing net, shark puppet)

Once upon a time there were three pirates wanting some treasure. One was very small (put on the small hat), one was middle-sized (put on the middle-size hat), and one was very large (put on the large hat). They were all named Gruff, so people simply called them, “The Three Pirates Gruff.”

On a certain morning, the Three Pirates Gruff were on their way to a distant island for some treasure. But to get to the island, they had to row their boats across some deep water. An in that water lived a great, big, ugly shark!

The smallest Pirate Gruff went first. He started to row across the water (sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”). When all of a sudden he heard the shark roar from below, “WHO’S THAT ROWING ACROSS MY WATER?”

“It’s only me, the smallest Pirate Gruff,” the little pirate answered in his tiny voice. “I’m going over to yonder island where I will find treasure.”

“NO, YOU’RE NOT,” roared the shark, “BECAUSE I’M GOING TO EAT YOU UP!”

“Oh, no!” cried the little pirate, “Please don’t eat me up! I’m much too small to make a meal for you. Wait for the second Pirate Gruff, he’s MUCH bigger than I am!”

“Well, maybe you’re right,” growled the shark. “So be off with you!” And the smallest Pirate Gruff finished rowing over to the island.

Then the second Pirate Gruff started rowing across the water (sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”). When all of a sudden he heard the shark roar from below, “WHO’S THAT ROWING ACROSS MY WATER?”

“It’s me, the second Pirate Gruff. But please don’t eat me. Surely I am much too small a snack for you. The biggest Pirate Gruff is right behind me, and he is MUCH bigger!”

“Oh really?” growled the shark, “Get on with you then. I’ll wait right here for the big one.” So the second Pirate Gruff rowed safely across the water to the island.

Then the biggest pirate rowed across the water (sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”). When all of a sudden he heard the shark roar from below, “WHO’S THAT ROWING ACROSS MY WATER?”

“It’s me, the BIGGEST Pirate Gruff!” hollered the pirate in a voice as loud as thunder.

“WHOEVER YOU ARE, I’M GOING TO CHEW, CHEW YOU UP RIGHT NOW!” roared the shark jumping at the boat.

Right then the biggest Pirate Gruff pulled out a humongous fishing net. As the shark leapt through the air, the pirate caught that shark in the net. The shark pulled with all of his strength to get out of the net. The pirate pulled with all of his strength to keep that shark from getting away. The pirate and the shark kept on pulling each other back and forth, this way and that until along about sunset when all of a sudden the shark when flying through the air. The biggest Pirate Gruff pulled so hard that the shark flew over 10 islands and was never seen again.

Now, the biggest Pirate Gruff finished rowing to the island. To this day, that island is the favorite place for the Three Pirates Gruff to look for treasure.