Pirates of the Caribbean

We started preparing earlier in the week by ageing paper and drawing treasure maps.

We also made some coconut ice the day before, from this very well aged recipe book!

Then we kick started the day with costumes and face paint, recycling our swords from last weeks ninja theme.

After that we made some treasure by mixing coarse salt, PVA glue and food colouring.

Next we listened to some reggae and made Jamaican Beef Patties using this recipe.

After our tasty lunch we got out our books, drew maps and played some YouTube videos to learn about the history of the Caribbean, and the golden age of piracy. It is all tied up with colonialism, which made for a sobering lesson.

We focused particularly on Jamaica, as that is where the children’s Grandad is from. I love this rhyming book that we got second hand.

Throughout the day we had Caribbean themed snacks and drinks: pirate porridge, apple boats, fruit punch, and chocolate and banana milkshakes.

Just before bath time we made 2 simple boats. One powered by wind, the other with a paddle. We raced them in the bath tub, and of course the girls won!

For our evening meal we had a BBQ of jerk chicken and corn-on-the-cob with rice and peas. We marinated this beauty for nearly 24 hours. (Yes I may have chosen this theme mostly for the food, you can’t beat Caribbean flavours!) I’ve put up our recipe for rice and peas on the recipe page. Have a look by clicking here and scrolling down to R.

We ended the day with a collection of steel (and plastic) drums, and played along to calypso music!