Pirate themed science ideas for Early Years

All my children loved preschool and reception when it was pirate themed so I’ve pulled together all my pirate themed science activities and pirate sensory ideas into one place. Most of these were tested with my daughter’s YR class. They loved testing the little bags to see which kept pirate treasure driest and making treasure maps was very popular too. We even ended the term by making a huge cardboard pirate ship outside which we covered with different materials and sprayed with water to see which was the most waterproof.

Pirate themed science activities

Make some old looking paper with tea or coffee and create a pirate treasure map.

coffee and tea stained treasure map

Leave a coded message in a bottle for a friend to find.

code cracking for kids

Clean pirate coins and hide them in a baking soda “rock”. Add a little vinegar to reveal the coins!

fizzy pirate rocks

Build pirate play swords with different materials to discover which is the strongest.

Experiment to find the best material to protect pirate coins from getting wet.

pirate experiment

Show children to how different liquids can be with this fun pirate themed density bottle.

Draw a pirate ship ( or make one from recycled materials ) and cover it with different materials. Spray with water to investigate which are the most waterproof!

Discover how many coins it takes to sink a pirate ship!

foil boat

This pirate sensory tray is very cute and also this sensory tray made with kinetic sand.

Try some pirate sinking and floating. Does pirate treasure sink or float?

pirate sink or float

Learn about push and pull forces with this pirate play dough.

pirate play dough

Introduce the concept of magnetism with these pirate magnet bottles.

Finally, how about making and testing pirate boats?

Can you think of any more activities for us?

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