Arrg! Ahoy there! On September 19th, Gather yer Mates to Celebrate one O’ the finest days in the land! It be National Talk Like a Pirate day!
The Origin of This Fine Day
Talk Like a Pirate Day has very humble roots. It stems from the idea of two friends who were playing racquetball together. They started bantering back and forth like Pirates. John Baur and Mark Summers thought it would be fun if there was a holiday specifically devoted to talking like pirates. Their main reasoning was that talking like pirates makes everything fun. Try it, I think you will agree!
John Baur and Mark Summers came up with September 19th, 1995 as the official day on which Talk Like A Pirate Day would be celebrated.
They immediately launched their campaign… I mean they just talked like Pirates on that day for a few years with their friends…
Calling in expert help
Finally, in 2002 the two men got serious about National Talk Like A Pirate Day. They emailed Pulitzer Prize* winning newspaper columnist Dave Barry of the Miami Herald and told him all about their holiday. Surprisingly, Mr. Barry emailed back!
*The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, and online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States
The rest as they say is history! With the promotional support of Dave Barry, the holiday began to take off. September 19th, 2002 is the official beginning of Talk like a Pirate Day.
National Talk Like a Pirate day has grown in popularity so much over the years some even refer to it as International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Much of the success of this holiday internationally can be attributed to the fact the holiday is open to creativity
If you would like the official history of Talk like a Pirate Day you can read that HERE
Activities for Talk like a Pirate Day
Studying Pirates offers a rich experience and they have an extensive Vocabulary to boot! Why not take a break from the ordinary and do something Pun. – I mean fun!
This great resource takes learners through how puns are formed then uses Pirate-themed puns to fully illustrate their use. Learners follow along on the companion worksheet noting the key terms and analyzing how the pun is “punny”! The resource comes with Pirate Eye patches because if you are going to Talk Like A Pirate, you have to LOOK like a Pirate!
Another fun thing to do is to use a Pirate Translator like THIS ONE to see what your everyday conversations would sound like if you were a Pirate. Use it to send a text or an email to family and friends.
There are so many great children’s literature books out there about Pirates. Both Fiction and NonFiction. Talk Like a Pirate Day is the perfect opportunity to visit the Library and check out a stack of Pirate Booty in the form of books!
Need a song for the day – this one encourages us to add a little GRR to the things we say!
Easy Crafts for Talk Like A Pirate Day
- Paper Tube Spyglass – We just used craft supplies and crayons on a paper towel tube.
- Plastic Cup Pirate Hooks – We paper-mached black paper over a water bottle, inserted a plastic hanger tip and used it as a handle. There is a good tutorial here: PIRATE HOOKS
- Design Your Own Pirate Flag We painted ours on a canvas banner.
- Dress Like a Pirate – see pictures below.
Back in 2010 when holiday curriculum was our main gig we had a BLAST dressing like pirates. I try to KEEP IT SIMPLE. We use clothes we had on hand. O bought red bandannas from a discount store. The BEST was the funny teeth we got at the Dollar Tree / 99 Cent store type place. I see them there all the time so I know they are still available.
Phrases for Talk Like a Pirate Day
If you just want to do a quick and easy pirate photo shoot I have a simple set of Pirate Photo Props you can use to “dress up” the kids!
Phrases for Talk like a Pirate Day
The whole point of Talk Like a Pirate Day is to um, TALK LIKE A PIRATE. So What kinds of things do you say on Talk Like a Pirate Day? You are going to need Pirate Lingo. When you join the Happy Hive Emil list I will send you 21 different Talk Like A Pirate Day words you can use!
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