No Toddler School Unit would be complete without some pure superfluous fun! Throughout my lessons and Mess Mat Activities that teach letters and colors and manners and yaddah yaddah…. sometimes you just need to PLAY. Unstructured, unguided, pure independent discovery and self expression cannot be emphasized enough for the development of child’s mind. {In my personal opinion, though there is some research to back that up too} When I “shop” for my fun, play things for a unit I usually restrict myself to the DollarTree. You can get a LOT of awesome things for less than $10 for the whole month! Here is what we picked up for some Pirate themed adventure:

Treasure Bead Necklaces: Put in the Discovery Box for dress up

Jake the Pirate Puzzle: Picked this up at the DollarTree

Treasure Map Game {Like pin the tail on the donkey}: Picked this up at the DollarTree

Pirate Booty Cheese Puff Snacks: Totally unhealthy and superfluously fun

Jake the Pirate Coloring Book: Picked this up at the DollarTree

Eye Patch: Found this at Goodwill for $0.99 right after I almost bought one in Wal-Mart for $7.99

Movie Menu: For this unit I added Pirates of the Caribbean, Night at the Museum and Neptune’s Ocean into the rotation for movie and cuddle time. Watch your ratings, parent discretion. I use the Baby Einstein Movies A LOT as supplementary guides to the Mess Mat Activities. I let them play in the background and we talk about what we see while he does an activity. 

 

The necklaces were a HUGE hit all month and even Wyatt got in on the action. Every time I would set them out both boys would scurry that way. I even brought out a red bandanna for some extra dress up fun. 

 

Though cheap this $1 birthday party game provided and afternoon of play. Similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey, you had to place the treasure chest on the correct spot {an empty chest outline right in the middle} Cash was way more interested in playing with the masking tape and how things could stick to the wall. That didn’t matter at all to me. He had fun doing it. There wasn’t much educational expectation and he got to do what he wanted. For $1 I’d say we had a win!