This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Welcome to our “Spooktacular Stories Week” – a collection of days filled with relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to the spooky stories! Perfect for Halloween, late night camp fires, or just plain old spooky fun, this week is perfect for keeping little ones entertained and learning while they enjoy some not-too-scary days devoted to some ghost stories!
For our third day, we learned all about the Flying Dutchman, a legendary ghost ship with a crew doomed to sail the seas forever!! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all themed to this ghostly legend!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
There’s nothing quite so spooky as a ghostly pirate ship with a crew doomed to sail forever – that’s exactly what the Legend of Flying Dutchman is all about! And, if it sounds familiar, that’s true – it’s one of the stories that inspired a popular pirate movie franchise!
If they haven’t or aren’t familiar with the story of the Flying Dutchman, these sites are great introductions with interesting facts, images, and related content! They’re perfect for providing a brief intro for your little ones (or to gather up some knowledge as well!)!
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- Flying Dutchman | Myths and Legends | Cartoons For Kids | Fun Facts by Where Kids Hang Out, Create, & Share (2m)
- The Legend of the Flying Dutchman English Story for Kids by Wizard Moral Tales (4m)
- The Flying Dutchman – Dark History Animation by Professor Lucius (4m)
- Pirates of the Caribbean
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
For our snack of the day, we snacked on pirate booty and chocolate gold coins!
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- The Voyage of the Flying Dutchman: A Ghostly Graphic (Ghostly Graphics) by Blake Hoenna
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: GHOST, SPOOKY, STORIES, SHIP, FLYING DUTCHMAN
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- Continue the story of the Flying Dutchman by bringing him into the modern world. Write a short story about their run in with a commercial ship making deliveries today.
- Write a short story about meeting the Flying Dutchman while on vacation. Do you join their crew or try to run away?
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning! Below are some of the crafts we looked at:
- Paint a pirate ship, pirate wheels, or other pirate objects
- Create your very own treasure map or expand on a few pre-made Treasure Maps!
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
- Pirate Ship Build Kits
- Floating Pirate Ship Challenge – Build a mini ship out of items at home (toothpicks, cork, jar tops, etc). What materials work best? What happens when you add a ‘pirate’ onto the boat?
We also had a number of STEM Activities during our Shiver Me Timbers – It’s Pirate Week if you want more ideas!
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for checking out our ghost story week! If you did enjoy this, please let us know below or follow us on Pinterest. Also, If you’re still looking for more Halloween Learning Fun, check out our other days in our Spooktacular Stories Week, Halloween Week, or Halloween Ideas!
Happy Learning & Happy Halloween!
MORE SPOOKTACULAR FUN:
Trick or Treat: It’s Halloween Week!
15+ Family Friendly Halloween Parties!
