This post is sponsored by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft. I was provided a gift card to purchase supplies and for my time. All content expressed herein is originally mine and 100% honest and truthful.
With the long days of summer upon us, I knew I was going to need some activities to keep my boys entertained. We are still enjoying mostly nice weather, but it will soon be too hot to play outside in the afternoons. Curse this desert climate.
When I was contacted and asked if I wanted to participate in Jo-Ann’s new Cape Discovery campaign I knew this would be the answer. Or at least it would help a ton! So, I browsed through the Spring Catalog and had such a hard time choosing what we wanted to do. In fact, it was so hard I chose two projects! They were both super simple and a ton of fun. I’m just going to focus on the treasure map project today though. The faux chalkboard sign tute went up yesterday.
Materials:
– Brown wrapping paper used for packaging and mailing (I got a whole roll at Dollar Tree)
– Markers
Directions:
– Cut off a section of wrapping paper. It doesn’t have to be square, but that’s about the shape I went for. After the fact, I would have cut it down. It was just a little too big for Monkey to hold and handle very easily. But the size was awesome as far as the “surprise factor”. Next Adventure Day we will have more manageable maps though.
– Draw and design you map to your heart’s content. This was my favorite part. There is NO wrong way to do this. Add in whatever landmarks you want, where ever you want them.
– Label your map and add any illustrations you want. Don’t forget the compass rose! This was the hardest part of the whole project. After “deadman”, “isla de muerta” and “treasure island” I ran out of pirate-y things to name all the landmarks. A quick Google search later and I had everything I needed. To help you get started, here’s some ideas:
- Pirate Cove
- Isla de Muerta (Island of the Dead in Spanish)
- Cannon Ball Bay
- Jewel Coast
- Smuggler’s Isle
- Deadman’s Caves
- Shipwreck Sea (although mine says ocean instead of sea)
- Hideaway Hills
- Penny Point
- Treasure Beach
- Emerald Isle
- Cross Bone Straight
- Mermaid Lagoon (thanks, Peter Pan)
- Mermaid Point
- Black Rock Mountain
- Rattlesnake River
I also wanted to make sure we followed a specific route on our Pirate Adventure Day quest, so “shark-infested waters” blocked one way and “sea monsters” blocked the other. There was soo much on this map, we didn’t get to hit all the landmarks, but maybe next time. And it was still way too much fun to draw it all out.
If your kids are a little older, you can hand over the markers and paper and set them to drawing their own map. Expand the playtime! This would be a lot of fun for a birthday party!
Jo-Ann’s version of the treasure map uses a roll of cork board, felt, paper, tacky glue, rhinestones and paint. However, when I went to purchase the cork board roll, they were out of stock in my local Jo-Ann store. So, I got creative and decided on the brown paper instead. Because my kids are still in the “destroy all things” stage, I just drew the map rather than paint and glue it. It was faster and that way, if and when it gets ruined, no big deal. We throw it in the recycle bin and start over. It would be fun to glue and paint and rhinestone the map though.
