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Create a Fruit Pirate Ship for a Healthy Treat

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Are you looking for a fun family activity or something awesome to make for a birthday party, Talk Like a Pirate Day, or any other fun occasion? My husband, Tom, made this super fun and cool pirate ship, and it’s quite easy to make!

Have fun!

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Avast, ye land lubbers! This pirate ship made entirely of fruit is perfect as a fun and healthy family activity. You can make it as a centerpiece for a kids’ pirate theme party, a family activity for International Talk Like a Pirate Day September 19 or a celebratory treat as part of a pirate unit study. I’m a 29-year-old kid and had so much fun designing and building this pirate ship. Kids of all ages will love creating their own pirate-ship masterpiece.

Create a Fruit Pirate Ship for a Healthy Treat

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.

Here’s how to make it!

You Will Need

  • A large oval-shaped watermelon
  • A large orange
  • 5 white grapes
  • 1 cactus pear (A plum would work also but I suggest you try a cactus pear if you can)
  • 10 red toothpicks
  • 5 blue toothpicks (colors are your choice)
  • 3 12″ bamboo skewers
  • Chopping board
  • 8″ chef’s knife
  • Carving knife (optional)
  • Vegetable knife
  • Melon baller

Carving the Hull

1. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut out a wedge from the front of your watermelon. This will form the ship’s front.
First Cut

2. Slice a large chunk from the top 2/3 of the watermelon to form the main deck. Try to keep both parts intact.

Second Cut

3. Slice a smaller block out of the back of the watermelon to form the captain’s deck

Third Cut

4. You have now formed the hull of your fruit pirate ship!

Finished Hull

Making the Sails

1. Take the large chunk of watermelon you sliced off in part 2 of Carving the Hull. Slice it in half and then carefully slice the skin away from the flesh. You may find this easier with a thinner carving knife. The skin will form your sails, so be careful not to slice through it.

Cutting Sails

2. Trim the edges of your sail so that it is a neat square or rectangle.

Trimming Sails

3. Push one of the 12″ bamboo sticks through both sides of your sail.

Putting Sails on Mast

4.  Insert your mast and sail into the main deck and spike an orange wedge on the top of the mast.

Hull with One Sail

5. Repeat steps 1 – 3 and insert your second mast and sail into the captain’s deck.

Hull with Two Sails

6. Slide some spare chunks of watermelon and orange onto the final 12″ bamboo stick and insert into the bow of your ship to create the figurehead.

Hull with Two Sails and Nose

Constructing Your Pirates

This could be a quick activity if you are short on time and is a perfect way to involve younger children.

1. Make 5 melon balls from some of the spare chunks of watermelon and your melon baller. These will be your pirate heads.

Melon Balling

2. Slice up your cactus pear. First slice it from top to bottom and then across the width to create your pirate hats.

Cutting Cactus Pear

3. If you prepare a Montessori-inspired pirate-making tray, younger children can construct their own pirates. See Living Montessori Now for more information on where this tray came from. Put your toothpicks (blue ones snapped in half), grape bodies, melon ball heads and cactus pear hats into separate containers and place them on a tray.

Fruit Pirate-Making Tray

4. Use a red toothpick to attach the pirate’s hat, head and body together. Then slide another red toothpick straight through the body to make the arms. Use 2 halves of a blue toothpick to make the legs. I made mine with a little peg leg here, arrgghh matey!

Finished Pirate

5. Make four more pirates and add them onto your ship. Don’t forget to make one of them the captain on the captain’s deck! Bring me the horizon, you scurvy dogs!! 

Finished Ship

Finishing Touches

Finished Ship at Sea

Why not make a little display with your fruit pirate ship? I used Safari Ltd Ocean TOOB and Safari Ltd Coral Reef TOOB. You could also use this Safari Ltd Pirate TOOB.

Here’s the melon baller if you don’t have one already.

Create a Fruit Pirate Ship for a Healthy Treat

Photos (except those with a blue background) taken by Deb Chitwood. Montessori-inspired fruit pirate tray designed by Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now.

Linked to Afterschool Express, Thoughtful Spot, Tuesday Tots, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions, Mom’s Library, A Little Bird Told Me Linky Party, The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Homeschool Link-up, Learn & Link, TGIF Linky Party, Ultimate Homeschool Pinterest Party, Sharing Saturday, Share It Saturday, Show-and-Share Saturday,The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, X-Mas Dolly.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. This is so cool. I sure hope you can come over by me and join my recipe linky and share your recipe. I know my readers would flip over this just as much as I did. I have got to do this for my grandson’s birthday… oh my goodness I’ll be NaNee of the year. LOL Thanks

  5. This is so cute and cool all at the same time. It is great for kids and it’s great for big kids too. I am seeing this be a hit at football parties! Stopping in from the link up.

    • Thank you!! It’s perfect for parties as all the fruit in it stay fresh. You could maybe put it in a bowl of ice and it should be good all day for a football party. Go Chargers!

  9. Thank you so much for linking up to The Sunday Showcase last week. I was thrilled to see this post on the link up! It is amazing how many fun elements you have placed on the ship.

  10. Tom, your project is FABULOUS! I’ve had it sitting open on my computer for several days!
    Congrats – you’ve been featured on Inspire Me Monday at Create With Joy!

  12. Frankly I think I have the patience of both of you, but worth a try I really liked the idea of who will even ships are like my children!

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  16. Watermelon ship is tasty and delicious than Blackpearl ship, haha. I will try to make this. Thanks for sharing.

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