Cardboard Pirate Ship

What better way to let your little tyke pretend that he is a pirate than to buy or make him a cardboard pirate ship.  Ahoy, matte!  

It seems like pirate toys have become really popular lately, probably due to the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.  Once a movie is made, even if kids don't see the movie, they see all the marketing products of the movie, like posters, games, and all kinds of pirate themed toys.

But instead of buying some plastic pirate ship toy, why not use good old cardboard and buy or make a pirate ship playhouse?  The benefits of buying a cardboard pirate ship over a plastic one is that the cardboard is made from post consumer waste.  Not only is it easier on the environment, but it's also easier on your wallet.  You can get a free refrigerator box and make your own.  Or you can order a pre-designed cardboard pirate ship online from stores like Amazon.

When buying a cardboard pirate ship, you need to consider how big you want it.  The first one that I have listed is big enough to play inside.  It's basically a playhouse in the shape of a pirate ship.  It comes as plain cardboard so your kids can color and decorate it anyway they choose.  It's easy to assemble and comes with four markers so your kids can start coloring it right away.  It measures 24" x 32" x 46"

If you prefer to shop on eBay, you can find a nice variety of cardboard playhouses on there.  But they don't always have cardboard pirate ships.  But I have seen a lot of cardboard playhouses, cardboard castles, cardboard rocket ships or cosmic cruisers as I've seen them called, cardboard snack shack lemonade stands (how fun for summer), cardboard Dream Machine race car, and even a cardboard ice cream truck!  How fun!

If you don't want to buy a cardboard pirate ship, you can always make one from an old refrigerator box.  If you can't find a large box to use, check with your local large appliance store or a place like Best Buy or Sears.  They probably have a bunch of large boxes they would be happy to give you for free.

Watch the video below to see how one dad and his friend made a pirate ship after his wife and kids were in bed for the night.  They used a refrigerator box and duct tape to make their pirate ship.

Cardboard Indoor Playhouses for Kids
My kids received a Discovery Kids Color Me Cardboard Clubhouse for Christmas. See photos of how easy it was to put together, plus a video of my kids playing in it.

Cardboard Noah's Art Costume
See how I turned a cardboard box into a homemade Noah's Ark Costume for my son to wear.