Ask an adult to hide the pirate treasure in another room â don't peek! Hint: This scavenger hunt works best in a room
Pirate Patch Treasure Hunt
Celebrate “Talk like a Pirate” day and discover if a pirate eye patch can help you see in the dark!
Collect • Black felt or cardstock • A piece of string long enough to fit around your head • Hole punch • Scissors • Eye patch pattern • Pirate treasure (try beads, coins, or old buttons) • Dark room • An adult
Make a patch 1. Print out this sheet and cut out the eye patch pattern. Trace it onto a piece of black felt or cardstock and cut it out. 2. Use a hole punch or scissors to make two holes in the either side of the patch (where the circles are on the pattern.) 3. Tie one end of the string to one hole, and tie the other end to the other hole.
Search for treasure!
1. Ask an adult to hide the pirate treasure in another room – don’t peek! Hint: This scavenger hunt works best in a room that can get very dark, so try to find a place where there is not a lot of light coming in from windows. 2. Put your pirate patch over one eye and wear it for a few minutes in a room with normal light conditions. 3. Go into the room with the treasure. Have your adult turn off the lights and start searching. How much treasure can you collect in two minutes? 4. Turn the lights back on to see how much treasure you were able to find.
Try it again! 8. Have your adult scatter the treasure again. Close both of your eyes, and with both eyes closed, switch the patch over to your other eye. Make sure you don’t open your eyes during this step! 9. Now, have your adult turn off the lights again. Open your eyes and start searching. How much treasure did you collect this time?
How does it work? The retina, a small spot on the back of your eye, contains two different types of light receptors – cones and rods. Cone receptors help you see colors and details in bright light conditions while rod receptors help you see general outlines and movement in very low light conditions. When you enter a dark room, it takes a little while for your eyes to adjust and for the rod receptors to take over so that you can see again. During the treasure hunt, it should have been easier to see where you were going the second time because the eye that was covered by the patch had already adjusted to the dark!
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