Build Your Own Pirate Ship Review

Reviewed by Lisa

Build your own pirate ship is exactly what it says on the tin – or in this case cardboard box! I was interested in this product because it not only looked fun, but because this company is eco-friendly using sustainable cardboard, providing toys that are free from plastic from beginning to end. It arrived promptly in the post and although the box didn’t look anything special in my opinion, it was clear what was inside and packaged well and without wasted space. Inside the box were 10 cardboard sheets with 110 pop out parts to build the ship with, along with some elastic bands and an instruction sheet showing 90 steps for how to create the pirate ship.

The instructions were fairly easy to follow, although we found some pieces were a little fiddly to fit together, so I needed to help quite a bit although that did make it a nice family activity. For those that find it hard to follow written instructions there is also a video link where you can watch how to build it. I loved the fact that this activity used our brains and required some good team work, and also that there was no cutting and glue involved so I didn’t need to put down mats and clean up a lot of mess afterwards like our normal craft sessions! The instructions say that it takes about 60 minutes to build, but it did take us longer than this. We didn’t mind however as it was a lot of fun doing it and there was a great sense of achievement afterwards. Building it was fun, but that’s not where the fun ended!

After you have made the ship, there are many different ways to play with it. There are cannons with balls to fire at the pirate ship with the aid of elastic bands, and you can score points depending on where you hit it. The instructions gives some different ideas of games to play as well. You can get points for which part of the ship you hit, play against a friend to gain the highest score before sinking the ship, try to knock the pirates off, or simply destroy the ship as quickly as possible by knocking down the main sail! There are mechanisms on the ship to allow the different parts to fall over when they are hit, and then they can be reset to play again. It provided hours of fun and laughter destroying it, and myself and my husband got as competitive as our kids! I would say that the recommended of 8+ is a good guide and great for playing with the ship, but if you want the recipient to be able to manage making it on their own then aim for a couple of years older. There are other models you can buy from this company as well, with mini kits such as insects or bigger ones like marble runs or a telescope. I would definitely look to buy more kits in the future as they would make great presents.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £19.99

This product can be purchased from the Build Your Own Kits website here.