Ahoy, matey! It’s 2021, and classic pirate toys are back in action.
For children fascinated by all things nautical, there’s no better time for indoor pirate adventures!
Hunting for hidden treasure, sailing to far off lands, discovering forgotten islands, and battles with dastardly foes.
Today — lads and lassies — we’ll take a look at wooden pirate play toys for environmentally-conscious families who think plastic toys should walk the plank.
Aye aye, Captain! It’s off to Treasure Island — with the best wooden pirate ship toys for imaginative and creative play!
Affiliate Link Disclosure – If you see a product you like and click through to buy it, I would genuinely appreciate it. I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you. It would mean a lot, thanks!
In a hurry?
Here’s my top 3 picks for the blimey-best wooden pirate ship toys:
- Le Toy Van Little Capt’n Pirate Boat Playset – Best for early-stage toddlers
- Bigjigs Toys Mini Wooden Pirate Playset – Best starter-set for toddlers
- Holly and Fred Custom-Engraved Wooden Pirate Ship – Best personalized gift for kids
Bigjigs Toys Mini Wooden Pirate Playset
Best starter-set for toddlers
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
A perfect pirate-themed wooden playset designed for toddler-sized hands! Yes, it’s small, but it offers a wide range of scurvy details, like an anchor attached to a string with, tiny portholes with a cannon play piece, and a movable steering wheel.
Complete with all sorts of wooden pirate play pieces, your little pirate will be able to imagine a thousand different scurvy adventures. peg doll characters (a captain and two pirates) and a boat-load of other accessories, like a boat, anchor, treasure chest, and even a shark!
It’s easily portable, too! Safely store all the play pieces inside, and carry the set away by a string handle and secure clasp, so you’re always ready for travel!
Holly and Fred Custom-Engraved Wooden Pirate Ship
Best personalized gift
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
My personal favorite of the fleet! With gorgeous red and white striped sails, a full-featured ship deck, and all the add-ons a pirate could dream of, this is the perfect sett for your little seadog to set out in search of treasure!
Even better? It’s personalizable! When you order, just type in your child’s name or a special name for your pirate ship. The folks down at Holly and Fred will custom laser-engrave the body of your ship with the wording of your choice.
Aside from the cloth sails and mini rope ladders (string), the entire ship and all its accessories are 100% handmade with lacquered and natural wood — making this one of the most eco-friendly kids pirate ships out to sea. The toy is hand-painted using child-friendly, CE-tested paint.
Le Toy Van Little Capt’n Pirate Boat Playset
Best for early-stage toddlers
Recommended Age: 18 months and up
Here’s a wooden pirate playset for little ones who crave maritime adventure even before they can walk! Safety tested for children just 18 months old, the ship and all its accessories are chunky-designed — so they’re easy to grasp with tiny hands (and hooks where hands would be).
Painted in bold red with black skull-and-crossbones fabric sail, this is a beautifully decorated play toy — with a movable helm and cannon above deck, and secret storage below in the orlop.
Estia Holzspiel Design Large Wooden Pirate Ship
Best classic style and craftsmanship
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
Known for German craftsmanship with unparalleled attention to detail, for Estia Holzspiel, wooden toymaking is a family tradition. Their slogan says it all: “because childhood is too short for bad toys”.
At a full 36 inches from aft to bow — its hefty size and weight offer a unique play experience for true pirate fanatics and offers plenty of room for the wooden pirate figurines and accessories that come aboard. And remember — in a battle at sea, the larger ship usually wins.
Since it’s shipped directly from the Estia Holzspiel workshop in Germany, allow approximately 14 days shipping time — not bad considering it took a masted ship 2 to 3 months back in the 1700s.
Imagination Generation “Blockbeard’s Balance Boat” Wooden Pirate Ship Building Blocks
Best for open-ended play
Recommended Age: 4 years and up
What would happen if you combined the open-ended play of building blocks with the adventure of a pirate’s tale? The aptly named “Blockbeard” has done exactly that!
It’s a 100% wood pirate stacking game that encourages children to play any way they want. The set includes a wobbly pirate ship base, with 18 pirate-themed block shapes for your child to stack on top. No two pieces are the same.
Perfect for developing kids’ fine motor skills and other problem-solving skills. The more he or she stacks, the more difficult it will become to keep the pieces from toppling over. It’ll present even more of a challenge if you play with an eyepatch! Yarrr!
KidKraft “Adventure Bound” Wooden Pirate Ship
Best for lights and sounds
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
With a cannon that makes sounds, a treasure chest that lights up, and three bendy plastic pirate figures — it’s not 100% made out of wood. Plastic and electronic parts are usually over-the-top features I like to avoid, but with a 4.5 / 5.0 stars rating on Amazon (at the time of writing), something tells me that a lot of kids are loving this toy.
Unlike any other pirate set I’ve seen, the entire ship unhinges so that kids can interact with the inside of the hull with greater ease. Plus, at about two-feet tall, it’s got one of the highest crowsnest available — talk about a bird’s eye view! Released in 2020, this may be the future of children’s pirate toys!?
Other Exciting Pirate Toy Treasures
The true pirate lifestyle starts with a voyage and ends with a whole caboodle of valuable goodies! Take a look at these pirate pretend play accessories to take your pirate pretend play to the next level.
Bigjigs Rail Pirate Train Set
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
After the pirates conquered the ocean, they took to land. This pirate-themed wooden train set comes with 42 play pieces for your child to build his or her own railway straight to the booty.
Pidoko Kids Pirate Theme Wooden Train Set
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
72 pieces, and still less expensive than the Bigjig’s pirate set (at time of writing). The most eye-catching feature is its wooden pirate ship bridge and overpass for the pirate train to run through.
Melissa & Doug Wooden Pirate Chest Pretend Playset
Recommended Age: 6 years and up
Obsessed with treasure hunting, pirates will stop at nothing to salvage the loot. This set includes a hinged wooden toy treasure chest with gold coins, a wearable eyepatch and bandana, and more — everything your little scallywag needs to pirate to the extreme!
Melissa & Doug Kids Pirate Role Play Costume
Recommended Age: 3 years and up
For the swashbuckling little pirate in your life, here’s all the gear they need for unparalleled pirate role-playing. This adventurous outfit includes a pirate hat, a kid-safe soft sword, an eye patch, and more.
Fun Pirate Vocabulary To Get Your Scurvy On
One part of pirate play parents and kids both love is the funny (and punny) pirate vocabulary and phrases that come along with it. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!
Here are two amazing pirate lingo resources that’ll shiver your timbers.
First for the fun stuff, here’s a hilarious and extensive list of pirate terms, phrases, and slang. Just for fun, Matey! You and your kid can learn to speak just like a real pirate, for example:
- “Thar she blows!” – An expression used when a whale is spotted from the ship.
- “Blimey!” – Something said when one is in a state of surprise.
- “Jolly Roger” – The famous pirate flag with a skull and crossbones on it.
Second, for you pirate purists out there, here’s a technical guide about the parts of a pirate ship. After all, understanding the ins and outs of your ship’s construction is a wise choice before weathering the woes of the sea. You’ll have all sorts of “Oh that’s what it’s called!” moments, like:
- “Scuppers” – The openings, spreading along edges of a deck and allow water to drain off into the sea.
- “Bowsprit” – A pole that extends forward from the bow of a ship.
- “Stern” – The aftermost part of a ship. A captain’s office and officers’ quarters.
Over to you!
Batten down the hatches! It’s all hands on deck for the best wooden pirate ship toys this side of the Atlantic.
With the sunset on the horizon in the life of a seaman, I hope you’ve spotted the perfect pirate play toy for your little laddie or lassie. Let us know in the comments below!
