PIRATE PARTY

Invitations:

Pirate type graphic on front with "Ahoy There Matey". Inside: xxxBEWARExxx Captain "childs name" is having a Pirate Party Come on "date" If ye dare! Pier "address" "time" RSVP, Pirate Garb Optional (leave yer weapons on yer ship)

Decorations:

Balloons and black and gold streamers. Balloons taped to ceiling with ribbon hanging down. Attach handmade paper fish that you and your child(ren) color. (This is the ocean). Find a halloween skeleton to hang on your front door. Make an old looking sign that says "Enter at yer own risk". Find a large cardboard box with flags. Tape flaps down. Cut 4-5" down from top along side, front and other side, leave backside uncut to use as hinge. Open for treasure chest. Decorate with either paper or markers to look like a treasure chest, could write "Keep Yer Hands Off" Captain NAME's.  Use to hold gifts.

Food:

Popcorn, goldfish, swedish fish and gummy worms make good "fish bait." Cake and ice cream. Red punch for "crocodile blood punch."

Cake:

Sheet cake, frost with chocolate frosting. Use frosting tube or other to make a skull and cross bones on front. Put a frosting eye patch and bandana on the skull. Edge the cake with a design. Use fish on sides. Colorful small candies as jewels around. Could also find rectangular snack cakes, cut tops to hinge like a chest and fill with candies. Set these at corners of cake.

        Readers Cake Idea:  rectangular cake decorated with

wavy blue buttercream.  Make an island out of an upside down muffin cake, decorate green to make an island.  Decorate with Playmobil pirate toys.
Another idea:  Make a pirate ship cake.  Bake a cake mix in two round pans.  Cut each in half.  Use icing to stick the four layers together.  Cut a small bit off the rounded end and stand the cake up to look like the hull of a boat.  Ice it with chocolate icing then stick broken pieces of Flake chocolate bars (about five) to the sides to make the hull look wooden.  Place a bamboo skewer into the top for a mast to fly the Jolly Roger (make out of construction paper).  Place a few toy pirate figures on top of the cake.  When serving, place crumpled blue cellophane around the base of the cake for an ocean.  A toy shark or dolphin in the "ocean" makes a nice finishing touch.

 

Goodie Bags:

These will look like mini treasure chests. Need one paper lunch sack per child. Cut off top 2 inches. Use black marker to give bag a wood design. Outline edges of bag. Make one line 2 inches from top (side to side) and key hole. Fill with goodies and fold and tape.

Another idea:  Use recycled diaper wipes boxes.  Rough up the sides with sandpaper and spray paint gold.  Let the kids decorate them with stick on "jewels" (use stick on earrings).  Fill with plastic gold coins and mardi gras jewelry.  These can be used for the buried treasure game.

 

Spray paint paper bags gold.  Have the kids decorate them with markers, sequins and stickers.

Dress-up items:
Vest:  Need-bolt of black felt, pinking shears, Wonder Under or other iron web, white cotton fabric remnant, white fabric paint.
Make a simple pattern so all you need to do is sew to side seams.  Cut out with the pinking shears.  Draw a skull and crossbones on the white fabric to make a patch with the Wonder Under on the vest.  Outline with the fabric paint to make it more secure.
Telescopes:  Need-paper towel tubes.  Spraypaint black, cover one end with plastic wrap and tape on with wide, colored masking tape (hardware store). 
Pirate Hats: Need-slick, vinyl like fabric.  Again a two piece design, sewn together on the sides.  Use the iron patch again.

 

GAMES

Pin the X on the treasure:  Make a large map with an outline of an "X". Give each child a crayon and blindfold them. Have them make one x on the map.
OR
Pin the Eye Patch on the Pirate (suggested by reader)

Musical Islands:  Like musical chairs, only use a piece of paper in place of the chairs.

Treasure Hunt:  This one takes work. You will need a hiding place for each goodie bag. Several clues for each child. At starting point each child gets a handwriten clue. This will take them to their next clue. Do this as many times as you wish with the final clue leading them to their treasure bag. Readers idea:  Use empty diaper wipe containers, decorated to look like treasure chests.

Scavenger Hunt:  Make a list and give to each team leader. Kids try to find the items listed around the neighborhood.

Other game ideas, shared by a readers:

Pass the Pirate Hat:  Played like hot potato.   Whenever someone is eliminated, they have to "walk the plank." 

 
Fishing:  Use cardboard fish with paper clips, stick poles with string and magnet.

Canonball Pop:  Use black balloon with prize slips inside a few of them.

Peg Leg Race:  Three legged races.

Buried Treasure:  Make a treasure chest by recycling a diaper wipes box.  (see above)

Gold Nugget Treasure Hunt:  Spray paint small rocks to make the gold.  Hide.  Give each child a handmade 'nugget' bag made from black cloth.

Sunken Treasure:  Cleaned out all your child's old "McDonald" toys from the past year or so, and added some gold coins, etc -- anything that fit the theme.  Fill a small pool with water and put the "treasure" in the bottom. The children can use shovels and kitchen utensils (can't use their hands, except the littles who were under 3) to "dig" for sunken treasure.

Panning for gold:  spray paint some rocks (more of that trusty gold spray paint) gold. Fill a small wading pool with water and added a 25 lb bag of sand (about $3) and the "gold nuggets". Give the children metal pie plates and show them how to "pan" for gold.

Marooned:   A game of tag were the person chasing everyone is "Shark" and the marooned sailors can go to the "Island" (home free - a towel on the floor) one at a time.  When the shark catches a sailor he becomes a shark too and tries to catch sailors.  The last remaining sailor wins the game.

 

---

Please e-mail me with additional ideas
boardlr@coupeville.net
Return to my Home Page

---

This page hosted by

---