Pirate Birthday Party Ideas

I'll help you turn your child's pirate birthday party into an event filled with fun and excitement. Before you sail off to the Treasure Island, take a look at our resource section.

Resources:

Help your guests find their way to the pirate birthday party with Treasure Map pirate party invitations. Draw a simple map of your neighborhood, including the homes of each guest and your own. Mark your home with X.

For fun, put the Treasure Map scrolls inside empty bottles to create an Invitation in a Bottle. Hand-deliver pirate birthday party invitations to guests. Let them figure out how to retrieve the invitations from the bottles! You might want to attach eye patches to the invitations.

Younger children would like the idea of pirate coloring pages from a coloring book. The original black and white picture can be photocopied a number of times and hand-colored by the child. Just write the pirate birthday party details on the back side.

The color scheme for pirate birthday party will be red and black. Use these colors for balloons, streamers, tablecloth, and the other pirate party decorations. Make a poster for the door that says: "Ahoy - Welcome Aboard!"

With a little imagination, you can turn your pirate birthday party area into Pirate's Cove. Get a few large appliance boxes. Line them up to form a foundation of your pirate ship. Open the boxes at the top. Cut openings between connecting boxes to form sections of the ship. Cut out round windows along the sides.

Form a "walk-the-plank" entrance by cutting an opening on one side of the ship and laying the cardboard piece on the floor.

Bend the cardboard boxes into a point at both ends of the ship to form the fore and aft. Paint the whole ship brown. Raise a crow's nest using a hat rack or an old lamp post. Attach a pirate flag.

Wooden pallets (often available for free from timber yards) make great pirate rafts. Add dowel masts to your "raft", a couple of meters of inexpensive striped fabric threaded onto a timber batten for a mainsail, and a few bits of rope or thick cord to serve as rigging.

Coils of rope and a plank, suspended above the ground on a couple of logs or plastic storage cubes, will give an instant pirate party theme atmosphere.

Decorate the entire party area (including the yard and party room) with pirate-related posters. Place skeleton in the yard, and have it pointing towards the party place.

Have a treasure chest in the party room. If you don't have anything resembling a treasure chest, here's how to make one...Paint the wooden box inside and out with gold acrylic paint. Let it dry. Cover the top with a thin layer of crafts glue. Then place beads, shells, a plastic scull, and other decorations on top of the glue. Sprinkle the rest with gold glitter. Cut two pieces of gold braid trim to go around the box lid and bottom. Glue them in place. Add decorative lines on box sides with glitter paint pens. Let the glue and paint dry. Fill the treasure chest with 'gold coins' to look like valuable treasure.

Use a large map or several maps taped together for a tablecloth. Just crinkle and tea-stain the map to make it look old.

Ask your guests to wear something resembling a pirate outfit. Award prizes for the scariest costumes. You child would look awesome in this Captain Jack Sparrow costume.

*Pirate Transformations: As kids arrive, greet them with distributing pirates' gear. Provide them with patches, pirate hats, bandanas, swords, etc. Draw fake moustaches and battle scars on their faces. You might want to provide the kids with pirate themed tattoos as well.

*Treasure Hunt: Before the pirate birthday party, hide the treasure in a good hiding place. Draw a map of the hunting area - your house or yard. Make a photocopy for each guest. On each person's map, trace a route from the starting point to where the treasure is hidden. Mark the treasure with X.

At the party, announce that you've learned that the pirates have buried some treasure at your house and never returned to claim it. Give each child a treasure map.

For large groups, divide the pirate birthday party guests into teams. You can have one map for all the kids to work together.

As a variation you might want to give clues instead of using a map. Have one clue lead to the next, hiding each clue until the final clue leads to the treasure. Here are some examples of rhymes that you can use for clues.

Send the pirates home with these party favors: chocolate gold coins, eye patches, swords, costume parts, flags, fake jewelry, and so on.

This favor pack will ensure that all the boys have their pirate accessories at the party.

*Walk the Plank: Set out an eight-foot length of two-by-four board. Line the kids up at one end. Beginning with easy challenges, have the kids walk straight across the flat part of the board without stepping off into the "sea".

After everyone has completed the first task, increase the difficulty level. Have the kids walk the plank backwards, sideways, hopping, without using their hands for balance, with weights on both arms to obscure balance, passing over the obstacle set in the middle, and - for the ultimate challenge - blindfolded! When a pirate falls into the sea, he or she must drop out of the game. For the younger kids, have plastic crocodiles or sharks "floating" around the plank.

*Buccaneers' Raid: This is a version of the old "Hide and Seek". The group is split into two teams. One team is "Buccaneers" and the other team has 60 seconds to hide. The "Buccaneer" team then heads out to find members of the other team. Once a team member is found, he must be tagged to be captured.

All captured members are placed in an area designated as Jail. Once in Jail, the team member can not leave, unless another member of the hiding team who is still free, runs to the jail area and touches the caught members. The game, or round, ends when the "Buccaneer" team captures everyone on the other team.

*Sleeping Pirate: This is a great pirate party game for a "sharp" group of kids (for mature 6-year-olds and up). One player (Sleeping Pirate) sits on a chair in the middle of the room, with "treasure" in a treasure chest which he is defending, at his feet. Players line up at one end of the room.

On signal "Go", players stalk in attempt to pick up treasure without being caught. Sleeping pirate catches players who have made noise by pointing at them. A player pointed to must retire and start from beginning. Two tries for each player. You can have two pirates seated back to back if the group is large.

*Capture the Pirate Flag: Here is a great pirate birthday party idea for older kids which will keep them involved for some time. You'll need a relatively big open area in the backyard or in the park. Have one or two adult judges to oversee that the game is played fair. Make sure that the pirates have their swords, patches and the rest of pirate gear.

Divide the group into two teams. Each team has its own territory in which its members are free to move as they please, but on which opponents enter at their own risk. The territories are separated by a boundary line. Any pirate crossing this line may be captured by the enemy.

Pirate

The teams assemble close together at a starting point near the center of the line, each team in its own territory. On a signal the teams proceed to set their pirate flags at any point within preset distance (measured in steps) from the starting point. The flags must be visible.

After three minutes another signal is given to start the game. The object now is to enter the enemy's territory, capture the flag, and carry it across the line into home territory without being caught. Pirates may be posted to guard the flag, but not get nearer than 20 feet to it, unless an enemy pirate goes within the 20-foot circle. They may then follow him.

Any pirate found in the enemy's territory may be captured by grasping him (all grasps should be on or below shoulder level) long enough for the captor to say "Caught!" three times. When a pirate is captured he must go with captor to Jail - a special designated area on each team' territory.

A prisoner may be released by a team member touching him, whereupon both return to their own territory. If the rescuer is caught by the guards before he touches the prisoner, he, too, must go to the Jail. A rescuer can rescue only one prisoner at a time.

If the flag is successfully captured, it must be carried across the line into home territory. If the raider is caught before he reaches home, the flag is set up again at the point where it was rescued and the game continues as before. If neither side captures the enemy's flag within time agreed upon (say, 1/2 hour) the game is won by the team with the most prisoners.

Creative Variations for This Game:

*Ocean in a Bottle: Before your pirate birthday party, wash and dry one bottle and cap for each child. Write the guest's name on the cap. If there are labels on the bottles, try to peel as much of them off as you can by soaking bottles in warm water.

Using a funnel, pour six ounces of cooking oil into each child' bottle, followed by six ounces of vinegar. Let the kids observe the fluids interacting - the oil goes to the top and the vinegar to the bottom. Then pour several drops of blue food coloring into the bottles, and again let them watch the changes and separations.

Close the caps tightly and tell the kids to shake their bottles to make "waves". For added fun, give everyone tiny plastic toys to put inside the mixture so they can float in a homemade ocean. Plastic confetti and glitter will add sparkle, too. Once all of the materials are added, seal the caps shut with rubber cement or glue to prevent leakage.

The kids can make a tornado in a bottle instead of waves. Purchase a "Tornado Tube" (under three dollars in most educational supply stores) for each pirate birthday party guest. Then clean out two large clear plastic soda bottles for each child and have the kids fill one of their bottles up with water and a pinch of glitter. Attach the "Tornado Tubes" to the bottles according to the package directions, and tell the kids to swirl the water-filled bottle and watch the tornado appear.

*Pirate Coin Dig: You can fill a sandbox or a wading pool with "pirate" coins. Provide kids with shovels. Get them to find as many coins each as they can in one minute's time.

*The Pirates' Cave: Get refrigerator (or sofa) boxes (you can get them for free from your nearby furniture or appliance store). Create a maze out of them in your backyard or a big room. Duck tape the boxes together for the kids to crawl through. Have artificial spider webs and plastic spiders for a real cave atmosphere.

*Captain Kid Says: Play a pirate version of Simon Says for younger kids. Dress the birthday child in a pirate's hat and clothes to be Captain Kid. When he or she makes a statement "Captain Kid says (put your hands on your head, etc.)", children are to follow the instructions. Any time Captain Kid doesn't start out with "Captain Kid says," all children who follow the instructions are out. Play continues until only one player is left standing. He or she becomes the new Captain Kid.

*Pin the Patch on the Pirate: At pirate birthday party, Pin the Tail on the Donkey becomes Pin the Patch on the Pirate. Before the game, draw a large pirate face on the paper. Hang the drawing at children's eye level. At the party, pass out the eye patches and white chalk. Have each child choose a pirate name and sign an eye patch with it. Stick a piece of double-sided tape to the back of each patch.

Blindfold the birthday child first. Spin him or her around a couple of times, and then point the child toward the drawing of the pirate face. Have the child put the patch on pirate's face where it belongs. Continue until every child has had a turn. The child with the eye patch closest to an eye is the winner.

*Hook the Treasure: Prepare brightly colored plastic drink cups (16oz or large enough to fit a kid's hand into) ahead of time. Cut an X hole in the bottom and push a wrapped candy cane halfway down into it. Now empty a large bag of pretzels into a bowl. See how many pretzels the kids can fish out with their "hooks" in 60 seconds.

*Feed the Alligator: This is a variation of a classic Bean Bag Toss game. Cut out a mouth on a poster of an alligator and get the kids to throw bean bags trying to throw them through an alligator's "mouth".

*Pass the Treasure: You'll need 5 to 10 boxes of various sizes. Before the pirate birthday party, fill the smallest box with candies and prizes. Wrap the box and place in the next largest box. Continue until the boxes are wrapped and placed inside one another.

At the party, invite the children to sit in a circle. Turn on some music and ask the children to pass the treasure. Stop the music from time to time. Whoever is holding the treasure when the music stops gets to open the package. Won't children be surprised to find another wrapped package! Play continues until all the packages are unwrapped. When the treats are discovered, be sure all the pirate birthday party guests get some of the treasure.

*Treasure Chest Cake: Bake a rectangular cake, and then frost it with chocolate frosting. Decorate the cake with colorful sprinkles and chocolate gold coins to make it look like a chest lid. Clean the baking pan, then frost the outside side of the pan. Set the pan at a right angle to the cake to form a treasure chest. Fill the chest with candy jewelry and chocolate gold coins.

*Pirate Cake: You'll need two 8" square (or round) cake pans. Mix, bake, and cool two cakes according to cake mix package directions. Transfer one of the cakes to the serving platter. Carefully scoop out several areas of the cake. Fill the holes of the cake with small chocolate candies. Add blue food coloring to some of prepared vanilla frosting, and ice this layer to look like water.

Cut the second cake in a free-form pattern to resemble an island. Be sure this layer is smaller than the bottom layer but big enough to cover the candy-filled holes. Center the island on top of the holes. Add green food coloring to the remaining vanilla frosting, and ice the island. Add plastic pirates, a treasure chest, chocolate coins, gummy candies, and edible glitter. Add green candles for palm trees and write a birthday message with icing. The pirate cakes will be easier to cut and frost if first placed in the freezer for 20 minutes.

I would also highly recommend this pirate ship cake. It's my favorite!

*Pirate Pinwheels: Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on tortillas. Top with a layer of assorted lunch meat and/or cheese. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into 1" slices before serving. Garnish with "masts" made by gluing paper triangles to toothpicks. You can also add mayo, mustard, or other condiments instead of cream cheese.

*Peanut Butter Planks: Wash celery and cut into 6" pieces. Fill each piece with peanut butter. Top with raisins or chocolate chips.

*Potato Wedges: Wash and scrub 5 medium potatoes well. Dry them with a paper towel. Cut potatoes into wedges. Place the wedges into a large bowl and mix with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Next, put them into a large, greased baking dish. Cook in a hot oven for 40 minutes, or until ready. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.

*Buccaneer Banana Bread: In a large bowl, mash 3 large bananas with a fork. Beat one egg. Add the egg and 1/2 cup melted butter to the bananas and mix well. In a small bowl, mix 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, and add to banana mixture. Pour the combined mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325�F for about 1 1/4 hours or until ready. For an extra treat, add one cup chocolate chips, blueberries, or chopped nuts.

*Dessert Island Fruit Galleon: Cut a small watermelon in half and reserve one half for the boat. Trim a little from the base of this reserved half so that it will sit flat. Cut the fruits (watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, etc.) into small pieces. Tread 2 or 3 slices of different fruit onto fancy toothpicks. Then push the toothpicks into the cut side of the watermelon boat. For a fun effect, you can tread a sticker of Jolly Roger onto a skewer, and push the skewer into the watermelon.

*Black Bart Stew: Serve bowls of hot soup to warm up the pirates.

*Chicken Legs and Wings: Let the kids eat with their fingers, the way pirates used to do.

*Pirates Booty: Puffed rice and corn chips from Robert's American Gourmet (available at your natural supermarket like Whole Foods, or Wild Oats).

*Hotdogs
*Fish 'n Chips
*Ben & Jerry's Phish Food Ice Cream

*Pirate Punch: In a large bowl, mix a 32-oz can of pineapple juice, one 12-oz can of orange juice concentrate, one 6-oz can of lemonade concentrate, five cups of cold water, one quart of 7-Up, and a quart of rainbow sherbet. Chill until ready and serve to the pirate birthday party gang. Add slices of orange, banana, kiwi, or float cherries in the bowl for an added twist.

*Red Ruby Punch: Little pirates will love the tasty jewels in this drink. The night before the pirate birthday party, fill ice trays with red fruit punch. Serve the red ruby ice in clear plastic cups with a lemon lime soda.

*Apple Cider would make a great pirate birthday party drink.