A Pirate Themed Party
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Ahoy, me hearties! Set sail on a grand adventure towards your pirate themed birthday party. A pirate party is suitable for both indoors or outside of the house although a deck or outdoor area is recommended to allow your shipmates plenty of room to carry out their pirate shenanigans.
Whether you choose to make your own invitations or use a preprinted pirate invitation, some fun text suggestions are as follows:
Aaarr! Come if ye dare to Pirate (Birthday Child)’s (age)th Birthday Bash!
We need shipmates to swab the deck, walk the plank and hunt for pirate treasure. Aaarr!
Ship sets sail on (Date and Time). Meet us at old man (Birthday Boy)’s island at (Address).
Let ye misses (Mum’s Name) know at (Contact Information). See ya there if ye dare…..
When sending out your invitations for the party, request that your guests come dressed as a pirate or sailor, providing them with some simple dress up ideas as suggestions. Choose a simple colour theme for your party combining three colours. Try a combination of navy blue, black, gold, white and/or red. Mix these colours in with your invitation and for the balloons used in your birthday decorations. Combine scattered themed pirate balloons with plain solid balloons, as well as pirate flags or navy blue solid paper buntings, as an extension to the theme.
Thick rope or other nautical birthday decorations can be used as part of the theme and don’t forget the sandpit. Decorations for this theme can be random and unplanned spilling onto the floor or even the table. If you are hosting the party outside, or don’t mind the use of sand indoors, clean sand can be used as part of the overall table decoration. Pirate treasure, fake jewels and pirate coins can be placed in the sand as part of the pirate loot.
When planning your nautical games, a treasure hunt is certainly a good option. Hide well wrapped lollies or individual lollies placed in small lolly or cello bags for ease in a bucket of sand or a sandpit. Let the guests dig for treasure with a spoon or spade, depending on the size, to see what they can discover. Allow for one treasure per swashbuckler. If you don’t have the space for sand or are holding an indoor party, try an indoor treasure hunt using a map of the party location and cryptic clues.
Other fun buccaneer games include tug of war or an obstacle course covering such skills as walking the plank or bailing water out of buckets with a cup.
Life on the sea certainly creates pirates with a hearty appetite and they will be yearning for such treasures as chocolate coins and pearls (mints). Fish and chips are an ideal main course. Create some sea creature cups by making jelly (blue or green) in plastic cups or bowls and place lolly snakes into the jelly before it cools and sets. Other fun food suggestions include blue lollies, black licorice or even chocolate lamingtons. Drink options include blue cordial or soft drink to represent the blue of the sea or failing that, plain bottles of water.
A treasure island, treasure chest or a pirate ship shaped cake work well with this theme. Finish your pirate themed cake with some pirate candles.
Give your rooms or party areas fun nautical names with simple signs. Use realistic terminology such as the galley (kitchen), head (toilet), hull, stern and bow or opt for a name of a pirate island or boat name for your house. As soon as the pirates enter the boat, assign them pirate name tags to use at the party. Print on specialised pirate paper, hole punch and pin to each child’s shirt with a safety pin. Reiterate the pirate names on the goody bags that you create for each child to take home.
Black open posy boxes suit the motif and are great for pirate loot, also doubling as the table decoration if necessary. Make a nest of blue tissue paper in the box and line with lollies, pirate treasure coins, pirate flags, tattoos and an eye patch. Complete by tying a ribbon to a hole punched in the top of the goody bags.
Once the mariner’s sea worthiness has been tested and their bellies full, they will no doubt be glad to sight land and journey home with their booty in tow.
