Pirate Party Ideas for Childrens Birthday
Posted: Sunday, July 09, 2006
by John Hopkins
http://bankerpros.com
My son turned 9 in March and wanted to have a Pirate Party. Being that I was promised to provide the best and most memorable party possible, I did my homework and planned an event for not only the 20 children, but for the attending parents as well. My wife and I started about 3 weeks in advance searching the Internet and party stores for the proper themed ingredients. We offer these tips in the hopes that you save time and deliver the same level of experience.
The Invitations
We had custom pirate maps printed at the local printer on 11 x 17 parchment paper, telling of how the recipient had been elected to join the pirate crew on specific date and time. The map was rolled and delivered in a bamboo printed cardboard sleeve. Each recipient had to answer the pirate secret question on arriving “What’s a pirates favorite subject in school?"
The Cake and Refreshments
We had a multi leveled custom pirate cake along with 3 dimensional pirate ship designed at the local bakery. The cake was featured with chocolate pieces of eight and looked like a miniature pirate diorama. (A Big Hit) A keg of pirate grog (root beer) was served in coconut shell cups.
The Guests Arrival
Each child was welcomed with their own Jolly Roger pirate bandana, an eye patch, and given their official pirate name. (See resources at end to see how you enter the child’s real name and their custom pirate name is generated.) They are to be referred to as their pirate name for the entire party. We also had a face painter apply pirate tattoos as part of their arrival.
The Décor
We adorned our home and backyard with Jolly Roger flags, Caribbean themed décor, and our pool area was outfitted with tiki torches, fisherman nets, palm trees and lanterns. The diving board was converted to a Galley Plank (part of the games later)
Pirate Activities
Other than the obvious Pirates of the Caribbean being played on the big screen TV, the focus of the party was a Pirate Treasure Hunt. My wife and I spent the day before the party carefully laying out the clues, maps, and buried treasure. The children were divided into two separate teams with individual treasure maps. Each clue took them on a carefully planned trip through our neighborhood to discover the next clue and closer to the treasure. The 8 different clues took over 45 minutes for the teams to figure out. Parents participated and it was a huge race to get to the finish. Clues were given in rhyme-play such as:
Walk towards the statue, due north it would be, before you get there, me flag thee should see.
Note: We placed miniature 12" jolly roger flags at each clue to make it a bit easier for the kids. The final clue involved looking through a pirate eyeglass to reveal the final flag. The prize was buried beneath the final flag in a chest of course. The booty consisted of candy dabloons and necklaces.
Treasure Chest Pinatta
We had a Davey Jones Locker pinatta filled with lots of candy and other pirate souveniers. Each party guest was blindfolded and took a whack with a wooden pirate sword.
Souveniers
Yes, we rented a pirate ship cut-out for digital pictures and each child took home photos along with their own booty bags.
Hired Guns
We found we could hire a pirate lookalike ala Jack Sparrow and rent a bouncehouse that was like a pirate castle/ship. We also found an exotic bird handler who brings birds such as parrots and cockatoos for a small pittance that performed a small show. We elected for the Jack Sparrow lookalike at $75.00 hr.
Party Results
The 4 hour party was fun filled and we still receive calls from the attending parents requesting to know where we tracked down all the entertainment and décor.
Total cost of our party: $800.00 but the most popular activites such as the Treasure Hunt and Pinatta were relatively inexpensive just requiring a little time and imagination.
By the way, the answer to the Pirate Question? Whats a Pirates Favorite Subject in School? ARRRRRithmatic, of course!
Top Resources Used:
http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/
http://www.promotionalproductsandideas.com/PIRATE.HTM
http://gangstaname.com/pirate_name.php
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