Planning a Pirate Party 5-7 year olds

All of the below can be used or edited to meet your needs. This is only a guideline to help those parents who are not accustomed to working with a large group of children at one time. Older children have longer attention spans so I have included slight variations to accommodate them. Also, you do not need to pre-pack their party bags, they will be winning the contents as they go along.

 Invitations:
A great idea for the invitation is to print this message on your computer “Ahoy Matey! Stop yer pillaging: lend me yer ear, I have a message for ye to hear! The Treasure's been stolen, it must be found, So tighten ye sashes Buccaneer Bay bound! Shiver me timbers, there's a pirate on board, Drinkin shark's blood and flailin his sword! Dress as you will, but hope not to get wet, Ye be Walkin' the Plank on this ye can bet! I'm Captain Kool _______, and will lead the way, On Saturday, May 7th, I turn __ that day! We be settin sail at 2:00 fer some Swashbucklin birthday fun! ö Wave yer flag if ye be attending or have yer Mom send message by yer phone to xxx-xxxx. Sees ye there. Aarrgh!!! I. To make paper look old scorch (be careful) the edges and rub a wet tea bag on it. Let it dry, roll it up, and place it inside an empty plastic water/Coke bottle. On the outside of the bottle, stick a photo of your child dressed as a pirate and use it as an address label with each child's name on it.

 Preparation for party:
Using very large card or paper (wall paper is great as it is thick and durable) draw out 2 large treasure islands for you introductory activity. Hang the Large Jointed Pirate/Girl and Jointed Pirate Ship at the door. Depending on the age of the children, you may want to pre make their Treasure Chests, leaving the decorating for them to do. Older children will want to do them themselves. You could also use the Cardboard Treasure Chests for an easier option.

HAVE A PEN AND PAPER READY TO RECORD ANY PHONE NUMBERS OF PARENTS WHO ARE NOT STAYING. ASK ABOUT ANY ALLERGIES.

Party Begins:
Intro activity: (20 mins.)

Begin with a group activity that all children can join in with when they arrive. This brings everyone together to start and no one will feel left out if they arrive late. Have 2 large treasure islands drawn out so children can stick fabulous foam animals and fabulous foam pirate shapes onto. Also give them pens and crayons to add their own ideas of what a treasure island would look like.

Everyone decorates their treasure chests so they are ready to be filled.

Alternative for OLDER CHILDREN: Begin by making their own treasure chests. They should be able to make these on their own but there is always an exception to the rule. You may have to lead them through the instructions.

ONCE ALL CHILDREN HAVE ARRIVED, TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH OF THEM ALL TOGETHER standing with the Jointed Pirate, it’s a great souvenir and you can use if for the front of your thank yous.

An important thing to do to ensure you remain in control is to start by explaining to all of them at once, your plans and timetable for the party. This will get them excited for the activities and you can be setting the pirate theme at the same time by using the lingo. Explain that throughout the party they will win/collect treasures to fill their chests so they need to be paying attention.

 Activities:

Activity 1 (10 mins)
Musical Islands (a.k.a. Musical chairs) Cut out pieces of brown paper or fabric into the shape of islands and place them in a circle on top of a blue blanket (representing water). The loser of each round has to scrub the decks. (Give them a bucket and dry sponge. They love to pretend.)

Activity 2 (10 mins)
Walk the Plank across Crocodile Lake. Spread out a blue cloth/blanket to represent water. Lay a piece of wood (8 ft long) that is held up slightly off the ground by a strong book at either end. (FOR SAFETY REASONS, ENSURE THE PLANK IS WIDE ENOUGH AND NOT TOO HIGH OFF THE GROUND.) Place some little crocodiles all over the lake which you can draw out of paper or using clothes pins & google eyes . They will love this and will probably want more than one go. You can make it more difficult by having them carry the treasure across the plank. Once across, each child receives something more to go into their treasure chests (plastic jewels, more gold money, pirate eye patches…)

ACTIVITY 3 SKULL CAVE (10 mins)
The following challenge is to enter Skull Cave. The cave can be as simple as a pop up tent covered with a black fabric or cover your dining room table, they can go underneath your underneath there. Keep this simple. Fill it with small balloons and string lights across the entrance. Each child goes in individually and hunts for treasure (use anything you like, i.e. little skeletons, skull rings, mini pirate telescopes, gold coins). These items are then placed into their pirate chests to take home.

TIME TO EAT (30 mins.):
Food is up to you but keep it simple. Children love the really easy foods like sandwiches. Cut then into diamond or fish shapes with a cookie cutter, home made biscuits decorated with gold and silver sprinkles, pizza, cupcakes, juice and milk (instead of soda). Try to give them as many healthy options as possible, parents will appreciate it.

Cut the cake after you have eaten so it gives an adult time to prepare it to go home. Another good reason is it often gets forgotten.

Final Activity: (20-30 mins):
TREASURE HUNT & PIRATE HAT CRAFTS
A great way to end the party is by having a TREASURE HUNT. Divide the children into two groups. One will stay with an adult to make their Pirate Hat Craft Kit (use glue dots, they are so easy and really make no mess), and the other will go on the treasure hunt.

A fun, original and easy way to run a treasure hunt is to take photos of one of the treasure chests on things around your home and garden. Place each picture in an envelope and hide it behind or under the previous location of your hunt. Move around as a team. Start by giving the children the first envelope, one child opens it, they all look at it and decide where that place might be. They go there and find the next envelope at that location. At the final location, you could have the king’s treasure waiting for them, which is pirate tattoos.

For older children, they could be finding letters instead of photos. Once they find them all they then have to work out as a team what the pirate’s message is (“Beware of Captain Hook’s Skeleton”).

(Be sure to arrange it so that the second team going around, (those who made the pirate’s hats first) have not realized where the clues are hidden. A good way is to exclude one room from the treasure hunt, ie. the kitchen where they could be doing their craft.

Swap around and do it all again.

Activity (OPTIONAL – IN CASE THINGS HAVE GONE MORE QUICKLY THAN PLANNED)

Feed the Shark. Set up your prepared sharks mouth. Explain that the shark is very hungry and needs to be fed before he starts nibbling on sailors’ toes. Children take turns throwing bean bags or soft balls through the shark’s mouth. After each child successfully feeds the shark, they receive a chocolate gold coin (sold by Thornton’s) to put into their treasure chest to take home.

It is almost over. You need to hand out their treasure chests filled with their prizes and cake and be sure they have their pirate’s hat. Have the party chests laid out ready and have one of the free adults ensuring that every time a child wins something it goes in the correct chest.

Once they all go home, take a deep breath, open the presents and don’t forget to print out the group photograph you took at the beginning so your child can get started on the thank you cards before they forget!! You could purchase some of our magnetic photo frames to pop the photo in and write a simple message on the back instead of a thank you card.

Success: There is no need to prefill party bags. They have found and made what they will take home. If you have a lot of boys at your party, they will probably want to play fight, I would discourage this by not having swords at my party and if you feel they need to let off some steam ½ through, take them outdoors for 10 mins. They will come in more able to concentrate, hence more cooperative.

An important thing to do to ensure you remain in control is to start by explaining to all of them at once, your plans and timetable for the party. This will get them excited for the activities and you can be setting the pirate theme at the same time by using the lingo.

Success: One key to success with large and very involved parties is to get adult guests to help. They love to participate so don't hesitate to get them involved. If you're really organized, assign them to tasks ahead of time (packing the treasure chest, tattooing, setting out the food, cutting the cake,…)

Some Alternatives Suggested by guests of our website:

Anne-Marie sent in: I try to always add something fun just for the adults. This time it was a wine tasting bar with products from the sea. Other times, I've done trivia games relating to the party theme and even a mixer game where they either have a joke question or the answer and they have to find their partner with the question/answer matching their own.

John sent in: We played hot cannonballs, instead of hot potato. The children pass around a cannonball until the music stops. Whoever is holding it at that point is out. We also had a pirate ship in the making. I had constructed the main part of it before the children arrived and as and when they were out, they came to help. As it happens, we spent 30 minutes making the sail, so the children never had time to eat. They enjoyed it though.