5 yr old PIRATE party

[Jen841]

Ideas? Went a bit crazy last year with #s and $, so trying to be much better this year and doing something small at home 4-8 kids. Any good ideas? I figure I have a month to prepare, plan and buy things on sale : )

[deannanb]

Give the kids a pirate hat as them come in and
they can spend some time making treasure bags -
brown paper bags they decorate with markers and stickers
(be sure to put a name on the bag)

send them on a treasure hunt in your back yard -
put out treasures for them to find - maybe make a "map" (a list) of items they need to find. some kids need to find 2 rings, and some need to find 5

http://www.ustoy.com/novelty/default.htm
(search for pirate)

you wouldn't need party favors with the treasures they find.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I have done 2 pirate parties (dif't group of kids...great way to recycle all my stuff!). Actually for his 4th b-day it was a scavenger hunt party b/c he wasn't that into pirates. 4th b-day party had 4 guests and 5th had 10 guests.

If you check this site you will find a million wonderful ideas (I stole many of them ;)):
http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/


Activities for 1 or both of the parties:
-treasure chest pull string pinata
-scavenger hunt (the 1st time was to go dig up the favors, 2nd party led them to the pinata)
-scavenger hunt for 4th b-day was at home and the kids followed picture clues that led them to a big pile of mulch where we buried the favors
-we had lots of pirate wear for the kids that we got at PaperMart for not much $ (bandanas, big rings, eye patches, hats...) and we picked up some temporary tattoos
-bought a version of pin the tail that was X marks the spot- that was a lot of fun for the 5yos and we didn't play it with the 4yos
-water balloon toss


cake:
-I made the Family Fun treasure chest cake and it was a huge hit and not that hard to make! I crushed grahm crackers to make sand around it. The 2nd time I made it I tweaked it a bit and added some ring pops. Each kid got one "special" candy to go with their piece of cake.
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50213
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg193/bchbetha/IMG_0083a-1.jpg

Favors:
-4yo party we had the kids dig up little wooden treasure chests that I got at Michaels' for $1. Inside we put 2 Hershey Nuggets. In a seperate gift bag each kid got a few glue on gems, 3 little paints and a paint brush (we broke up a bigger set of paints and divvied up the colors for the kids- ds liked helping with that)
-5yo party, the pinata contents were the favor. Contents were hand selected to not be junky candy and trinket. Stickers, mini notepads, bouncy balls and other fun things from the party store were inside.

Invite:
-I wrote up a little poem in pseudo-pirate speak that had the party details in Blackladder font
-I printed them out on my compute onto ivory linen paper
-I soaked the invites in tea for about 3-5 minutes then dried them
-singed the edges with a lighter (have a few extra invites b/c every so often you might not get the flame out in time!)
-rolled them up and put them in clean brown, plastic rootbeer bottles
-sprinkled a little confetti inside
-hand delivered

Food:
-there are a lot of cute ideas on that birthday party website. I didn't do many of them. I did try the swedish fish suspended in blue jello but the fish kind of dissolved and just made things look murky. No one ate much of them.
-I was lucky in that M&Ms had a cross promotion with Pirates' of the Carribbean that year so there was a batch of them that was "Jack's Gold" and they looked like gold. You can order various shades of yellows on their website now.

Decorations:
-some mini inflateable palm trees
-we used his Little People pirate ship stuff

Btw, my 5yo really likes the book "The Night Pirates" so it might be a good b-day gift suggestion. PM if you want any more ideas.

HTH,
Beth

[s7714]

Here's a link to a thread in the Toddler Bargains forum from a mom who did a pirate theme party. (I've had this one bookmarked for a long time):
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=249009&highlight=pirate+birthday+party

[Jen841]

So many ideas!

Right now I am thinking of doing a treasure hunt with milestones that will give their their "costumes" for the party. Mustaces (sp), bandana, hooks, swords,...

I will make a treasure chest cake. Bought a wood chest to fill. Found a paper centerpiece at the Dollar Store.

[egfmba]

We recently went to a pirate themed party. The host & hostess had cupcakes with plastic gold medallions (gallions) in them, as well as gallions in the goodie bags. They also gave out pirate teeth (little fake teeth the kids could slip over their own) and bandannas. I thought they were cute. Also, they found some little pirate telescopes. Cute.

Good luck!
eva

[kransden]

My Dollar Tree had the spy glasses there for I think 8 for a dollar. They also had 30 coins for a dollar. My dd loves burying them in her sand box and finding them. We also hide them around the house.

[Jen841]

Cardboard treasure chest! So excited.

[DomandPedro75]

Melissa and Doug also makes several great and inexpensive pirate themed items which are great for larger favors. Puzzles, design your own treasure box, pirate booty chest etc

[Thatchermom]

We did a pretty cheap pirate party for DS in September, when I was very pregnant so it was pretty easy stuff, too. We did three or four easy activities that were for kids of mixed ages (2-12!) and I think everyone had fun. We did it in a local park shelter since I wasn't in the mode of prepping our house and there was always the danger of going in to labor with the party in full swing...yikes.

I've not had photo sharing before to do pictures, but I'm trying it out so here goes! There's info about the party in the captions.

Disclaimer: I'm a cake decorator/dessert caterer and sometime photographer. I know some of this stuff isn't everyday BUT I think we can all inspire each other and you never know what you can do til you try!

http://Thatchermom.smugmug.com/photos/284481233_RPoLS-S.jpg

http://Thatchermom.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=4790281&AlbumKey=VgvSh

[Jen841]

You are so talented! The cake, invitations, pictures.... I am so jealous of your talents. I am getting excited planning. Thank you for the motivation.