Pirate Party Ideas Ahoy Maties!  Fun ideas to use in creating your own pirate birthday party. Pirate Party Games Fun Ideas for a Pirate Party Activities Pirate Party Favor Ideas Food Ideas Pirate Invitation Ideas Decoration Ideas for a Pirate Parties

Pirate Party Games

Pirate Sword Race
You will need foam swords, plastic coins and two baskets or treasure boxes for this game.  The object is to race with a coin on the edge of the sword and place it in the treasure box.  Separate the kids into 2 teams and give each team a foam sword and an equal number of coins.  The first pirate in line takes a coin and places it on the sword blade and runs to the opposite side of the room and places it in their treasure chest.  They they run back and the next person in line does the same thing.  Continue until one team has all of their coins in the treasure chest.  If a child drops the coin as they are running to the treasure chest they must pick up the coin and go back to their team and begin again. 

Pirate Hook Relay
You will need plastic pirate hooks and twisted pretzels for this game.  Pirates use their hooks and try and move pretzels from one dish to the next dish using only the hook.  This game can be played individually or set up to be a relay race.  

Buried Treasure
You will need two kiddie pools or large tubs filled with sand, piggy banks or small containers and pennies.  Set out the pools and place the sand and pennies inside the pools.  Hide the pennies in the sand - 100 pennies in each pool is a good amount.   Have teams one by one run to the sand, dig through the sand and when they find a penny they run back to the starting line and place it in their piggy bank or container.   Give the pirates a time limit ( 5 - 7 minutes) to see how many coins they can collect in that time.   Play several rounds.  The pirates with the most money in their banks wins a small prize. 

Black Beards' Crew
This game is played like the game of tag except that the pirate who is "it" is called Black Beard.  When Black Beard touches a player and tags them they become part of his pirate crew.  Then Black Beard and his crew try and tag the other players collecting crew members as they tag the pirates. The last pirate to be tagged is the new Black Beard. 

Pirate Ship Bail
You will need 2 large tubs, 2 smaller buckets and sponges for this game.  The object of the game is to see which team can bail more water from their pirate ship using a sponge.  Separate the kids into two teams. Place two large tubs (or you can use one tub that sits in between both teams) at the starting line.  At the opposite end of the playing field set out two equal see through plastic containers.  Give each team a sponge and tell the first children in line to dip their sponge in the water and then run to the containers and squeeze out the water.   Then they run back to their team and the next person in line goes.  The winners are the team who fills their container first.
Variation:  Instead of sponges you can have the pirates use bandanas, spoons or cups with holes punched in the bottom.  

Pirate Cannonball War
You will need two pirate ships made from boxes, a large blue tarp and lots of black water balloons.  Separate the guests into two teams and have them stand behind their pirate ship.  Place the blue tarp on the ground between the ships for the water.  Give each team an equal amount of water balloons and have them throw their "cannonballs" and try and sink the other pirates ship. 

Pirate Booty Toss
Pirates must toss gold coins (plastic or gold wrapped chocolate) into a treasure chest.  To move to the next challenge in the treasure hunt the pirates must toss a set number of coins into the chest.  Give each pirate 10 coins and set the number they need in the pirate chest at 8 x the number of party guests. 

Pirate Island Hop
Pirates use island shapes to move from one part of the room to the opposite side.  They have to move as a team by placing the island shapes on the ground (they only get 1 more island piece then they have players) and stepping onto them (one person on a piece at a time).  They then take the back piece and hand it down the line to the person in front who places it in front of the other pieces and moves ahead one step. Then all the players move forward one space and it continues until they reach the other side of the room.   Pirate Sword Duel -
You will need two low stepping stools or blocks of wood and two pool noodles for this game.  Place the stools facing each other about 2 - 3 feet apart.  Let the pirates take turns 2 at a time trying to knock each other off the stools with the pool noodle.  

Pirate Party Activities

Pirate Party Invitation Ideas

A treasure map is a great Pirate themed invitation idea.   Draw a treasure map that looks like an island on brown paper.  You could even draw a map of your neighborhood or city that looks like its on an island and make a large red "X" that marks the spot of the birthday party.   Below the treasure map print out the party details.  Leave room around the edges of the invitations and after they are printed out burn around the edges to make them look old.  Brown paper grocery sacks also work well for the invitations.  Roll up the treasure map invitation like a scroll, wrap twine around it and secure with a bow. 

A message in a bottle is a great Pirate invitation idea.  Print out party information on a 4 x 5 piece of paper and then roll into a scroll and secure with twine.  Place the invitation into a used water bottle that has the label removed.  Add sand and seashells to the bottle and place the cap on.  Wrap some twine around the bottle cap and give to the people you want to invite to the party. 

Use Pirate language on the invitations such as:

Eeyyyye ye Maties!
We be looking ta celebrate  ____________ (birthday child’s name) day o’ birth.
Sail aboard the _________ (parent's last name) pirate ship.
T’ pirate ship be docked at  t’ port of ______________ (party address).
Ships a sailin’ on ____________ (date)
At the hour the clock strikes  _________ (time)
Ye landlubbers can pick up the young pirates when we dock  _________ (time party ends)
RSVP t’ the Captain t' let us know if we'll be seein’ ya there  ___________(phone # for RSVP).

What did we miss? Help us add to the Pirate Party Theme with your ideas - share your ideas.