Treasure Chest Piñata Treasure Chest Pinata Treasure Chest Pinata - Perfect for your pirate theme party!


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Pirate Birthday Party

Kids love pirates, and a pirate theme party is always a big hit. There are so many fun things you can do with a pirate theme, your child may want a pirate birthday party every year!

Invitations
Decorations
Tableware
Food & Snacks
Birthday Cakes
Games & Activities
Party Favors


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Pirate Birthday Invitations Pirate Party Invitations Get great Pirate Invitations!




Pirate Party Invitations Pirate Party Invitations Pirate Invitations from our Party Store!

Pirate Party Invitations

There are some great pre-printed Pirate-Themed Birthday invitations (see left) but if you like to make the invitations yourself, try this great Treasure Map Style invitation....

For text, try pirate lingo... "Ahoy Matey! Ye be invited to Captain [Child's Name here] Pirate Party. Chart your course fer [address], we'll be settin sail the [6th of June] at [time]. Wave yer flag if ye be attendin, or call by phone [phone number].

Fix the text to match your party - put that it is a birthday party or whatever. Be creative!

For a Pirates of the Caribbean Party, you can say "Join us as we sail across the Caribbean in search of Aztec Gold"!

Instead of cutting your invitations neatly, try tearing them apart to give them rougher edges, or used fancy edged scissors. You can also slightly burn the edges with a match.

To age your paper and give it that authentic treasure map look, after printing, crinkle it a little (not too much, it needs to be legible!), then soak it in tea. You can use instant tea, just make the tea strong so it's good and dark. After soaking it, dry the paper. You can set it in the sun, use a hairdryer, or use an iron.

**Note: I have tried this and it worked fine. Some of the finer lines (light gray) faded out and couldn't really be seen. If you have this problem, try using a spray bottle with tea in it and misting the pages. They don't get as wet, and the lines seem to stay a little crisper.

If you don't want to bother with the tea, just use parchment paper (available at office supply stores) which already has an aged look to it. Finish them off with parchment paper envelopes, sealed with Mini Glue Gun Wax. (This stuff is great - looks like a wax seal, but it comes in sticks which fit in your mini glue gun - It is more pliable than regular wax, so it mails better!)


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Pirate Goodie Bags Pirate Party Loot Bags Get Pirate Loot Bags for your pirate guests!




Pirate Party Decorations Pirate Party Decorations Get pirate themed decorations - pirates, sailing ships & more!


Pirate Birthday Party Decorations

Pirate Treasure ChestTry a Treasure Chest! They are easy to make by decorating a cardboard box. Or try this great plastic Treasure Chest, which you can use as a toy box after the party!

For a Pirates of the Caribbean Party, raid your Halloween decorations - Skeletons look great set around the house. Add an eye patch, a bandana, pirate hat or coat to a large plastic skeleton for an authentic-looking skeleton pirate!

Cut a ships steering wheel out of cardboard and hang it on the wall for an easy (and free!) pirate party decoration.


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Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - Dead Man's Chest Party Supplies Pirates of the Caribbean Party Supplies Get Pirates of the Caribbean Party Supplies at Birthdayz by Shindigz!




Pirate Tableware Pirate Party Plate Get coordinating (Tom Lichtenheld illustrations) Pirate Plates, Napkins, Cups, Loot Bags and more at our Party Store!




Pirate Party Tableware

We love the Tom Lichtenheld Pirate tableware, but you could also go with a black and red theme which looks great. Or try gold colored tableware - a nice touch for a pirate party.


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Don't Forget Forks! black plastic silverware Forks, spoons & knives are available at our Party Store!




Go Tropical! palm tree & parrot Turn your home into Treasure Island with 2 beautiful 65" palm trees - super affordable from our Party Store!




Pirate Party Food & Snacks

Fruit Kabobs

To a kid, anything on a spear is cool. I like to cut the tips off the skewers just to be safe. Add pineapple, grapes, whatever you think your group will eat. Call them fruit spears and top them off with a maraschino cherry cannonball.

Fresh tropical fruits such as pineapple and bananas are also popular with hungry pirates!

Chicken Peg Legs

Chicken wings make great 'peg legs' that kids will eat up!


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Every Pirate Needs a Parrot! Inflatable Parrot Get this 46" inflatable parrot at our Party Store!




Pirate Birthday Cakes

Treasure Island Cake

This cake is super easy to make, and will serve a large group of kids!

Make an 9 x 13" cake and frost it light blue (water). Make a round cake and frost it light brown (sand). To get light brown frosting, you can buy the paste food coloring in brown and mix it with white frosting. You can also sprinkle graham cracker crumbs in the frosting to give it an authentic 'sandy' look.

Put the round cake (island) on top of the 'water' cake. Add some plastic palm trees, and a couple of toy pirates. Root beer barrels make great edible props on this cake. Use mini candy bars stacked on top of each other for a treasure chest, then add a few Skittles around it as jewels.

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Great Pirate Book!




Find local babysitters at Sittercity.com



Pirate Tattoos Pirate Tatoos Pirate Tattoos make for great party fun!

Pirate Party Games & Activities

Pirate Names
Make Treasure Chests
Pin the Parrot on the Pirate
Walk the Plank
Treasure Hunt
Make Spyglasses
Make Pirate Hats
Face Painting
Swab the Deck


Pirate Names

This is not really a game or activity, but is a lot of fun anyway. You can assign each child a pirate name, and put it on a nametag. For pirate names, there is a really fun pirate book called Everything I Know About Pirates by Tom Lichtenheld (see left). It has a chart you can use to make up great pirate names. You can also get this same chart on party napkins!

You may want to work in the child's real name like 'Long Tooth Tim' or something along those lines. Another alternative is to let kids come up with their own pirate names (better for older kids).

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Treasure Chest Craft Kits

I love this activity for so many reasons! First of all, this is a great activity for when kids are first arriving. Everybody makes their own, so latecomers can jump right in, and the early starters can just add more detail. Also, the party guests can use their new treasure chests instead of traditional 'loot bags' to carry their party goodies in.

There are a couple of ways to make treasure chests. You can do this with shoe boxes (or any other box really). You can paint the boxes ahead of time, or cover them with paper... whichever you prefer.

The alternative to this is the 'Treasure Chest Craft Kits' you can get at Birthdayz by Shindigz. (Click the link then search for treasure chest.) These come with the box (shaped like a treasure chest), coins, individual beads, gold ribbon, and jewels. They are a great size for kids to take home, and very affordable.

If you are using your own boxes, supply the kids with jewels, glue, small shells, stickers, markers... whatever you think they might like to use to decorate their treasure chests. If you are using the kits, you still need to supply glue, and you can also use other items like shells, stickers, etc. if you wish. Note: the boxes in the kits come unpainted. You can use them as is - I have done this, they are brown - or you can paint them the color of your choice ahead of time if you prefer.

Be sure to check out our Pirate Party Favors section for some great treasures to fill the chests with!

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piratePin the Parrot on the Pirate

A fun variation of 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey'. Make your own pirate or buy a 39" Pirate from our Party Store (parrot not included).

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Walk the Plank

There are a lot of ways to do this. A long board on the ground can serve as a plank, and you can have the kids try to balance on it. You can blindfold older kids, to make it a little more difficult (and fun) for them.

Another variation is to place the plank (tightly secured) over a kiddie pool. Add some toy sharks for fun. You can also do this with an ironing board, which is wider and therefore easier for younger kids. Note: If you do this activity, supervise at all times, and never leave a pool of water where little kids may fall into it!

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Treasure Hunt

There are many variations to a pirate party treasure hunt. I will give you a few, but you can be creative and tailor them to suit your particular party.

Treasure Map Quest

Hide items around the house and give each child a clue to where their bag is hidden. You can make the clues on aged paper following the directions for the Treasure Map Invitations. Put rhyming clues on the 'maps', like 'If you want to be a winner, look under the place where people eat dinner'.

For younger kids, you can read the clues to them. For larger groups, you can pair them up and send two at a time to search for their treasure, making certain you have two goodie bags hidden at the end.

Treasure Hunt Pirate GameTreasure Game

Our Party Store offers a Treasure Activity Kit your Pirate Party guests can play.

Backyard Treasure Hunt

This is a nice outdoor activity for a warm-weather party. Scatter various items around the yard, park or wherever you are, and send the kids to search for them.

You can do this by scattering individual items (chocolate coins, beads, etc) for kids to gather up, or by stashing loot bags outside. When a child finds a goodie bag, they are done, assuring that everyone gets the same amount.

You can also do this type of treasure hunt with maps (better for bigger kids). Draw a simple map of the area. You can print these on 'aged' paper following the directions for the Treasure Map Invitations. You will need to hide treasure near easy-to-find landmarks on the map. Then mark the maps with a red X where the treasure will be hidden. Give each child (or group) a map with their treasure area marked, and send them off to find it.

Blow Up Palm TreesIs your yard short on landmarks? Add some inflatable palm trees to your yard, put them on the map, and use them to help hide the booty!

Sandbox Treasure Dig

Fun and easy variation for younger kids. Put some 'treasures' in your sandbox, and give the kids a certain amount of time to dig. If you use candy as treasures, it will be better inside of baggies or tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. (Sandy candy, yuck!) Another variation is to put something specific in the sand like play gold coins. Tell the kids to dig until they find three gold coins, or whatever it is they are searching for.

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Make Spyglasses

Super easy pirate craft! Toilet paper tube (painted ahead of time if you like). Kids put a piece of colored cellophane over the end, attach with a rubber band. Now they see in color through their pirate spyglass!

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Make Pirate Hats

I will hopefully be loading a template for the pirate hat shape soon... I made one some years ago, I just have to find it:)

Cut out the shape of a pirate hat on heavy black paper. I like to use three pieces to make the hat - they fit better and stay on better than the 2 piece variety.

Take the three pirate hat shapes and staple them together in the corners. On one edge of the front piece, use a hole punch to put two holes in the corner.

Supply kids with skull & crossbones stickers (I usually make these on my computer - I'll get the template for this too) or other stickers, and feathers. They can decorate the hats with the sticker(s), and put a feather through the holes in the corner.

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Fun Pirate Music




Play the soundtrack from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie in the background!




Pirate Flag Party Favor jolly roger 4"x6" pirate flags are super-affordable at our Party Store!




Pirate Gear Black Bandanas Black Paisley Bandanas make great Pirate Gear!



Great Party Favor! Pirate Medallion Skull and Crossbone necklaces make great Pirate Party favors!

Pirate Party Favors

There are so many great pirate party favors that won't bust your budget!

Beads - You can get the Mardi Gras variety for a great price at our Party Store, or a really cheap way to get a lot of bead necklaces is Christmas bead garlands. You can make several necklaces from a Christmas bead garland, just cut them into lengths and form the necklace by tying with twine. Of course, these are hard to find if it isn't the Christmas season!

Treasure Map for Pirate PartyTreasure Maps - These vinyl Treasure Maps make great placemats and are affordable enough to send one home with every party guest!

Shells -Great prizes for the games! You can get large shells and small shells and give them as rewards for different games.

Chocolate coins

Gold (plastic) Coins - available at our Party Store

Candy Necklaces

Ring Pops

Pirate Hat Pirate Hats (see image at right)

Pirate Flags - super affordable!

Inflatable Swords

Bandanas

Eyepatches


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Pirate Vests Pirate Costume Vest These colorful plastic Pirate Vests are priced so low that you can give one to every guest!



Pirate Treasure Beads Beads for Pirate Party Favors Get colorful beads for your party party - super affordable at our Party Store!








This page contains Ideas for your Pirate Party if you are looking for a Pirate Theme Party, Pirates of the Caribbean Party, pirate, pirates of the caribbean - sometimes spelled carribbean and carribean, captain jack sparrow, davey jones, davy jones, buccaneer, treasure island, or treasure hunt birthday party