How to Plan a Children's Pirate Party

With the success of Disney's wildly popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, many of the children at our school are clamoring for pirate parties. Creating your own Smugglers Cove pirate party is not at all difficult; with party supplies stores now carrying all sorts of pirate props and decorations, the job of turning your home into Treasure Island is easier than you think!

Invitations

The best invitations are the ones you can make at home! For pirate party invitations, handwrite the invites on a crumbled piece of craft paper that have had the edges seared with a candle. The paper can be either rolled up and tied with a bit of string, or placed into an empty water bottle, like a message in a bottle. Include the place, time, date and a RSVP number and the words "Dress like a pirate!" Pirate dress is pretty simple ~ cuffed pants, sandels, striped shirt, and a bandanna over the head will work.

Creating the Pirate Cave

Pirates seemed to hold lots of their secret pirate meetings in dark caverns. The garage is the perfect location for a Smugglers Cave ~ just push everything to the sides and drape it all with black visqueen. The bumps and folds of the visqueen draped over your yard equipment and storage items will look like the walls of a dark cave, especially when the lights are turned low. Don't have a garage? The patio is also an ideal location. Simply hang sheets of black visqueen from all three edges of the patio cover to create a dark cavern.

Once you have the basic structure of the pirates cave, the next step is to add a few scary pirate props. Fishing net is an inexpensive accessory that can be draped from the walls. To make things look a little more interesting, tangle up swords, scabbards and bones within the netting.

Every pirate cave should also have at least a few skeletons! Paper glow-in-the-dark skeletons can be hung from the walls, but at least one dimensional skeleton should be tossed in the corner, surrounded by a buried treasure. The buried treasure can be in an old suitcase or cardboard box, but should be overflowing with inexpensive jewels and pirate trinkets. For even more pirate treasures, make a trip to the local thrift store and purchase plastic vases, goblets, and cups. A coat of brass colored spray paint will turn them into golden pirate treasures.

For a final prop, set up a large table in the center of the room. A couple of buffet tables placed end to end or a large sheet of plywood on sawhorses is usually sufficient for a crowd of 12-15 kids. Cover the table with black plastic or a black tablecloth and as a center piece, use lots of candles mixed up with bones.

Pirate Food

What did pirates eat? In addition to some fun party munchies, the meal should include some real pirate food!

Hard tack was a bread staple that pirates and sailors alike ate on their long journeys. To make hard tack, mix 1 tsp of salt with one pound of flour, and stir in enough water to make a very stiff dough. Roll out the dough as you would with biscuits, and cut into circles using an inverted drinking glass. Pierce the hard tack with a fork in several places, then bake on a cookie sheet at 250 degrees for two to three hours. Hard tack is pretty tough to eat, but can be made a little more palatable when served up with jam on the side.

Meat pie was also a favorite pirate supper. The old recipes called for pork, chicken livers, and Irish whiskey, but for a kid friendly recipe, substitute the more traditional shepherds pie recipe. Shepherds pie is made by browning up a pound of hamburger in a kettle, then stirring in 2 cans of tomato soup and two cans of green beans. Bring to a boil and top with packaged biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until biscuits are done.

Pirate Games

Pirates didn't have time to play many games, but they certainly spent a lot of time searching for buried treasure! To organize a successful search for buried treasure, you will need to plan the hunt a couple of days before the party.

For a buried pirate treasure hunts, bury the booty in a coffee can to protect it from moisture. Fill it with enough chocolate coins and other sweets for the entire gang, and bury it somewhere out in the yard or even in the neighborhood. To find the buried treasure, your pirates will need a handful of pirate maps.

For the younger kids, the maps can be hidden in different locations with each map containing the directions to the next clue. For this age group, the clues should be pretty easy to find. Try using a coded message of sorts to slow down the activity a bit, or the kids might finish the treasure hunt in no time! One of the more easier codes to use is a straight cipher in which A=1 B=2 C=3 and so on. For older children, a single scrolled map and a compass can lead the way to the X. Do include some landmarks ~ since compasses can be tricky to use, it helps to have both a distinguishing landmark and the general direction. For this group, a slightly trickier code can be used.

When pirate treasure has been found, have the children bring it back to Smugglers Cove to open the chest and share the booty.

Pirate parties do take a bit of advance planning, but with good food, fun games, secret pirate meeting place, and an edible pirate treasure; your pirate party will be a smashing success.