Pirate Birthday Party Ideas

My son wanted a Pirate Party for his 6th birthday. A pirate birthday party is an easy and fun party for both boys and girls. Read on to find ideas for games and crafts as well as some ideas for some great Pirate themed birthday cakes. Because this was a March Birthday, all of the activities were for inside due to cold weather. This birthday party is great for fall or winter birthdays as well as summer and spring birthdays. In warmer weather, you can do many of the same activities outside. Just grab the birthday kid, add 8 friends and some pirate gear and you're ready to go! The kids had a blast at the party and so did I!

• Pin the eyepatch on the pirate--draw a simple pirate on posterboard and have the kids take turns trying to pin on an eyepatch while blindfolded. (You can make eyepatches out of black construction paper.)
• Swab the Deck--this is played as a relay race. Each team gets a broom and 3 ping pong balls. They have to brush the ping pong balls across the floor to the other side where another team member takes the broom and brushes the balls back. The first team to finish, wins.
• Bomb the ships--This is a bean bag toss. I drew w simple ship on posterboard and cut out some holes in the picture. Then I made bean bags using black felt and dried beans. I cut squares of felt and hot glued the squares together--stuffed with bean. Hang the picture on the front of an open box and have the kids throw the bean bags at the ship to try to get them in the holes.
• Cannon Ball Blast--I filled black balloons with a few pieces of candy. There were lots of balloons on the living room floor. At a given signal the kids pop the balloons and get to keep the candy inside.
• Walk the plank--I used my daughter's balance beam (or you could use a piece of board propped between 2 large concrete blocks) and had the pirates walk across the plank. For older pirates, they had to do this blindfolded or backwards. For younger pirates, they just had to make it across.
• Pirate Pinata--this was the final activity before cake and ice cream.
• Pirate Ship Coloring Page--I printed these from the website listed in "Find additional ideas here" (below). This is a good filler activity to do while you are waiting for kids to arrive or be picked up.

It's so easy to make this game. All you need is a piece of posterboard and some black construction paper. I drew a simple pirate on the posterboard (minus his eyepatch of course) and then cut eye patches (ovals) out of black construction paper. Play it like pin the tail on the donkey. The kids love this game!

I called this one "Bomb the Ship"

This is another simple game to make. I took a piece of posterboard and a large cardboard box. I drew a simple pirate ship on the posterboard and colored it in. Then I taped the ship to the top (open) part of the large box. Then I cut some holes in the ship with an exacto knife. Turn the box on its side and toss the bean bags through the holes. I made the bean bags with squares of felt, hot glue and dried beans. This game was such a hit that the kids all wanted several turns and they played it again during some free time at the end of the party!

Here's our happy bucanneers on the "plank" at my son's 6th birthday party! What fun they all had!