If your child has a birthday coming up, you’ll be racking your brains for new ideas on what type of party to host. With so many parties happening throughout the year, you’ll want to pull out all the stops to make it the best for your little one.
Let’s face it, there’s no party like a pirate themed party…your kid(s) will love getting all dressed up, eating snacks and playing fun games with their friends. So, if you want inspiration on how to host a pirate birthday party, read on. Discover oodles of pirate party ideas that will leave the kids jumping for joy with excitement…
What does a pirate party entail?
A pirate birthday party really is as great as it sounds, it’s a specially themed soiree for your child (or children), filled with bright and exciting pirate-themed decorations, food, party bags, games and more. If your little one is crazy about pirates, they’ll remember this event when they look back on their childhood in later years – trust us.
First thing’s first, you’ll need to decide where the event will take place, whether that’s at your house, in the garden or a rented space. Then, gather a list of your little one’s favourite friends, and send out some decorative pirate party invitations, listing the date, time and place where all the excitement will begin. Of course, you’ll need plenty of pirate party supplies, too.
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with hosting, you don’t need to fret because we’ve got a special selection of pirate party ideas to share with you.
Start with pirate party decorations
Obviously, your party needs to look the part, with a centralised focus on everything pirate themed. And the best way to do this is with pirate party decorations. Because as soon as your child’s guests arrive, you want them to be immersed in the pirate experience you’ve created for this special occasion.
So, where to start? Well, you’ll need to dress your house up from head to toe, think stripes, skulls, parrot-themed anything and ensure everything is colour matched with red and black.
You’ll need to provide pirate party decorations that will wow every member of the party. Here are some of the best decorative ideas:
- Blow up a bundle of black, skull-decorated pirate balloons
- Hang decorated red bandanas from the walls
- Pin up some red and black skull bunting
- Cover the food and drinks table with a red and pinstriped tablecloth
- Make your own treasure chest out of cardboard and decorate it with gold paint.
Introduce fun pirate party games
Pirate party games are a must for your event; they keep the kiddies entertained and really let you play around with the fun theme of the party. There are plenty to choose from, but we have a couple of favourites for you to try.
A decorating biscuit competition
Children love nothing more than eating and playing, so combining the two at your pirate party is a great shout. All you’ll need to do is buy in some pre-baked biscuits and icing sugar pens to get started.
- Each child can then use their decorative skills to add little details to the biscuits, whether that be a drawn-on eye patch, an earring, a pirate hat or just a great pirate-inspired bushy beard
- Whoever produces the best piece of biscuit artwork will receive a free bag of golden coins.
This is a great, interactive game for the kids to enjoy together while producing tasty treats that suit the theme of the party perfectly. Let the games commence…
Pin the eye patch on the pirate
Instead of pin the tail on the donkey, your little ones can pin the eye patch on the pirate. That’s the beauty of pirate party games – you can make them your own. To create this game yourself, simply:
- Buy an A3 piece of card to hang up and draw a colourful picture of a pirate. If drawing isn’t your strong suit, print out a pirate picture from the web
- Provide every party guest with cut out eye patch with some Blu Tac attached
- For even more fun, you could provide other stick-on items for the kids to play around with, such as a beard, a trusty parrot or a telescope
- Buy in a blindfold for the occasion, or make one yourself using the fabric from an old item of clothing.
The children will be saying, “Shiver me timbers” in no time!
Go all out with pirate party food
One great thing about this kind of party? The pirate party food table! After all, you can get creative with each dish you provide. For instance, you could purchase a pirate sandwich cutter online to make every sandwich stand out (and suit the pirate party theme).
Getting creative with your food is one of the key highlights of throwing a pirate party. Although, you may be unsure of what to present to the little crew members of your party. Not to worry; there are a whole host of playful food ideas to get on board with.
To put on a yummy (yet exciting) spread, you can provide the following:
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Grilled parrot
Obviously, this won’t really be a parrot, but a tasty selection of chicken wings instead. Lay each one out on a tray with parrot decorations and let every guest tuck in.
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Golden treasure
You can’t have a pirate party without some form of golden treasure to nibble on. So, provide a selection of chicken or meat-free nuggets for the kids to enjoy.
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Polly crackers
Think of the famous pirate saying, “Polly wants a cracker” and channel it into your sumptuous spread. Buy in cheese crackers of any variety and simply lay them out on a plate for each child to nibble on.
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Caught’em dead cheese
Cut a block of cheese into tiny cubes for the children to snack on, and present them with colourful, plastic pirate swords stuck into each one. Simple snacks like these are quick and easy to make (and eat).
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Sword skewers
Grab a wooden skewer and slide a range of different yummy items down the centre, like grapes, cheese cubes and even meats (like party sausages). These provide a delicious snack that’s really in keeping with the pirate party theme.
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Out-at-sea taco boats
Grab a bundle of hard or soft taco shells, and fill them with tomatoes, cheese, guacamole, as well as any other vegetable you see fit. These tasty nibbles need to suit your pirate party, so ensure you stick a pirate flag in the middle and ask the kids to say “ahoy” as they tuck in!
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Pirate bananas
A simple yet effective pirate party food idea is buying bunches of bananas and decorating them. Simply wrap each banana in a red spotty napkin, with smiley faces and eye patches drawn on the outer skin. This adds a fun character theme to this fruity snack.
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A watermelon pirate ship
This one will wow the crowd. Buy a whole watermelon, cut it open and scoop out the fruit until you can see the rind. Then, add a bunch of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and grapes) as well as chunks of watermelon.
Use slices of the rind and affix them to each other with wooden sticks. This makes the sails for the boat, then finish it off with a hand-drawn black and white skull flag. The kids will be amazed, and fruit never looked so good!
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Pirate pastry
Simply roll out some puff pastry, top it with tomato puree, cheese and crosses made of red pepper and pop it in the oven. Don’t cut it into slices until their tummies are hungry, as you’ll want to decorate it with pepper palm trees before it’s sliced.
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A chocolate treasure chest cake
To finish, make sure you order a (or make) chocolate treasure chest cake bursting with chocolate coins. This edible delight is crucial to making your child’s pirate birthday party on-theme, and they’ll feel extra special when blowing their candles out, that’s for sure.
Give away pirate party bags
No pirate party is complete without pirate party bags – period. Being kids once ourselves, we’re very familiar with the excitement that comes with receiving one of these brilliant party favours. Because these magical giveaways let the party continue at home when the little ones “abandon ship”. But what should these bags of joy include?
You’ll need to start with a pirate-themed gift bag, with the likes of a captain and his parrot showcased on the front. These can easily be found online and in craft shops, as well as popular supermarkets. Then you’ll need to fill it to the brim with a range of playful goodies, but which ones?
Here are some of the items you’ll want to pick up for your pirate party bags:
- Foiled chocolate gold bars
- Chocolate coins (for treasure)
- Fun pirate stickers
- A pirate-themed bouncy ball
- A plastic skull eye patch
- A mini pirate jigsaw puzzle
- A mini telescope (to spot everyone out at sea)
- A multicoloured pirate necklace.
Get the party started
Now you’re all clued up on what you need to host a pirate party, it’s time to start planning your own. Create a cracking event that the little ones will never forget, and take each of our handy pirate party ideas into consideration. You’ll be on to a winner.
All that’s left to do is find a birthday card to suit the occasion (and hey, what could be better than a pirate card?!). And if you’re looking for more helpful ideas on special occasions and how-tos, just check out the thortful blog.
