For my son's 4th birthday, I had hired a clown with the promise she would play games with the kids and blow up balloons and then after a fun-filled hour of games and balloons, she would begin painting faces. I cannot say what a disappointment it was that she only blew up balloons and begrudging began painting faces. For someone who said a party of 15 children would be no problem, she lacked their engagement. For the money I spent for the clown, I decided that instead of sitting back and watching the party, I would facilitate the party. I was always afraid to do this but now that it is said and down, it was so liberating and exhilarating. I am here to share what worked and what did not.
For the invitations, I found a free printable invitation and then copied that imagine into a Word document. As a Word document, I used text boxes that contained the pertinent party information. I printed it on some card stock that was hanging around the office. Cute, colorful invitations for FREE!
Oriental Trading (orientaltrading.com) is AMAZING for pirate party themed pirate booty. As always, not only is Oriental Trading cheap, their service and products are perfect for any child's party. For the money I saved on a clown, I was able to go bananas on pirate booty!
Our party was at 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon so we decided to have snacks before the cake and ice cream instead of pizza. I made snacks and gave them all a pirate-theme. There was "Walk the Plank Veggies" (it was a veggie platter was veggie dip), "Coin Crackers with Cheese and Pepperoni (of course, just round crackers), "Sword Fruit" (which was cut pieces of fruit on plastic sword-shaped tooth picks) and "Snack Loot." Snack Loot was a recipe I had found from Taste of Home. I had made it and then it was accidentally dropped the day of the party and I needed a quick replacement. You can make Snack Loot yourself with a cinnamon or traditional Chex mix, animal crackers, mini pretzels (if they are not already in the mix), goldfish crackers and gummie bears. Mix all together and you got Snack Loot.
For the first activity to get children into the mood of the party, I had purchased an assortment of pirate garb. I had bandannas with pirates for both boys and girls, tattoos, eye patches, pirate necklaces, etc. In looking back, half the children were not interest and wanted nothing to do with this activity. It would have been a chance to order supplies for half the children because, as Murphy's Law would have it, you would probably have every child want it. This is an activity I could have skipped or, if I was to go ahead and do it again, I would direct the children to the station immediately upon their entrance to the party. As of party-helping-hands, I asked my babysitter to help out for the day and bring her sister. This enabled me to get to all the children with killing my husband (kidding) and having the children lose interest because they waited too long. Engagement is the key!
After this activity, the next activity was to find little treasure bags that were either filled with faux pirate coins or colored gems. I had hoped to do this as a relay race between two teams but, when I said "GO," all the children ran looking for their hidden present. In discussing this with a friend afterwards, she had made the comment that relay races are a lot of fun but are a more practical activity for seven years old or up. I will try a relay again. Either way, the children liked this activity and they each won their own pirate treasure. Our swashbuckling time had begun!
Next, was a game that I created that was called the Cannonball Toss. I filled up a bag of water balloons (approx. 100) that I bought for $.50. I then took one of the pirate flags that I bought at Oriental Trading and stuck it in a pail of sand in the middle of a kiddie swimming pool. I lined the children up in two lines and handed each a water balloon and had them aim for the pirate ship (the pirate flag in the sand pail). If they got a water balloon in the kiddie pool, they earned a golden coin. This game was enjoyed by the children and generated much excitement. The only thing I would do differently is that when the game was over and unsmashed water balloons remain, I would either smash them myself or make them off limits to the children. After the games was over, some of the children were getting hurt as they all raced over to smash them. See the pictures below of this activity.
The last activity that we did before we broke for cake and ice cream was the Treasure Hunt. I saved up empty Gatorade containers (any plastic juice container with a cap would work but it should have a larger cap for ease of removing the clue). I strategically place clues throughout my yard. Here is a list of the clues:
1.
Start
at the big X and walk to the swing set.
Somewhere hidden underneath it is a clue for you.
2.
Ahoy
matey, you have discovered the first clue.
Can you find the next clue? Head
through the wooden gate and look for two large granite slabs of rock. Look behind them in a circle in the wall.
3.
Matey,
think you can find the treasure??? Walk
towards the driveway and the next clue will be in a bush that looks like it is
growing snowballs? That should throw you
off because it is summer time.
4.
I
haven’t lost you yet! Walk down the
stairs of the driveway to the Christmas Tree with the big rock. That silly looking beach glass is a good
place to look.
5.
Next
continue up the tar hill and you’ll see a big rock all by itself. Well, it looks like it is all by itself, but
there may be the next clue waiting for you there.
6.
Still
haven’t lost you my landlubber friend??
Continue through the metal gate and look towards the rock wall in front
of you. You see something?
7.
Next
, continue up the wall and take the bend.
The fire pit has more than just wood in it. It is home to your next clue.
8.
Haven’t
lost you yet?? Walk to the swing
set. The tree closest to you looks like
a great place to hide the next clue.
9.
Head
towards the pool. In the middle of the
mulch area, there is a bush with green leaves.
What else do you think lives in the bush?
10.
Oh,
great, you’re still with me. Look at the
big blue house. There is a big stack of
wood sitting there … look for you next clue in the wood pile.
11.
Walk
towards the pool house and the third Christmas Tree in (the one in the middle)
has a surprise for you.
12.
Go
past the blue pool house. There are some
little red bushes. One of them has the
next clue.
13.
Go
back to the swing set. The other tree
next to it has a small plant on the bottom.
What could be hidden in the small plant?
14.
Blue
umbrella with your chairs all around you, what would find if we looked
underneath the table?
15.
Shiver
me timbers, what more can I say. Where
is there a huge log pile? What could be
near it? Another clue? A possible
treasure? Lead the way matey, lead the
way!
Just so you get the idea. I took my laptop and when throughout my yard two nights before and typed up my descriptions and what I saw. I also wrote a number on top of each container. This was helpful because if they did spot another clue, they confirmed it was the right one with the number.
To keep chaos at bay, I had several rules that were established for this game. First, we began where "X" marks the spot and I handed the first person a pirate flag. The person who was holding the flag, was the only person to be able to grab the clue from its hidden location. Once they found the hidden container, they would give it to me so I could read the clue and then they would choose someone who has not had a turn. This worked great for activity management. What I had done weeks before, I had made a treasure box (listed below) from two paper boxes and package wrapping from work (both free) with a glue gun. You can do anything with a glue gun. To keep with crowd management, I made individual booty bags and each player was allowed only one bag so there was no fighting or crying over who got what. You can see from the last picture below watching the children run to the find the treasure how excited they were to find the treasure chest.
After that, it was time for cake and ice cream. I had a coworker of mine make me a pirate-themed cake. You can probably purchase one at any grocery store chain. I did by a big box of Hoodsies from BJ's. It so much easier to hand out a Hoodsie to the children than try to scoop. Parties are fairly chaotic and anything that makes it less chaotic is wonderful!!
One activity that we made for under $5 dollars was a "Walk the Plank." It is something the children could do as they were passing by. We had an old wooden plank so we nailed it to foot high pieces of wood. We had just cut some trees down in the yard and had perfect pieces. I bought a tiny can of black paint from Home Depot and used a foam brush. I wrote "Walk the Plank" on the board. It also now serves as a cool souvenir from the party.
Lastly, after cake and ice cream, there is no better way to end a party then with a piñata. I usually start making the piñata 4 to 3 weeks before the party. Paper maiche is easy, but it is a process. Mix one part flour with five parts water. I cooked it in a sauce pan until it thickens in consistency. I used am immersion blender to remove the lumps. Wait until it cools and then cover a blown up punching balloon with strips of newspaper. Do this two to three times and then the last coat should be with white paper so its easy to paint. Don't forget to leave a hole so you can add the loot. Once added, cover the whole with masking tape and then with newspaper, white paper, etc. There is plenty of information about this online as well. We saw a pirate-head piñata that I liked online so we followed and personalized it to our own taste. Not only the piñata a great activity at party, it is a great activity to make with your child.
I also purchased plastic sand pails for the children. They were only a $1 and would be something they could use again and again. It also provided a great place to store all their loot they acquired from the party. Just make sure you get labels to put their names on it to avoid confusion.
Yes, parties are a lot of work but the end results can be amazing. When your five-year-old asks to go to bed an hour after the party and, when you wake them up to eat, they eat dinner and request to go back to bed, you know you've thrown a great party!!!
