Give me your best OUTSIDE Pirate party ideas.....

[marshallandcartersmo]

Several of the moms in my neighborhood do a "camp" once a week at our houses. Gas prices with driving to parks, community pools, playgrounds was really eating into our budget thi summer. We came up with this great way to keep the kids busy while saving money on our gas bills!!

Last week the neighbor w/the swimming pool had "Water Day". Don't think any of us can beat that one. This week another neighbor will have all hers red, white, and blue.

It's from 10ish - 1ish, we feed them snacks and have activities and lots of fun. There will be about 18 kids here, ages ranging from 10 - 2.

I've decided to do a pirate theme. Everyone loves pirates, right?? Here are my "assets":

Big Backyard
10 huge potato sacks
Badminton set
Water balloons
Bubbles
80 Sandollars that we found from our beach trip a few weeks ago


Not much, huh? I'm sure I'll need to go buy some supplies for crafts/games. But I'm not good at deciding WHAT. HELP!!!!

 

[Mschissl]

Make a big sign on poster board welcoming them to the Day. Use pirate words like Ahoy Scallywags and welcome to the Pirates of (insert your neighborhood name here" Pirate Adventure!! And talk like a pirate to them all day, they will love that.

Big backyard is a big plus. How about a treasure hunt???? You can make maps on brown lunch bags, just cut them up and wrinkle them up a bit and then draw on them. One of the things you can buy is a big bag of candy or whatever for the treasure, you can even use the sand dollars for treasure then they can exchange the "treasure" for treats.

Have the Badminton all set up and make a sign "Born to be Bad-minton" so they can play or even have a tournament.

How about a water balloon fight or even just water balloon toss??? You can tell them it is a game called "shiver me timbers"

The potato sacks are great too. You have to have a race. Name it something fun. It is early...i can't think of anything right this minute. The Amazing Pirate Race"

Little kids LOVE bubbles so you can have the little kids have fun with that. Set up an area though because even older kids like bubbles sometimes. put up a little sign saying "yo ho ho, time to blow some bubbles"

You can make Pirate Punch to drink and feed them some of that puffcorn as the "Pirate Booty snack" and for dessert, you can make something pirate themed, or let the kids make their own swashbuckling sundae" I don't know when your party is but, grocery stores always seem to have ice cream on sale, and they can put their own pirate toppings and sprinkles etc. on it. I am sure you can find struff to make it piratey!!

For a craft you can have them decorate their own treasure bags with stickers and such from Michael's. Then they can put their loot in there from the treasure hunt.

Okay that is all i got for now. hope you can use some fo these and that I kept it thrifty enough. I think you can top that Water Day Please post an update and let us know how it goes. Good Luck!! Sounds like so much fun!!

Oh and by the way, there is actually a National talk like a pirate day....I know... CRAZY!! Look that up and you can find some pirate lingo there, more than just the usual stuff. I did a pirate theme Birthday one year for a friend and it was everyones favorite, people still talk about it!!! I think you will be a hit!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Several of the moms in my neighborhood do a "camp" once a week at our houses. Gas prices with driving to parks, community pools, playgrounds was really eating into our budget this summer. We came up with this great way to keep the kids busy while saving money on our gas bills!! ......

What a great idea!!

If you have, or can borrow, a bunch of hoola hoops, you could set them up as "islands" for the little pirates to jump on "through shark-infested waters".

I love the treasure maps, too!

 

[dougsmom98]

Kids love obstacle courses. If you have a big back yard, I would do that. Here are some ideas for different legs of the race:
-Like a previous poster said, use the hula hoops so they jump from one island to the next
-Have them walk the plank (use a piece of lumber for them to balance/walk across)
-Hunt for hidden treasure - have a kiddie pool or some other tub like bucket filled with sand and have them find hidden treasure. Hide pennies throughout the sand and have each kid dig for 1-2 pennies during this portion of the obstacle course before they can move on.
-Polly wants a cracker - have kids pick up crackers with a plastic spatula and then have them quickly navigate and weave around some chairs or cones.
-Jumping Jack Sparrow - have the kids do jumping jacks while they sing Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life for Me two or three times
-Throw them in Davie Jone's Locker - Have the kids toss some plastic fish or starfish into a bucket

Other outdoor game ideas -
Swab the deck - Split the kids into two teams and one at a time they will race using swimming noodles to push/pull an empty pop bottle down the field.

Sail the ship - Put a plastic toy boat into a square dish pan, you will need two of these (one for each team). Split the kids into two teams and have the kids race one at a time to their dish pan set up and pour the water in it. The first team to make their boat really float wins.

Hope this helps.

 

[irishprincess]

Check out familyfun.com. I got some great ideas there last year. I made my dd6 a "pirate ship" out of a refrig. box. Really cute and easy! The kids loved it. I also made a treasure chest cake.

 

[squirrel]

www.orientaltrading.com has some great Pirate Party things. Lots of stuff to decorate and for goodie bag items.

Didn't cost a lot to have it shipped to Canada, so it should be even less for you. If you sign up for the e-mails they send you a code for discounts.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

some great GREAT ideas!!

thanks so much for all your help

I've got some planning and shopping to do!

 

[StephMK]

Party stores sell big bags of "gold" coins - if you have a sandbox or bag of sand in a rubbermaid bin - they can dig for the buried treasure. We filled DS's sandbox w/little prizes for his 4th bday & the kids had a ball digging around for the stuff. They also sell black water balloons that could look like cannonballs.

 

[stacy6552]

treasure hunt that ends with treasure burried in a sand box.

Decorate treasure chests.

Water balloon battle.

 

[MJAJmom]

Check out www.birthdaypartyideas.com. They have tons of themes, including pirate party. People write in describing their party (invitations, food, games, decorations, goody bags, etc). I've found lots of great ideas there.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Check out www.birthdaypartyideas.com. They have tons of themes, including pirate party. People write in describing their party (invitations, food, games, decorations, goody bags, etc). I've found lots of great ideas there.

great link.

thanks

 

[FutureDis]

I was thinking you could setup 2 "ships" across from each other (maybe a line of chairs with blankets over them to make walls) and use the water balloons for a ship war. Maybe who ever knocks down the wall of the other team wins?

Love the treasure hunt with map idea!