Pirate Extraveganza- The Party Activities

It only took half a week, but I think I have finally caught up on my sleep. I figured it was probably about time that I posted the rest of the pictures from the party. I don't really feel comfortable posting pictures of other people's children without their permission, so I apologize for the lack of action shots. I also failed to charge the batteries in my camera before the party, so the majority of pictures were very gratefully taken by my wonderful mother-in-law.

I spent enough time in Cub Scouts to know that I would need a gathering activity while all of the kids were arriving, so that I didn't have them running wild all over the place. I found this pirate shoulder parrot craft at Disney's Family Fun. The kids had fun coloring their own parrots.

 Meanwhile, I had set up a simple photo booth to take their pictures. I had plans for a more elaborate backdrop, but ran out of time. Oh, well.

After everyone had made their parrots and gotten their picture taken, we introduced the Pirate Training Program and gave them each their own "treasure map" with outline. The guests were 4-5, so the treasure map was more for the sake of having a map than actually finding anything.

 First on the agenda was reading How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon. I love that book- the pictures are amazing. The kids were surprisingly attentive while I read the story to them. After the story, they all were given loot bags with pirate stickers in them (Walmart had some pirate party supplies).

 Next on the agenda was Pin the Eye Patch on the Pirate. I drew a picture of a pirate on poster board and covered it with contact paper for the backdrop. For the eye patches I cut out a patch shape (I used these as my pattern-there were other printables as well) and laminated them 

 The prize for everyone (cause pirates share their loot), was an eye patch, of course.

Eventually I will post my tutorial for how I made these.

The third activity was Sink the Pirate Ship with the bean bag cannonballs. The prize: cannonballs (Whoppers).

I created the labels in Word (circles 1.9" in diameter with a 7 width on the outside line) and cut them out with a 2" punch, and glued them on scrapbooking paper that I had cut into 3"x4" rectangles and folded over little bags that were 3" wide (I found these in the jewelry section at Walmart). Not that anyone noticed, but my candies were all in multiples of 5, just because I am OCD like that.

The next activity was a Cannonball Pop. 

I inserted five plastic gold coins in black balloons and blew them up (that is them in the garbage bags on the trampoline). The kids had to sit on their balloons and pop them to get their prize.

Next up was Walking the Plank (the wind might have taken out some of my sharks and waves). I cut the shark fins and waves out of foam board from the dollar store. I made bases from scraps of foam board that I hot glued on, and spray painted them.

Avast ye! The kids were pretty good at walking the plank.

The prize for this activity changed several times. What I really wanted were some gummy sharks. I could not find them anywhere in town. On-line, they were more expensive than I wanted to spend. Idea number 2 was some hooks for their hands. I found some online at Party City that were only 50 cents each. When I went to pick them up, I discovered that the Party City here had gone out of business. My mother-in-law checked at the Party City near her, only to find out they were being discontinued and were all sold out. That left me scrambling at the last minute to come up with something, hence more "gold" (Wearther's Original). If I had more time, I found a hook tutorial here that wasn't too cheesy)

 For Go Fish, I hung an old shower curtain on some PVC pipe that I hung from our First Up gazebo. I cut fish out (Cricut Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge) and laminated and taped to the front. For extra color my brother-in-law and I taped up streamers.

My fishing pole was a dowel that I painted brown and used some jute twine with a clip attached to the end.

The prize: Swedish Fish.

Next up was a Buried Treasure dig. I filled an underbed storage tote with ring pops, necklaces, marbles, and coins left over from the Cannonball Pop, and covered it all with sand.

 I think everyone had fun digging for treasure. If I was to do this again, I think I would have used two totes to accommodate the number of pirates I had in attendance.

 Last on our list was X Marks the Spot.

 This activity went through several idea stages as well. I thought about actually burying a large treasure chest for the kids to dig up, but thought that would not be exciting (think 5 year-olds standing around watching one person dig). I thought about burying individual treasure chests for each to dig up, but I don't like sand that much. Finally, I was inspired by Easter Eggs. I glued tongue depressors together to form and X and spray painted them red (I made enough for each child to find one). My brother-in-law hid them in a designated area. The kids had to find an X which they could exchange for their personal treasure chest, which was filled with a pirate bandanna.

 The treasure chests I printed out here from this website. I cut them out, laminated them, and glued them together. I put a little piece of velcro on the lock to hold them closed.

 The bandannas I made using the Simplicity 2792 pattern (I made the large size). I should probably mention that the weather didn't cooperate for this party. The forecast called for 102 F of sizzling sunshine, and it was. Other than the heat, it turned out great. I had enough adults on hand to keep the kids from going wild, and enough kids to keep it just the right amount of party crazy.

 After they completed all of the activities, each child received their own Certificate of Completion, designating them as Pirates.
After becoming Pirates, it was present and food time. The timing worked out perfectly. We were just getting done eating when the parents arrived to take their little pirates home.

And one last picture, just because she was such a cute Pirate. Kitty had a great time at her brother's party. She was glad that one person wasn't able to make it, because being the silly mom I am, when I was planning all the activities, I just planned for the number of kids we invited, forgetting I had one more little girl here who would like to participate.