Pirate Birthday Party Ideas

Young and old alike enjoy the pirate theme.  Talk Like a Pirate Day is on September 19 every year, just one of many excuses for a pirate party. Check out the following pirate party ideas and online shops for inspiration for pirate gifts and swashbuckling parties.

Pirate party ideas

Pirate treasure maps - for a pirate party game or authentic pirate invitation, age the paper. 

• Play around with different fonts but make sure the finished product is readable.  Blackadder and Viner Hand are a couple of suitably piratical fonts which are still easy to read.  Have a look in your wordprocessing software to see what you have.
• Perfectly straight edges and square corners are a giveaway -- slightly burn the edges with a candle or cigarette lighter or simply tear the edges off.
• Old paper that has seen a bit of adventure looks battered and discoloured.  There are many techniques to age paper.  A few ideas are:
  • Dunk the paper in a basin full of strong lukewarm tea, or simply wipe or dab the paper with used teabags.  If the paper is saturated it will buckle and warp as it dries.  If you don't want this, or if it's too wrinkled, iron with a cool iron once dry. 
  • Dampen the paper then flick specks on instant coffee onto it.  The dampness will cause the coffee stains to spread a little, resulting in dark spots.
  • Spray the page with lemon juice then bake it in the oven or iron.  This creates brown speckles.  Make sure your paper doesn't burn too much -- adult supervision is required for this one.
  • Crumple the paper when dry to get some nice creases.
• NOTE: Make sure any printing is waterproof before wetting it.  Alternatively, for an artistic flourish, write with a calligraphy pen after treating the paper.

Pirate treasure hunt - hide gold chocolate coins around the garden and make a treasure map as above.

Pin the flag on the map - A variation on pin the tail on the donkey, create a large map with an "X" marking the spot, put some blu-tack on the back of a mini jolly roger flag, and get blindfolded party-goers to "pin the flag on the map".  The winner is the person who gets the flag closest to the "X".

Captain says - A variation of Simon Says, the captain issues orders but only the ones starting "Captain says..." are to be followed.  Anyone who doesn't literally obey a "Captain says" order, or who obeys an order without the "Captain says", is out.

Pirate piñatas - check out Party Products Australia's pirate themed party supplies for pirate piñatas and other party game ideas.

Pirate costumes

• Unique Kids - Stylish range of quality products children. Free gift wrapping and personalised message cards for easy gift giving. See boy's party costumes & dress-ups for pirate costumes.
   
• Costume Box - Thousands of fancy dress costumes, wigs, hats, accessories and masks. They have children's pirate costumes in their Boys Historical and Girls Historical sections. All costumes displayed are in stock.
   
• Australia's Online Party Costumes Superstore - 100's of great costumes, masks & novelties delivered to your door anywhere in Australia.  See their Pirate costumes for pirate beards, hats, hooks, telescopes, swords, tooth blackouts, and complete pirate outfits.
  

Pirate Party Products

• Parties Online - Sydney-based party products store in operation since 1991. See
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Pirates and Peter Pan Parties
  • Balloons - Latex - Pirates
  • Invitations & Banners
  • Pirate Flags & Bunting
  • Pirate Decorations & Cutouts
  • Pirate Tableware
     
• Party Products Australia - your one-stop shop for party supplies, based in Brisbane, Queensland.  Party Products Australia stocks over 6000 items and has everything you need for a pirate themed party - invitations, balloons, napkins, plates, cups, hats, goody/loot bags, temporary tattoos, banner flags, piñatas, and a lot more!
   
  
• Twiggi specialises in vibrant and modern children's party products, dress-up costumes, party supplies, gifts, loot bags, prizes, and fabulous birthday cakes and cupcakes - everything you could possibly need for a kid's party! Based in Victoria with flat rate delivery Australia wide. Express, registered and international delivery also available. See Pirate Party Supplies for decorations, catering and more.
   
• Packaging Products Australia - For a pirate ship or treasure chest meal box, see kid's meal boxes. Each child can have their own ship that holds a cup, a slice of cake, treats & more. Flat rate delivery Australia wide.
   
• Global Style - Personalised products for children, including t-shirts, hats, vinyl name labels and personalised party labels which are great for invitations, presents, loot bags, cups and more. Available in packs of 50 for girls and boys, including a pirate design. Based in NSW with delivery worldwide.

More Pirate Things

• See Pirate Gift Ideas here
• See pirate costumes for adults on themes4parties.com.au