Arr, matey! Get ready to set sail on the high seas of party planning with these must-have elements for an unforgettable pirate-themed birthday celebration. From pirate costumes and kid-friendly pirate tattoos to pirate-themed decorations and delicious pirate-inspired snacks, this blog post will guide you through the process of creating an epic adventure that will leave your little buccaneer and their guests shouting ‘Yo ho ho!’
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Ahoy, matey! Are you ready to embark on an unforgettable adventure? If you’re planning a birthday party that’s full of swashbuckling excitement, then you’ve come to the right place.
I’m sharing how we created the perfect pirate-themed celebration for our little guy’s 4th birthday!
From inexpensive pirate costumes that will bring out their inner swagger, to finding treasure and sailing in a pirate pool!
We’ll also explore how to set the scene with captivating pirate-themed decorations, fuel their quest for treasure with delicious snacks fit for a pirate feast, and capture the magic of the day to create memories that will last a lifetime.
So, gather your crew, polish your pirate gear, and prepare to immerse yourself in the world of pirates, because this post is about to set sail and guide you towards a celebration like no other. Yo ho ho! Happy party planning!
Pirate Birthday Party Inspiration – Pirate Party Ideas
Pirate Party Decorations
Ahoy Matey! It’s Time for a Pirate Party!
Party things to get from the Dollar Store in party colors:
- Plates
- Napkins
- Forks
- Knives
- Spoons
- Cups
- Food Table Tablecloths
- Solid Color Balloons
- Solid Color Streamers
- Solid Color Balloon Weights
- Tableware
Balloons are a cheap and easy way to scream PARTY!
The red, white, black, and gold balloons are from Dollar Tree but I did grab some cute pirate-themed balloons from Amazon to mix in. I love adding balloons to the party area! They’re inexpensive and really pull a party together with the theme colors.
While you can try to find a party store that will blow them up for you, I suggest buying a small helium tank. You can order helium tanks on Amazon but you can also find them cheaper at craft stores and places like Walmart. Most of the time these tanks can fill up to 50 balloons and come with the string for them. I love doing this so much more than trying to find a place to blow them up and then trying to get 50 blown-up balloons safely back home on the day of the party.
Table Decorations – Food Table
How to Set Up Pirate Party Food Table
I love decorating the party food table to match the theme instead of the tables where people are eating. I feel like most people have enough on their tables with food and drinks that they don’t need lots of decorations on the table with their plates.
The food table though, I love to make everything match the theme.
Since we’re having a pirate theme, I used a Treasure Island Pirate Plastic Tablecloth to cover the table and a little Buried Treasure Party Flag Banner to cover the front of the table.
In the corner of the table, I placed a wooden crate from the Dollar Store that I painted brown, topped it with a Halloween cloth to look like fishnet, some rope from the Dollar Tree, a set of Pirate Ship Skeleton Jail Key, a Halloween candelabra from Dollar tree, and a 10 Inch Pirate Boat.
Pirate Party Menu:
To keep with the Pirate theme, I tried to make everything have something to so with pirates!
From Left to Right:
We’re starting off with our Berry’d Treasure Pirate Ship (aka Watermelon Fruit Bowl)
A watermelon, cut in half and hollowed out, then filled with cubes of watermelon, strawberries, grapes, and blueberries.
I used these little Pirate Flag Toothpicks to stick into the fruit for more of a Pirate Ship look.
Next, we had breadsticks for “Peg Legs”.
Buy premade breadsticks at the store or use my recipe for Copycat Olive Garden Breadstick Recipe.
Our Main Dish was Mac and Cheese and Pirate Pasta! We were originally going to the elbow pasta to make a marinara pasta dish and then use the Pirate shaped Pasta with the cheese to make “Golden Pirate Pasta”. However, my husband was trying to help and mixed the wrong sauce with the wrong pasta shapes.
That’s ok though. It still turned out great. You can find the Pastabilities Pirate Pasta – Pirate Shaped Pasta on Amazon.
We also had Chips and Dip, because my son loves Cheddar Cheese & Sour Cream.
Next up on the menu: Golden Doubloons aka Golden Oreos
For these Golden Doubloons, I just took regular Oreo Cookies and sprayed them with edible gold spray. You can find edible spray like this at craft shops like Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Walmart or online.
Last but not least, we have our Cheesy Treasure Maps!
For these, I just took sting cheese sticks and drew a treasure map on the plastic with a sharpie.
They were super easy!
We also had a big box of “Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar Cheese” for everyone!
Join the Pirate Crew and Join the Ship!
I love having themed activities for the kids at Jackson’s birthday parties. For his first birthday party, we had a pumpkin patch where the kids could pick a fake pumpkin, decorate it and take it home, and for his 2nd Birthday, we did an “Adopt a Puppy Station” because his party was “Puppy Dog Pal” Themed. (We didn’t have a big party for his 3rd Birthday)
So this year, we set up a Pirate Temporary Tatto Station and I made “Pirate Crew” gift bags for the kids so that they could turn into pirates for the party!
Pirate Costumes: Dressing the Part
We wanted to make sure that everyone got to be a pirate at the pirate party, so I made little gift bags for each kid.
They each received a personalized goodie bag with their name on it and each bag included:
- A Pirate Vest (from Dollar Tree)
- Plastic compass (from Dollar Tree)
- Ring Pops
- Pirate Party Hats
- Eye Patch
- Telescope
And they also got a blow-up pirate sword. The last 4 items came in a set from Amazon.
I also set out some skull and pirate bubbles from the Dollar Tree for the kids.
If you want to make the bubbles extra special you can make a wrap or label in a program like Canva and print it out to go around the bubbles.
We found a lot of pirate party supplies online but also got lucky and found quite a few items at Dollar Tree. If you know you’re going to have a pirate party, start looking around the Dollar Tree in October and you’ll find a few skull and crossbones items you can use.
The Pirate vest and other pirate items were in the toy section of Doller Tree.
Pirate Temporary Tattoo Station
For the temporary tattoo station, I ordered these Temporary Pirate Tattoos and got a folding poster board from Dollar Tree.
I then taped each tattoo to the board with directions so that each kid could pick a tattoo and the parents could help apply them.
I made sure to get extras because I knew that the kids would want more than 1, and I was right! haha They loved this station at the party!
Treasure Box Piñata Fun
We found a Treasure Chest Pinata on Amazon and filled it with all kinds of candy.
The kids always enjoy the Pinata Fun at the parties.
Pirate Pool!
We already had a pirate ship-themed pool for the kids! So we blew that up for them to play in.
I couldn’t find the pool we have online but I found a pirate sprinkler that would still be neat.
Now What about the cake…..
Pirate Treasure Map Pull Apart Cupcake Cake and Dessert Table:
I love making Jackson’s cake each year and while I’m not an excellent cake maker, he seems to love them. So for this birthday party, I made a Treasure Map Cupcake Cake Pull apart cake.
Just some vanilla cupcakes and vanilla frosting on a board with candy rocks, graham cracker sand and black and red decorating gel.
Easy Peasy and he loved it!
Pirate Party Birthday Party Favors – Sugar Cookies
Pirate Party Favors-
As we normally do, I gave out sugar cookies as the “official favor” for the party. I was so tired and had so much going on with this party that I didn’t make them super cute this year. However, they still tasted great.
This is the Sugar Cookie Recipe and Royal Icing recipe that I use for all of my cookies.
I absolutely loved how this party turned out!
Want more party ideas?
- Jackson’s First Birthday – Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Party
- Jackson’s 2nd Birthday – Puppy Dog Pals-Themed Party
- Jackson’s 3rd Birthday – Dinosaur Birthday Party
Ps. Jackson’s cute little “ARR… I’m 4” shirt can be found here on Amazon.
If you have any ideas for more Pirate Party food, decorations or games let me know in the comments!
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