recipe for a pirate party

every kid needs a pirate party. ours turned out pretty darn well. so well, in fact, i wanted to share with you my personal recipe. here are some suggested ingredients for a fun, 3 year old birthday pirate party:

1. evite invitation - they have a couple of cute pirate graphics and b/c you have to fill it out yourself, there's lots of opportunity pirate jargon.

2. pirate apparel - these should be included in your favors, but give them to the kids as soon as they arrive. we had eye patches and hats. and grown-up krissy even brought fake earrings.

3. a pirate. (or a dad that's willing to dress up like a pirate.)

and also a parrot...

3. a treasure map. i downloaded this one and printed it out on kaki 11x17. when the little pirates arrive, have maps and crayons/markers ready at tables. encourage them to begin making their treasure map b/c later "we might have to search for the treasuaaah!" the maps are a nice way to corral the kids until everyone arrives.

4. tattoos - very important. while the kids color their maps, recruit a grown-up to be the tattoo dude or lady and put tattoos on the kids. sara p. helped me out with this. she is bode's teacher and brought bode's special friend, sara e., to the party. (yes, there are lots of saras. try to keep up.) 

5. now with the apparel, tattoos and treasure maps, the kids are totally in the pirate spirit. and they are also already in their seats so if you plan to serve food, this is the perfect time to do it. i kept it simple with pizza. and dave brought Pirate's Booty so we ate that, too.

6. How I Became a Pirate - as the kids finish their food, read this book to them. it's such a cute book and towards the end of the story, the pirates bury the treasure in jeremy's backyard. after the story, give guests their sand buckets (see #7) and maps and lead them to the backyard to look for the treasuaaah!

7. buckets and treasure - ok, here's where i'll speak more about favors and activities. provide guests with their own sand bucket and shovel. (i found these in the dollar aisle at target.) find a creative way to personalize them (i simply used a sharpie.) the bucket serves as the "goodie bag." but the goodie bag is empty b/c the goodies are buried in the backyard. 

we found small treasure chest piggy banks that we filled with candy, little pirate-ish toys and tattoos. we created one per guest. 

8. pirate cove in your own backyard - (this is where the treasure is buried!) choose a nook area of your backyard. you'll need a tarp, 10 - 15 bags of sand (we only used 8 bags and it wasn't quite enough), and some creepy pirate accessories. remember, pirate coves are not pleasant. basically, you just want to create a beach in your backyard. (we would have worked a baby pool into this shindig, but it was too chilly.) 

before the party, bury the "treasure" in the sand. in addition to the treasure chests, we buried other stuff like containers of candy and packs of stickers so there was plenty of stuff to dig up.

9. digging for treasure - ok, so the story is over and all the kids have their buckets and maps. release them to the backyard and let them dig in the sand and fill their buckets with loot. our little pirates had so much fun playing in the sand that they really kept forgetting they were supposed to be finding treasure. it was a hoot.

10. pirate cake - we had a captain jack cake but any pirate cake will do. after we were all sandy, we decided to just stay outside. we had cake, opened presents and the kids played until parents picked up and/or it was time to go. 

so that's my recipe for a pretty fun pirate party that my 3 year old just might remember... or not. oh, and i almost forgot...

the pirate cove and the whole party for that matter wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for my man, davidrussell. if anyone is wondering what an incredible dad looks like, they need look no further than this black pirate. ooo, i love that guy.