Invitations: Distributed three weeks in advance. In an Old English font:  Ahoy There Matey!  Captain Luke is turning five. Please join us for some swashbuckling fun! We'll set sail: (date time location)  Wave your flag if you'll be walking the plank with us buccaneers or have your mum send a message to (e-mail and phone)."  After printing I stained each with coffee crumpled and pressed flat to dry.  Then rolled as a scroll and tied with string.  Arrival activities: When children arrived table activities were set up for:  a periscope craft (recycled tubes pre-cut silver contact paper pirate stickers) temporary pirate tattoos and the pirate transformation station (kids got inexpensive store-bought pirate hats and I drew mustaches and beards on their faces with a face crayon). Offering multiple stations at once allowed them to chose what they wanted to do first or at all and left no space crowded. Organized party games: I painted styrofoam balls black and we had a cannonball toss into a "swashbuckling" metal bucket.  I made a poster of a pirate from the neck up taped it to the garage door and the kids played "Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Pirate."  I filled the sand table with clean sand and hid chocolate candy wrapped in gold (Twix and Snickers mostly).  I hid five pieces at a time and each child took turns "digging for buried treasure" til they found all five pieces. For the treasure hunt we all played together.  I wrote and read short poems that revealed clues to the next location with the next clue.  After about four or five clues we ended at the treasure chest (an antique chest we already had) that was filled with goody bags inside one for each child.  Goody bags: Cellophane pirate bags were filled with pirate tattoos and stickers red Tootsie pops eye patches black and red pirate punch balloons and pirate hooks. We took a picture of the decked-out pirates by the chest and moved on to treats. Party food:  I made cupcakes decorated with black sugar and chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.  They were served on my son's Fisher Price pirate ship.  We served juice pouches Pirate's Booty and cookies decorated in red and black with the cupcakes.  Decorations:  My son helped me make a pinata that we decorated as a pirate's head.  It hung from a tree in our yard and the kids broke it open toward the end of the party. I made a CD of spirited child-friendly pirate music that played in the background throughout the party. Some of the activity and games set-ups made nice decorations but we also used black and red balloons black and red table coverings and paper goods. As the party hostess I dressed like a girl pirate. The party lasted about two hours. Having planned activities right after the next helped keep the party controlled. It was organized so that there was never a dull moment and so much fun!        "