Pirate Birthday Party 5yr.old I wanted to send in my pirate party ideas for my son Max's 5th Birthday! Thanks to all contributors on this site for your great ideas to help me make this party awesome.  Before the party...Invitations - I dressed up my son Max in his full pirate outfit and took a digital picture of him holding up his sword. I bought amber parchment paper and printed in a shareware font called "pirate keg" Ye be invited to Max's 5th birthday etc... Over a watercolor watermark of "Max the pirate". I cut curves on the invites and candle singed the edges of each invite.  I scrolled them up and put a gold ribbon around them and Max gave them out at his pre-school. For the neighbors, We put the scrolls in plastic "Calistoga" water bottles without the labels and put them in mailboxes for the kids.  Party Decorations - Our mailbox had black balloons tied and a large 3'x5' Jolly Roger flag hoisted from the pole on the 2nd story balcony. I had a skull and cross-bones on the front door where a wreath was usually. As you walk into our house I had a large treasure chest with a skull lock (made from cardboard & faux painting) propped open enough to show gold and silver coins and beads (Oriental Trading Company).  For added effect I took a soft battery operated light and had it shining off the coins and beads to get that shiny glow look. Of course I topped the entrance table off with a realistic skull with a weathered patch and three rubber rats scattered about. I also replaced the chandelier lights with flicker flame bulbs to give the room a candle glow.  In the dinning room I put several tables and chairs together for all the guests and had streamers and pirate themed plates, napkins,etc…(Diddam's party store).  I also had a table of two skulls (talking boris's) with patches and rubber rats singing "Yo-Ho-Yo-Ho a pirates life for me".  I took a small cd player and put the microphones enough distance away from the speakers to make the jaws and lights move in time with the music without over-powering the room and kids with sound.  It was awesome, most of the kids sang along and some just starred at them all through the pirates lunch. In the kitchen we had an island with all the "grub" and used the Playmobil pirate ships and accessories to create a cool scene with the food.  The food was simple – PB&J's cut into ship shapes with printed pirate flags on toothpicks.  Similar with hot dogs, chips, carrots, ocean jello with gummy sharks.   Party Plan – As you entered you could do several things - go outside and jump in the jumpy or get a pirate tattoo (Oriental trading company) or talk to the parrot (Battery operated repeating parrot) with some pirate sayings listed on piece of cardboard. Games – We planned for pin the moustache on the pirate, pirate ship battle, a treasure hunt – we only did the ship battle and treasure hunt. Pirate Ship Battle – We built (2) pirate ships (twin-wall & faux paint, pvc masts, muslin sails) and named them. We put 2 large plastic tubs behind each ship and filled them each with the same number of balls. We set a battle time limit and when the fighting commenced the kids threw the cannon balls (plastic) at the ship & crew trying to get them into the tubs.  At the end of 3 minutes we counted the number of hits (balls) in the tub, the winners took the least cannon ball hits! The winning team got eye patches and the other team got a piece of candy. We "enhanced" the battle with a recording from the Disney ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" and loop taped the battle scene audio track. In addition we had a fog "cannon smoke" machine periodically firing but that scared some of the kids so we turned it off quick. After the game we served lunch…YoHo After lunch we started the kids on a craft.  Decorate your own treasure chest (Oriental Trading Co.).  We sorted and added jewels and gold cloth and had glue with stations set-up. I faux age painted all the chests previously so the kids could focus on the decorating! Next we had a  Treasure Hunt – We hid clues (5) and then hid "buried" a piñata treasure chest full of candy. Because most kids were 5 years old we had a "Captain" leader reading the simple clues and giving hints where necessary. Once the groups found the "treasure" piñata we hoisted it up under our arbor outside and let the kids start swinging. We then went inside for cake and ice cream. (Playmobil decorations on the cake of a pirate ship with sharks in the water.) Then we opened presents and our guests left with a loot bag full of treats and a playmobil pirate figure.  My son loved his party so much he wants to do it again next year! Thanks again for creating this site it is a great place to share ideas!