Pirate Party for Fourth Birthday When Jake turned four, I really wanted to do a Pirate Party theme. His birthday is in August, and the idea of combining water activities with various battles and hunts seemed perfect for boy and girl guests alike. We started with cute and surprisingly simple invitations.  We used brown scrap booking paper (8X11), and made origami/paper folding boats.  I pushed a bamboo skewer through the middle and attached a cardstock sail, on which I printed the party information. I topped it with a red little banner. These boats fold flat for mailing, fit in large envelope, or pop up to put in a mailbox. They look like hard work, but I made 20 of them in an evening. We had the party at our neighborhood pool, so there was a built in activity for free. We greeted each guest by giving them a pirate bandana that I had made and by painting the children's faces with mustaches and scars. (Buying pirate hats for 20 kids would have costs $30 at Party City. We used black fabric cut into triangles with pinking shears.  I used iron-on transfer paper and some pirate clip art to put a pirate design on each bandana. Total cost for 20 hats was $6.40.)  When all the kids had arrived, we had a water balloon battle.  We used chalk to draw two pirate ships on the pavement. The kids were divided between the two ships and each team was given about 100 water balloons. The first team to erase (or sink) the other team's boat won. The losers had to walk the plank (jump into the pool).  The kids loved this and it made for hilarious video. Make a LOT of balloons, this activity is over quickly. Next, we let the kids "Dive for Treasure". We took small water toys purchased from the Dollar Store and froze them into ice cubes. (I used Solo cups so the ice cubes were very large).  We put them in the pool and told them to melt them to get their prize. Playing with ice is cheap and extremely fun for this age group.    Next we served lunch -- hot dogs with construction paper sails, goldfish and fruit salad. We had a great pirate ship cake from Publix, but there are a number of cool pirate cake ideas out there if you want to make your own. The last activity was a treasure hunt. Because four year old kids can't read, we made a treasure map and cut it into pieces. We hid the pieces in various locations -- each puzzle piece leading to the next step on the map.  The last puzzle piece showed where "X" marked the spot. The treasure chest was filled with the children's goodie bags.   The kids played with their goodies while Jake opened his presents.    We took pictures of each child with Jake as he opened their gift and used those pictures for the thank you notes.  Since several of the children were still in costume, the photos were great. Over all, I still hear about this party. All the moms loved it and it was extremely affordable. I think I spent less than $200 for 20 kids and their parents.  Best of all the memories will last forever!