Once in, they were given instructions for our pirate carnival we were going to have. We had seven stations for the children to choose from. They included: 1. Crocodile hoop toss - The children would try to throw a hula hoop around a crocodile head (an alligator pinata can work). Each child would get about 4 tosses. 2. Cannon ball toss - The object is to throw 4 foam balls, which had been painted black to resemble cannonballs, into a bucket. The distance can vary depending on the ages of the children. 3. Digging for treasure - I took some plastic gold coins and numbered each from 1-6. I had prizes that corresponded with each number. The gold coins were then placed in a pool of sand and stirred around to mix them up. Each child was given a opportunity to dig for a coin. Once a coin was found, the child would give it to my nephew and receive his or her prize - depending on the number. 4. Walk the plank - I made a plank out of an old fence board that I mounted on a couple of 4x4's. I then place the plank at the each of my patio. Each child had to walk to the end of the plank where they found a pirate flag sitting on a large orange cone. They had to pick it up and bring it back without falling off. There next task was to place it back on the orange cone, once again, without falling off. I made some buttons that said,"I walked the plank at Captain Logan's Birthday Party." The first time that each child tried to walk the plank, my wife pin this button on them. If they successfully completed their task, they also received candy. 5. Jewel Pickup - Each child had about thirty seconds to pick up as many jewels (marbles) as they could and place them in a bucket. The catch was each child had to use their toes. This was very difficult for 5 year olds, but they could do it. For each jewel placed in the bucket, they received a candy. 6. Musical Islands - I placed 6 colored disc on the ground. I figured it would be easier for 5 year olds to identify colors, over numbers. Up to six children could play at one time. Each child would start on an island (disc). When the music would begin, they all start walking around the circle, going island to island. When the music stopped, the children would stop on that island. My mom would then draw a ball from a paper bag to see who would win. Children who did not win were allowed to play again. If you did not have six children playing, a ball would be drawn until someone wins. I found this to be a better option than the musical chair version. 7. Face painting - No explanation needed. The children were allowed to play whichever games they wanted, as many times as they wanted. Each of them had a bag with their name on it to help hold their loot. At all the stations, except the face painting, children almost certainly won something. They were allowed to play for about 40 minutes.