Ahoy there me hearties! Fly the Jolly Roger and let's open a treasure chest of pirate party games for your little pirates to play!
Pirate games for kids are fun!
Children love pretending to be pirates - and playing pirate games means they can be officially naughty while the grown-ups look on approvingly!
Treasure hunts, blindfolds, gangplanks and cannonballs rule the day. Watch out for the shark - and do as the Cap'n tells ye!
Spice up your pirate birthday party games with some fun kid pirate costumes, face paints and decorations, and your pirate party will become a legend before ye know it!
Pirate Aye Aye Cap'n! This is a pirate follow-my-leader game. One person is the leader, or Captain. He or she will shout out the tasks to be done, and the kids must shout back "Aye aye, Cap'n!" and do the action:
"Scrub the decks!" All the kids get down on the floor and give it a good clean...
"Climb the rigging!" Up to the top of the rope ladder they go.
"Walk the plank!" Kids must walk heel-to-toe in a straight line, with arms outstretched.
"Shark attack!" Kids put one hand on their back with their elbow in the air and zoom around like sharks, showing their teeth!
"Land ahoy!" Everyone puts one hand above their eyes to protect them from the sun, standing with legs apart and swaying from side to side to check the horizon.
"Marooned!" Kids sit on the floor and pretend to row to freedom from a desert island.
Pin the parrot on the pirate It's an old favorite and always goes down well. A large illustration of the head and shoulders of a mean-looking pirate is all you need, along with a cut-out parrot to go on his shoulder. A bandana blindfold for the volunteer, a twirl around - and let's see where that parrot ends up! I usually use sticky tak for this pirate party game, making sure the child is holding the parrot properly before starting.
Pirate party games musical gangplank Cut out some long strips of construction paper or card and stick them together so that you have a "plank" long enough for all the children to stand and dance on. It should be wide enough for their feet, but narrow enough for them to have to balance a bit! All the kids stand on the plank. Start the music and get the kids dancing on the spot on the plank. When the music stops, they must freeze. Anybody who falls off the plank is out. It's good to have some music that gets faster and faster as you go along!
Pass the parcel treasure hunt You can't play pirate party games without having a treasure hunt!
Wrap up a bag of chocolate coins (containing one for each child) and add enough layers of different colored wrapping paper so that each child can unwrap a layer. In between the layers, add an envelope with a clue. It can be written or you can add a "mystery item".
Each clue will point to a place or a room in a house. For example:
toilet tissue
a small bar of soap for the bathroom
a leaf for the garden
a picture of a bed for the bedroom
a cd box for the cd shelf
a teaspoon for the cutlery drawer
cut out piece of card from the soap powder box for the washing machine
a biscuit wrapper from the biscuit tin
In advance, place small party favors around the house in your chosen locations.
Sit the children in a circle and start the music. Make sure each child has a turn at opening the parcel and discuss the clue together. Once you reach the chocolate coins, share them out - then send the kids off to look for their "treasure"!
Cannonball skittles A soccer ball or basketball will do for this game. And no throwing - only rolling - is allowed!
Once child holds the ball. The other children are arranged an appropriate distance away as much like a group of skittles as is possible!
The aim of the game is to roll the ball towards the group and to hit as many feet with the ball as possible. Any child who is "hit" is out. The child who "knocks out" the most kids with one go (or maybe two!) is the winner.
Buried treasure If you have a sand pit, add lots of small party favors and coins. Each child has a go at collecting some treasure.
Depending on your guests, you can make the game more difficult by either blindfolding them, or letting them use only one hand, or getting them to use a spoon - or all three!
Have an adult at hand with a pot to put in the treasure collected to add to their loot bags. If you're indoors, cover the floor first in case any sand gets spilled.
