Pirate Birthday Party!

Over the weekend my son turned 4, and requested a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party. It ended up being pretty cheap and simple, and the kids had a great time! So I thought I'd share some pics in case anyone out there is looking for ideas!

Decorations:
We bought some pirate stuff at Target (pretty decent birthday party stuff for a good price, BTW). We got a fabric banner for about $3, some streamers, a tablecloth, and balloons. Then it occurred to me that I didn't have anything to make it about Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so I printed some pictures off the internet and just taped them to my walls (super high-class around here, can you tell?). You can also see on the second picture my Birthday Collage - I always put up a collage of pictures of my kids on their birthday each year.

Games & Activities:
When the kids first came in, they did a Jake and the Neverland Pirates coloring page. Just wanted to give them something to do while we waited for all the guests, other than pulling out all my kids' toys. One of the kids asked if they were placemats. Hmmmmm... I pulled out my laminator, and then suddenly, they were!

The $1.52 bag of balloons was definitely the highlight of this party. We used the black ones to play Cannon Launch (who could hit a balloon the furthest), Shoot Captain Hook (they all stood behind the line and tried to pelt me with balloons), and Keep the Cannons in the Air (trying to keep all the balloons from falling to the ground). We also used a quick YouTube link to learn how to make balloon swords and made swords for everyone and then the kids had swordfights. They LOVED this (hint: make extras!).

I also put together a treasure hunt. I took pictures of different locations around the house, and then made a picture Treasure Hunt. I gave them the first picture, then they went to that spot, found the next picture, etc., until they found the "treasure." The treasure was a box with their goody bags in them - containing an eye patch, chocolate coins, ring pops, and popcorn.

The Food:
My son requested hot dogs, so we had that all planned out. Then I saw an idea online to turn hot dogs into pirate ships, with Goldfish crackers scattered around. I think these turned out cute, especially considering we put them together in like 5 minutes.

For the cake, we did a pirate hat, with some gold coins scattered around. This was a pretty easy cake made from two 8" rounds. It was in last month's Family Fun magazine.

All in all, I would consider this one of our best kids' parties. As I mentioned, everything was extremely cheap and easy to do, and the kids had an awesome time. My son loved it all!