A Treasure Map of Pirate Party Ideas

Ahoy! A pirate ship is about to unload a band of rowdy scallywags right into your backyard. Add another dimension to your nautical decor by hosting a pirate-themed party. Not sure how to get started? Worry no more! Below you’ll find all your Pirate party ideas, including invitations, food to feed your guests, activities, themed favors, buccaneer games, a variety of pirate party decor, and menus that are sure to shiver everyone’s timbers!

Pirate Invitations

Themed invitations are a great way to start off your pirate party. A fun design gets children excited for the adventure! Pirate party invitations can be a treasure map, a treasure chest, or a Jolly Roger flag with a skull and crossbones. Just be sure to make them really special by using a fancy font, or calligraphy. Be sure to give the start time, end time, date, and location of your pirate adventure.

Treasure Map Invitations

Draw a map of your house on a piece of paper or parchment a treasure map invitation with an ‘X marking the spot’ for your house. Write the party details in an empty spot on the map.

Pirate Bottle Invitations

Stranded on a birthday island? Age your diy invitations with tea and roll them up into a scroll and tie them with some ribbon. Slip them into some small cheap bottles. A message in a bottle you can hand deliver to your party guests.

Weathered Look Invitations

Print your invitations or pirate treasure maps onto plain white paper from your computer. Make some strong black tea and dip your invites into the tea and place them on sheets of baking paper to dry. When they are nearly dry tear the edges of the invites to give them that weathered look. When they are completely dry take a lighter and carefully singe the edges.

Pirate Costumes

A pirate party just isn’t the same without all the pirates dressed in their buccaneer outfits. Being shipwrecked and marooned at the party really requires the right outfit and the magic of pirate costumes makes the party special. Whether you’re looking to recreate a costume from your favorite pirate movies or to create your own idea, take a look at our pirate costume ideas below!

Jack Sparrow Pirate Costume – Captain Jack Sparrow costumes are some of the most popular pirate costumes out there.
Family Pirate Kid’s Costumes – Parents can dress up as pirates and dress their little ones as a pirate, or, for older children, the entire family could wear pirate-themed costumes!
Women’s Pirate Costume – While some will choose to dress up as Elizabeth Swan or as astrologer Carina Smyth, you can become a fearsome pirate with a Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired theme costume.
Captain Hook – Another recognizable pirate from a movie, we love this cosplayer’s rendition theme of Captain Hook and his amazing coat and hat.
Captain Barbossa – Another favorite from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is this villain, Captain Hector Barbossa!

Pirate-Themed Wearable Suggestions:

Eye-patches
Bandanas
Hand hooks
Pirate hats
Large gold earrings
Skull & Bones party beads
Parrots
Pearl and gold party bead necklaces

Add-on mustaches and beards
Toy swords & pistols
Tattered sashes
Belt
Vest
Boots
Tattoos
Dreadlocks & beaded braid

Fun Pirate Party Decorations

Set the mood for your party with great decorations like a Jolly Roger flag flying on a ship’s mast, some old wooden signs pointing to the Caribbean, or a banner over the drive saying “Landlubber beware”. Cover the party table in black or red and accent it with streamers, balloons, and confetti. If you are really ambitious you can create pirate ship decorations out of some large appliance boxes for a special play area just for the party.

Customized Party Posters

A customizable party poster is a perfect pirate party idea to cover the walls with so your guests will know right away that they’re in for a swashbuckling good time.

Skull and Crossbones Banner

Pirate Party Banners are great ways to cover lots of space with minimal effort, which is always a bonus. It can also go almost anywhere: outside a house, over the party table, across the room.

Pirate Photo Backdrop

A Pirate Party photo backdrop theme is a perfect thing to show the world just how amazing your party is. It’s so much fun and will give you memories to last forever.

Pirate Photo Props

Get different Pirate Party prop sticks like hats, hair, parrots, beards, or even hooks. The props add so much more fun to photos and will make your look unique.

Fake Gold Pieces

Adding some fake gold will not only add color to your decorations but also excite any kids and perhaps you can let them take some home as a souvenir.

Party Area – 18th Century Ambiance

Continue the 18th-century ambiance in the party area with period artifacts and nautical items. Some ideas for inspiration include:

Captain’s wheel
Anchors
Swords
Noose
Skeletons & bones
Jolly Roger flags
Cobwebs
Wood signs
Alligators
Muskets/Pistols
Palm trees
Burlap sacks

Glass buoys
Rats
Conch shells
Monkey fist knots
Skulls
Casks & barrels
Parrots & exotic birds
Hurricane lanterns
Tombstones
Rum “XX” bottles
Treasure map Ideas
Rope railings

Candlesticks Ideas
Sails & rigging
Telescopes
Wooden buckets
Rope Ideas
Fishermen nets
Tankards
Chains Ideas
Wood crates
Spittoons Ideas
Wood trunks/chests
Voodoo/tiki gods Ideas

Pirate Party Food Ideas

Pirate Parties are the perfect excuse to indulge in mouthwatering pirate-themed delectable treats. Eating food like a pirate surely delights the senses. Food makes events extra special, and if you are planning a pirate-themed party, here are some of the top pirate food ideas for you to try. We’ve got you covered with simple ideas that make a big impact without adding stress to the ship’s cook.

Hot Dog Ships

Turn hotdogs into a fleet of pirate ships, simply cut out squares of paper for the sails and poke them through an extra-long toothpick.

Treasure Map Pizza

Use your favorite pizza recipe for this one, gently shaping the dough into a rectangle. Add sauce and cheese and bake before adding a sliced olive trail, pretzel-broccoli trees, a bell pepper boat, and of course an “X” to mark the spot.

Watermelon Pirate Ship

Transform an ordinary watermelon into an extraordinary (and edible!) pirate ship with careful carving and a set of DIY paper sails. Once carved, add the balls of honeydew, watermelon, cantaloupe, and blackberries.

Riches and Gold Snacks

With a little bit of imagination and ideas, pretzel sticks become peg legs, Gushers turn into mermaid bait and malted milk balls double as cannon balls. Add to the mix cheddar fish crackers, gold chocolate coins, and caramel corn and you’ve got the perfect array of pirate snacks.

Skull and Cross-bone Sandwiches

Shaping sandwiches to look like skulls and cross-bones makes a fun and creative pirate party food ideas. Make your usual sandwich, then cut out a pirate skull shape using a pirate-themed cookie cutter. The more fun the shape is, the more the kids will love your sandwiches.

Easy Pirate Food Ideas

Pirate Pinwheels (tortilla roll-ups)
Pirate Pond (blue dip with floating Goldfish crackers)
Pirate Princess Cake
Pirate Treasure Salad
Pirate Cannonballs
Octopus Ocean Pirates Food
Pirate Peg Legs (Pirate Hotdogs)
Walk the Chicken Planks
Pirate Ship Sub Sandwiches (pirate sandwiches)
Dead Man’s Fingers (fun pirate ship food)

Pirate Punch and Drinks for Pirate Theme Party

The Shark Bite

Ahead of your pirate birthday party, make some ice cubes out of cranberry juice and freeze a gummi shark into each one. Then serve a clear drink at the party such as Sprite, but add a few of the ice cubes to each glass when serving. Add ‘Beware of the Shark’ labels to each glass then sit back and wait. As the ice cubes melt the Sprite will start to turn blood red and the gummi sharks will float to the top.

Caribbean Sea Water

Serve blue drinks, such as Kool-Aid, in a big punch bowl and label it ‘Caribbean Sea Water’ then float a toy pirate ship on the surface.

Pirate Party Favors Ideas

Looking for some fun and great ideas for the kids to take home as party favors? We have gathered up some of the best pirate party favor ideas.

Gold coins (plastic or chocolate!)
Eye patch
Pirate party hat
Bandana
Pirate sword
Pirate hooks
Themed mini coloring set
Temporary pirate tattoos
Pirate-themed playsets or figurines
Themed stickers

Pirate Party Games and Activities

Mischievous party games are perfect for a pirate-themed celebration. Give your guests plenty to enjoy by putting on a handful of these party games and activities for kids. They’re even more fun when you’re dressed up, so ask your guests to arrive in their best pirate costumes! Here are some pirate party ideas:

Walk the Plank

Place a piece of rope or a beam across the room and challenge kids to walk across without falling into the shark-infested sea!
To make it tougher for older kids, have two teams. Kids then walk the plank from differing ends and have a sword fight in the middle. If they fall in, they’re out.
The team with the most kids who make it all the way across wins.

Captain’s Relay Race

Ask everyone to put on their pirate hats and eye patches for a fast-paced pirate relay race.
Split your guests into teams and set up a simple route at your party venue or in the yard.
Give the starting runner a pirate’s cutlass and ask them to pass it on to the next runner in their team.
The first team across the finish line collects a handful of chocolate coins as a prize.

Forbidden Pirate Word

At the start of the party, give each guest 10 gold coins. Choose a pirate word to be the forbidden word of the day.
Since kids will be talking like pirates, some ideas for forbidden words include pirate, ship, matey, and arrrrrrrr.
For the first 30 minutes, kids simply continue with the party activities as planned, but when one kid catches another saying the forbidden word, the offending player must surrender one of his coins to his captor.
When time is up, the pirate with the most coins wins.

Treasure Hunt

Give the kids a treasure map – you can make it look ancient by painting it with coffee or a wet tea bag – and set them off exploring.
Mark Xs on the map to show the places they need to find. At each spot place a clue for them to discover (and maybe some gold coins).
The clues should lead them to the hidden treasure pot at the end.

Pin the Eyepatch on the Pirate

Revamp this party classic by swapping a donkey for a pirate’s face and a tail for an eye patch.
Line your party guests up and ask them to pin the eye patch on while blindfolded.
The closest match wins a prize!

Cannon Ball Pop

To play this game you will need several black balloons. Make a slip of paper for each balloon. On half of the papers write something indicating a winner, such as, “Collect Ye Treasure.”
On the other half, write something referring to a loser, like, “Walk the Plank!” Fold the papers and insert them into the balloons before inflating them. Scatter all of the balloons around the play area.
Gather the pirates and tell them that they are under attack and must detonate the cannonballs before they reach their ship.
Players will then stomp or sit on the balloons to pop them. A player who gets a winning message collects his prize and is out of the game.