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Aaargh Matey! It’s time for a swashbuckling pirate party.
The pirate party is a classic birthday party theme, and there are so many fun and creative DIY pirate party ideas that can work for all ages.
So if you’re planning a pirate party for your little mateys then look no further.
If you’re here then there’s a good chance that you’re planning a pirate party for your little mateys to celebrate their next birthday.
And planning the perfect party doesn’t have to be a hassle.
All you need are the key ingredients – decorations, food, drink, entertainment and favors.
I’ve broken these down into sections for you, and I’ve gathered together a selection of my favorite pirate party ideas
All you need to do is pick two or three of your favorites from each section, throw in a scattering of dubloons, and have fun!
So grab your hat and boots and climb on board for a pirate adventure. Treasure awaits, parrots will speak, and some of you might even walk the plank!
Enter if ye dare.
Table of Contents
Pirate Party Decorations
You can have a lot of fun with pirate party decor.
This is where you get to set the scene and get that salty sea dog atmosphere going.
Keep things easy for yourself and stick with a simple color scheme of red, black and neutrals, and add little pops of gold and silver. After all, no pirate party would be complete without a little pirate booty.
Decorate with textured fabrics like burlap and cheesecloth, which you can stain with coffee or tea. Don’t be afraid to rip or fray them a little. You can even put holes in the fabric to give it a weathered, shipwrecked effect. Then you can drape it over the tables and furniture.
Old wooden palettes, boxes and scrap planks of wood can also be great decorations. You can try raiding your garage for these, but if you’re coming up empty then thrift stores and yard sales can be goldmines.
Hanging cotton fishing net from the ceiling and walls can also be really effective. This netting comes with real seashells already attached, which really adds to the seafaring theme.
If you want to go all out you could even get a wooden ship’s wheel or pirate treasure chest to amp up the nautical atmosphere and delight your little mateys.
X Marks the Spot Treasure Map Path from Not Your Normal Steam
What better way to kick off a party than with this simple treasure map path decoration from Not Your Normal Steam?
It’s going to be the first thing that little pirates are going to see when they sail up to your front door.
Just imagine how excited they’ll be when they see what’s waiting for them!
And all you need for that amazing reaction is a couple rolls of black and red duct tape. Easy! And cheap. Nothing is better than a simple decor idea that gives you some amazing bang for your buck.
I think this decoration would be even more amazing if you paired it with a treasure map party invitation like this one from Etsy.
It even comes with a free thank you card printable. Because even pirates have manners.
Pirate Party Centerpieces from Fleece Fun
These cute pirate party centerpieces from Fleece Fun are a great (and affordable) way to add a bit of pirate flair to any empty corners.
Hot glue rope onto some dollar store glass bowls and add the free printable flags from Fleece Fun. All that’s left is to fill the bowls with sand, pirate gold or any other piratey trinkets!
You could even fill the bowls with candy, and dot them around the party food table for a fun way to turn party snacks into decorations.
Pirate Party Accessories from Paging Supermom
No budding pirate is complete without their eyeglass, hook and pirate hat!
Paging Supermom has a great tutorial to show you how to DIY your own out of regular household and party supplies.
You could even get the kids involved and double this up as a party craft so that they can make their own little pirate accessories!
Pirate Streamer Photo Backdrop from Journey of Parenthood
Photo backdrops are always a hit at parties. Kids just love dressing up, pulling silly faces and sharing the photos with each other.
And you couldn’t get an easier backdrop than this one from Journey Of Parenthood.
It’s just red and black streamers hung from a piece of rope.
You can customise it however you like by adding some ribbons and jolly roger banners or flags.
DIY Pirate Ship Mast from Oriental Trading
You can bring The Black Pearl to life at your party with this DIY pirate ship mast from Oriental Trading. I love this amazing shipwreck themed party prop.
Wooden dowels, glue, stain and a jolly roger flag all come together to make this a real showstopper.
You can lean it against a wall or prop it up behind the party table, but I really love the way Michelle weighted it inside a big planter and used it as a way to showcase some pirate booty. What a brilliant way to elevate the pirate theme!
Pirate Skeleton Guest from Christine Hamrick Photography via Catch My Party
Kids will love having an extra guest at their pirate party table, especially if it’s a skeleton pirate!
This posable skeleton would be perfect dressed up in a pirate outfit. It’s a little on the pricey side, but would be great repurposed as a halloween prop for your halloween parties.
But if you’re sticking to a budget this posable bird skeleton can give a similar effect on a smaller scale.
Pirate Candle Holders from Oriental Trading
This pirate candle holders tutorial from Oriental Trading is a great way to recycle some old wine bottles and add a sunken pirate ship vibe to your party food table.
It’s amazing how much a bit of black and gold paint can really transform a simple glass bottle!
Scatter some gold pirate coins around and some burlap and netting and you’ll have the most swashbucklin’ food table around. Savvy?
Pirate Party Food
Pirate adventuring on the high seas is hungry business.
But filling your buccaneering crew bellies doesn’t need to be difficult. You can get really creative with pirate party food and still keep things simple.
Let’s take a look at some easy pirate grub ideas so that you can create a bountiful feast.
Pirate Ship Hot Dogs from Pizzazzerie
Let’s kick off our pirate feast with a savory treat.
These pirate ship hot dogs from Pizzazzerie are an easy and bang on trend hot dog hack.
And more importantly, kids will love seeing this little fleet of pirate ships.
All you’ll need to create them are some skewers and decorative paper.
Swashbuckling Swords From Holly And Mark
Add a bit of fun to the healthy option with these swashbuckling swords from Holly And Mark.
Just hollow out some cucumber and poke carrot sticks through. Add some hummus or other dip on the side and watch those little buccaneers dig in!
Crab Sandwiches From All that glitters is Gold
These crabwiches from All That Glitters Is Gold will be an adorable addition to the party food table.
Just make regular sandwiches using some croissants and stick on some googly eyes glued to toothpicks.
Googly eyes make everything fun.
Fish & Chips and Silly Squid Hot Dogs From Eclectic Mom Sense
Crunchy snacks are always a hit at parties. And I love this play on words from Eclectic Mom Sense, who takes crowd pleasers and turns them into a big bowl of fish and chips.
Cutting up hotdogs to create silly squid hotdogs is another fun and easy finger food that little pirates will go crazy over.
Dead Man’s Fingers From Gypsy Soul
Dead man’s fingers from Gypsy Soul will take your food table from cute to creepy.
All it takes is a bowl of cocktail franks and a label that you can easily make up yourself.
You can even get creative and add a little pot of ketchup “blood”.
Pirate Treasure Oreos from Purple Chocolat Home
I don’t think a pirate party is really complete without a some gold treasure.
And these pirate treasure oreo coins from Purple Chocolat Home are pure genius.
Just grab your double stuff oreos, spray with edible gold and silver spray and you’re done.
Easy, delicious, and effective!
Pirate Party Loot from Leonies Cakes and Parties
Grab your printables and jump on board with repurposing regular food into Pirate Food.
I love how Leonies Cakes And Parties has used this fun and easy trick to revamp regular candy into this pirate loot candy bar.
Maltesers become canon balls, chocolate coins, Hershey’s nuggets and rolos become pirate treasure and cola bottles become mini bottles of kid friendly grog.
Kids will love it.
And don’t stop there.
Be creative about what else you could pirate-ify. Pretzel rods as peg legs? Sandwiches cut into rectangles as wooden planks? Grape cannon balls? Let your imagination run wild!
Sand Dollar Cookies from Mother’s Niche
These sand dollar cookies from Mother’s Niche are a fun, on theme treat for the snack table.
You can use your favorite snickerdoodle recipe (or buy a cookie mix, I won’t tell!) and use slivered almonds to create the sand dollar look.
You’ll have a batch of these perfectly delicious cookies in no time! They look just like the real thing, but way yummier.
Clam Cookies from Elevate Everyday
These seriously adorable clam cookies from Elevate Everyday are just nilla wafers sandwiched with strawberry frosting.
Candy eyes make them super cute, but you could leave those off, or add a little candy pearl instead.
Watermelon Pirate Ship from Mom Advice
For a healthier treat, what about this watermelon pirate ship from Mom Advice.
This would be a really refreshing centrepiece for a summer pirate party, and is a fun way to pirate-ify a big bowl of fruit!
Pirate Ship Cake Tutorial from Cute Sweet Things
If you’re after a showstopper cake then this pirate ship cake tutorial from Cute Sweet Things is perfect.
Sure, it’s a little more work, but birthdays are only once a year so it’s the perfect time to push the pirate boat out.
And you can make the cake up to 5 days ahead of the party so all you make it all ahead of time and then whip it out on the day of the party to really impress everyone!
Easy Pirate Cupcakes from It’s always autumn
If cupcakes are more your style then you can’t go wrong with these four cute and easy pirate cupcake ideas from It’s Always Autumn.
They use frosting and candy or cookies for the decoration, so they’re perfect even if you suck at cake decorating.
You don’t need to make all four – just pick your favorite and run with it.
To make it even easier you can even use store bought cupcakes and frosting instead of making it all from scratch.
For something even easier, try these printable pirate party wrappers from Etsy. Just pop a cupcake in the little boat and add the flag. Couldn’t be easier.
Pirate Party Drinks
We’ve got the pirate party food covered, now let’s think about the drinks!
You can keep things simple with free printable juice box and bottle labels, but if you want something a bit more special take a look at these fun ideas.
Ocean Water Punch from The Country Cook
The Country Cook’s Ocean Water Punch is the perfect 2 ingredient drink for your pirate party.
All you need is lemon lime soda and Hawaiian Punch Polar Blast. You can even add in some Swedish Fish to swim amongst the ice cubes and really drive the nautical theme home!
If you wanted to recreate something similar without Hawaiian Punch then I bet you could get the same effect by adding some natural blue food coloring to clear soda.
Jolly Roger Punch from Liz On Call
If you’re after something a bit more natural then give this Jolly Roger Punch From Liz On Call a try.
It’s a delicious blend of tropical fruit juices and ginger ale that will definitely go down a treat.
Grog Printable Label from Monopache
These printable grog labels from Monopache are an easy party hack.
The best thing about this is that it works for anything – ginger ale, root beer, fruit juice.
Anything kid friendly that you can think of, just stick this label on it and the kids will feel like they’re drinking real pirate grog!
Pirate Party Games And Activities
By now they probably have tons of energy to burn after all of the sugary sweet swirls of unicorn food.
It’s time for the games to begin!
Pirate Treasure Hunt from Party Delights
Everyone loves a scavenger hunt. That’s why it’s such a classic party favorite.
Elevate a regular scavenger hunt into a treasure hunt to bring it on theme for a pirate party.
Just follow the link for all the free printables.
This fun treasure hunt from Party Delights is perfect because it has everything planned out for you.
All the clues are written in a secret pirate code that the kids will have a blast deciphering. They’ll be hunting down that pirate treasure in no time. All that you need to do is hide the booty!
Walk the Plank from Princess Turned Mom
A pirate party has to have a walk the plank game, like this one from Princess Turned Mom.
Kids of all ages are going to love this.
For really little kids take the breeze blocks out of the equation and just place the plank on the ground on top of a blue sheet. Safety first, after all!
If your kids are older you could even place a paddling pool of water underneath the plank for a fun twist that will really up the stakes!
Pirate Ring Toss from Suburble
Dollar store pirate hooks and an old shutter come together to make this really fun pirate ring toss game from Suburble.
I bet it would work just as well with a bit of plywood if you don’t have any old shutters lying around though.
You could also make the hoops from pieces of rope instead of the brass rings. Just use some duct tape to connect the circle and you’re ready to go!
Dig for Pirate Treasure from Make Life Lovely
This pirate treasure dig from Make Life Lovely looks like so much fun.
It’s a perfect kids activity if you have a sand pit or paddling pool that you can fill with sand. Just bury a bunch of pirate treasure trinkets and set those little pirates loose.
If you want to keep things super fair then you could count out how many of each trinket each kid can find, and set them a challenge to only find those items.
Pirate Punch Box from Suburble
This pirate punch box game from Suburble is a fun DIY that you can make from an old cardboard box.
Think of it as a piñata alternative, but instead of setting sugar fueled kids loose with a big stick you let them take turns in punching through some tissue paper and they get to keep the prize inside.
It takes a little work to put together, but it looks so worth it.
Pirate Party Favors And Goodie Bags
Party favors are like the icing on a cake. They can add that special final touch that makes a party so much more memorable.
It really doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ve already thrown an awesome party, so don’t chicken out at the last hurdle.
Just remember to keep it on theme to keep the swashbuckling fun alive long after your guests have set sail for home.
X Marks the Spot Favor Bags from Hostess with the Mostess
These DIY loot favor bags from Hostess With The Mostess are super easy to put together.
They’re little burlap sacks with a treasure map added onto them which keeps them brilliantly on theme. These are little mini ones, but you could size up if you have bigger favors that won’t fit in the mini sacks.
You can find the full tutorial here.
Pirate Party Favors from Chickabug
This cute pirate party favor printable from Chickabug is a brilliant way to package up candy free favors.
Pop some pirate loot in a ziploc baggie and use the free printable to add a pirate-y touch.
You can still use them for sugary loot if you really want to, but the parents will probably love you a bit more if you lay off the sugar!
Pirate Treasure Chest from Bubbablue & Me
You can turn a party favor into a fun take-home activity with this really cute idea for a pirate treasure chest from Bubbablue & Me.
These paper mache boxes could work well, or you go fancy and try wooden treasure boxes like these.
You could even use a printable like this one from Etsy.
DIY Pirate Hat from Sand in my Toes
I love it when a craft can double up as a party favor, it’s one less thing to have to think about.
These DIY Pirate hats from Sand In My Toes are perfect for that, and the kids get to decorate them however they like. After all, every awesome pirate needs a hat!
Plus, it’s always nice when kids get to head home with something they’ve made.
You’re Ready!
All the pieces are now in place for your amazing pirate party!
You have everything you need. Just pick a few of your favorite party ideas above, and get planning that swashbuckling pirate party!
You’ve got this.
PIN IT FOR LATER!
