A Pirate Birthday Party NJ Style

By Freida Michael


Your youngster is about to begin another milestone in his life and is so looking forward to the event you are going to plan for him. You know that he will love a pirate birthday party NJ style and you are going to work hard to bring it to fruition. The small city of Middletown, NJ, has just the resources you need to make this event a grand success.

You just don't quite know where to begin. There is so much to think about and plan for. There are door prizes, costumes, decorations, games, crafts, goody bags, and food to consider. Invitations also need to be purchased or designed. It is such a fun and exciting theme that you know you are going to have fun just planning it.

Invitations should be at the top of your list. You can purchase them ready-made or you can make your own. This will depend on your creativity, your time, and your budget. Choose invitations that will reflect the age of your child. You don't want it to be too young if he is seven or eight years old or too complicated if he is two or three. Use a map or ship motif. The invitation could be a vintage map with directions to this exciting event.

Be sure to choose the perfect costume for your little one. It could include a hat, pirate hook, eye patch, short breeches, and even a colorful parrot on his shoulder. Ask all the guests to come dressed in their own themed attire.

The decorations will be your biggest challenge. They will depend on the space you have available, your budget, and your decorative abilities. Enlist the help of other mothers who may have skills that you are deficient in. The centerpieces can simply be pirate ships. Fill them with candy, trinkets, and treasures for extra impact. Use an anchor theme for your paper or plastic plates. Decorate the area with treasure maps, more anchors, ship flags, and skull and cross-bone banners.

You could add the usual games but a unique twist would be to have a treasure hunt. Give each team or child a rolled map that will take them to a treasure at the end of their search. Crafts could include making pirate hats from large sheets of colored paper and arm hooks from aluminum foil and large plastic cups.

The cake could resemble a ship or a treasure chest. Cupcakes would be a fun alternative with skull and cross-bone, ship, and anchor designs on them. Cut and hollow out a large watermelon into a the shape of a ship, add fresh fruit such as melons and grapes, and add masts and flags, for a healthy snack alternative. Goody bags are the best part. Have them ready to hand out to the guests as they leave. Gold foil-wrapped chocolates and trinkets could be placed in miniature treasure chests or tiny plastic ships to carry on the theme of the gathering.

Don't forget to take many photos of this awesome gathering. You, family and friends can view them for years and remember the hard work and time it took to pull this event off. Your child will have fond childhood memories of this special time in his life.




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