PIRATE PARTY My son wanted a pirate party for this 5th birthday. So we built a 10' x 12' treasure maze and it was 4' tall inside. We used 2x2's and 50lb. brown paper. It was actually a maze inside and the kids had to find their way through. It was decorated with gold coins and seashells. We had a pirate at one dead end and a treasure chest at another dead end.  There was only one way through. We also had a pirate ship shaped bouncer. These activities keep the kids busy between the games and getting the food/cake ready. We have our parties in our front yard and garage, since it allows for a lot of room. We decorated the garage with red & blue streamers, tissue parrots and palm trees, a fishing net with a lobster, crab and starfish. We also had pirate cut outs. We complied a CD with pirate music and had it playing during the entire party.  My sons and I dressed up in pirate costumes, that I had sewn. We played 4 games all with a pirate theme and we had decided to award each child for participating in each game, but gave a little extra something to the winner (i.e. pirate coloring book or story book) since we found that the younger children can get very disappointed if they don't win something.  The first game was done as each child arrived, but the winner wasn't announced until it was time to open the presents. They were shown a plastic treasure chest filled with gold coins and had them guess how many were in the chest. We did this by having them pick a number on a printed sheet, since most of them were between the ages of 4-6. The second game was musical islands, which is like musical chairs. We cut out cardboard in the shape of islands and placed them on a blue blanket. Each child was given a paper pirate hat and a red sash, which I had sewn. The third game was a bit more involved. My son doesn't like to wear a blindfold, so instead of pinning the "X" on the treasure map, we tossed bean bags onto the treasure map with the closet one winning. I had painted a treasure map on the reverse side of a large wooden floor puzzle and the kids had to go into the cave a find the pieces. We sent them in one at a time. Then we put the puzzle together and played the game. Each child was given a plastic sword and eye patch. We took a break and served lunch, which was pizza, fruit cups and fruit juice, no pirate theme. The cake was a big hit with the kids and the adults. It was a large treasure chest. I used the idea from Birthday Express, but made it bigger. The top cake  was yellow and the bottom was spice. The kids went back to swashbuckling and we cleaned up and got ready to do the presents.  We announced the winner of the first game and each child was given a treasure chest filled with a pirate sticker book, stencils, necklaces, a ring pops, plastic pirates, chocolate coins. We wrote each child's name on their box and they all sat down looking at their prizes while my son opened his presents. After the presents, we had a treasure hunt.  We went back to the puzzle treasure map and told the kids that they needed to find the treasure and that "X" marked the spot. When the map was painted, I took into account our yard and garage, so the kids could figure out were the treasure would be hidden, which was a pull- string treasure chest piñata. My son doesn't like to swing a bat at the piñata. I like the pull-string type piñatas, since there are much safer with younger children. Many of the parents agreed. It was filled with gold coins, rubber gold fish, fish erasers, compass, rings, finger puppets and some candy.  We asked all the pirates (kids) if they wanted to play the fourth game and they all did, so we played "pop the cannonballs" (black balloons). There was a small piece of paper in each balloon with two of them having the "black spot" on it, which in our game met you were a winner. Each child was given a plastic telescope and sharktooth necklace. I purchased almost everything on- line. These are just a few I used: Oriental Trading, Creative Party Stuff, Teach's Hole (specializing in pirate stuff), Amazon.com. There were 16 pirates (kids) ranging from age 4 to 12 and all of them had a great time. The adults were having as much fun as the kids, watching all the activities. The party lasted about 3 hours and many of the kids didn't want to go home, they still wanted to play pirate, running between the treasure cave and the bouncer. It took a lot of preparation, but it was well worth it, since it is a party my son will never forget.