Pirate Games

This page has ideas and instruction for pirate games that the kids can play for a pirate themed birthday party.

Instructions for Pirate Games:

Beware of the Bomb!
Play hot potato with this fun twist.
Pirate Madlib
Hilarious fill in the blank pirate story.
Guess the Pirate Picture
Ask yes/no questions to guess the picture.
Treasure Hunt
Hide treasure and create a great andventure.

1. Beware of the Bomb!

This pirate game is exactly like hot potato, but with a bomb.

What You Need for Beware of the Bomb:

Small black balloon
Small piece of string
Red paint or marker
Jolly Roger (skull and crossbones) sticker or white paint and stencil
A music player of some kind that can be paused quickly

To make the bomb, just blow up the black balloon until it's round, but still fairly small. Tie the string to the tied off part of the balloon. Color the loose end of the string with a little red to make it look like a lit bomb. Finally, put the jolly roger sticker on the balloon or paint it on using a sticker or your own creativity and talent.

How to Play Beware of the Bomb!

It really is just like hot potato.

Sit the kids down in a circle.
Give the birthday kid the bomb.
Start playing the music and have the kids pass the bomb around the circle to their left.
Let it go around for a little while and then pause the music.
Whoever was holding the bomb when the music stops is out.
Have them start passing the bomb again then pause the music again.
Continue until there is a final winner

If you like this game but don't have the time to make the bomb, then take a look in our Pirate Party Accessories Store to find a similar pass the bomb game that is already created for pirate party fun.

2. Pirate Madlib Game

This is a super funny pirate game in which the party kids fill in a sheet of words which get tranferred into a pirate story with hysterical results. Everyone will be laughing so hard it'll be difficult to keep reading the story.

There are two printouts need for this game:

The story can be filled out directly on the pirate madlib story sheet, but it is better to fill in the word list first since some of the words are used more than once in the story, for continuity. It also makes the distribution of words more random and much funnier. Note that there is a short description of the word types at the top of the word list as a guide for the kids.

There are 2 ways you could play the game:

The Shorter Version: The person running the party will be responsible for collecting words for the pirate story word list. They will go around the group asking for a word from each of the kids, and continue going through the group of kids as many times as necessary until the list is filled out. In a party of 8 kids, each child will be giving either 4 or 5 words. Put the birthday child at the beginning so that he/she can be one to give more words. Also, for a good result, use the birthday child's name as "name 1" in the word list. That is the main pirate in the madlid pirate story. Now the word list needs to be transferred to the story. This will take 5 minutes or so, so have a quick activity for them while you fill in the the story. Now it's time to read the story aloud and the gut-busting laughter begins.

Have extra copies printed out, just in case they want to play again. In my experience, they want to play this as many time as you have time for.
The Longer Version: In this version, print out a copy of each page for each kid at the party. Initially, just hand out the word lists to each of the kids at the party. Have them each fill in a pirate madlib word list, but keep in mind they will probably need a little help with the types of words they need to use. When they're done, have them put their name on the sheet and then swap sheets with another party guest. If there is an odd number of kids, then fill out one yourself and swap.

When the pirate story word lists have been exchanged, hand out copies of the stories and have the kids fill them in. When they're done filling in the stories, have them swap back with the same person. Finally, one-by-one the kids will all read their hilarious pirate madlib stories out loud to the crowd. If anyone is too shy, then you can read it out for them.
The kids usually love the pirate madlib stories and will often want to do more. If you don't have time to do more, then just have some extra copies on hand and send them home in the loot bag. Their already filled in stories are also a great addition to their loot bags.

3. Guess The Pirate Picture

This pirate picture game is a great game for the beginning of the party which can be started as soon as people start arriving. It could also be an ideal filler between other pirate games or activities at the pirate party, since it doesn't take very long (maybe 10 minutes).

To play the game:

Tape a picture to the back of each kid. Each picture should be somehow related to pirates, such as a pirate hat, parrot, ship, treasure, etc. We have pirate related pictures here for your convenience:
Each child must try to guess the picture on their back by asking other kids questions. But the answers to the questions can only be yes or no.
As the children guess their picture they then tell you and you can write down the order of the kids. This is really only necessary if you have prizes for the winner(s).

This pirate game is simple, fun, short, and great for mingling. Just make sure the kids don't see their picture for you tape it to them.

4. Treasure Hunt

This pirate game has the kids searching for hidden treasure in and/or around the house. To play this game you will need:

Chocolate coins (in the gold foil)
Candy necklaces
Treasure box
Coin sacks or small paper bags
Clues

To play the game:

Think of several hiding places inside and/or outside the house where you can hide pieces of the treasure. Try to come up with enough hiding places so that there is one more hiding place than the number of kids at the party.
Make cryptic clues to the each of the hiding places. The kids will need to figure out each clue to find their way to the next stash of treasure.
Roll up the clues and tie them with string to they look like little scrolls. You may want to number them on the outside of the scroll so that you know where to hide the scrolls and treasure and the kids will know if they're getting the treasure in the right order.
Put a few chocolate coins into each of the little coin sacks. If you don't want to use a coin sack, just use small paper bags, or even ziploc sandwich bags. You may choose to put one of the children's names on each sack. By the end, each child will have a sack of their own to keep.
Put a large stash of coins and the candy necklaces into the treasure box, or whatever small box or container you plan to use.
Keep the clue to the first treasure separate. Hide the coin sacks around the house and include the clue to the next treasure location in the coin sack. The last coin sack will have the clue to the treasure box.
Divide up the loot from the treasure box evenly amongst the coin sacks and each child will keep their own coin sack.

For more pirate birthday party theme ideas, follow these links:

Pirate Party Invitations
Pirate Party Crafts
Pirate Games
Pirate Costume Ideas
Pirate Party Snacks
Pirate Cake
Pirate Party Loot Bags

Didn't find what you were looking for? Try searching www.Fun-Kids-Birthday-Party-Ideas.com to find what you want.