If you're hosting a pirate-themed birthday party for your child, let the guests create crafts to play with during the festivities and to keep as a memento after the event is over. Use inexpensive craft supplies, materials from the dollar store and items you have on hand to come up with activities to stimulate guests' imaginations and sense of creativity. The clever ideas will keep the little buccaneers busy between games, refreshments, cake and the gift opening.
- Step 1
- Cover the table with newspaper to protect the surface from adhesives, paints and pens and keep the mess to a minimum.
- Step 2
- Make eye patches by cutting black craft foam into 3-inch-wide triangles with sharp scissors. Holding the triangle upside down, use a hand-held hole punch to make a hole halfway down both sides. Cut a 12-inch piece of elastic cord, and push one end through one hole and tie a double knot. Hold the patch against the child's eye, wrap the cord around his head, push the other end of the cord through the other hole, and make a double knot. Remove the eye patch, and cut the excess cord with scissors.
- Step 3
- Use paintbrushes and a light coat of washable black paint to transform empty paper towel rolls into pirate telescopes. Affix a 5-inch-square piece of plastic cling wrap over one end to serve as the lens by applying a piece of double-stick tape around the end of the roll. Hold the plastic wrap taut over the opening in the roll and press the sides down to stick to the tape. Decorate the tube with pirate-themed stickers.
- Step 4
- Create treasure maps by crumpling 11-by-17-inch pieces of tan construction paper to create wrinkles before smoothing the paper out. Tear 1 inch off each side of the paper to produce a ragged edge. Let the kids use crayons or markers to create treasure maps to help the other guests find a treasure that they've hidden where "X" marks the spot.
- Step 5
- Invite the kids to decorate pirate swords that you've created. Trace a clip art sword shape onto pieces of gray craft foam with a pen, and cut out with sharp scissors. Provide an assortment of self-adhesive gems, glitter glue or foam shapes that the guests can apply to the handle.
- Step 6
- Make handmade pirate flags by drawing pictures onto 8.5-by-11-inch pieces of black card stock with colored chalks or opaque gel pens. Use a hand-held hole punch to create a hole in the upper-left and bottom-left corners of each flag. Push the two ends of a 20-inch piece of string down through the two holes, tie the ends of the string together, and drape the flags on objects around the room.
