Treasure Island - Treasure Hunt & Canon Balls

Treasure Island This is a theme I used for my son's birhtday party, he wanted to do Pirates. The party was held in our house and back yard. 

I made the invitations out of computer paper, soaked in coffee and dried in the microwave then crinkled, to make an aged look. I always like to keep the children very busy, so they have a great time. The invitaion reads all the events that will be going on at the party.  The invitation read in pirate talk. Telling everyone to meet at Captn Drake's Pier & then divide into 2 teams because everyone wants  to be the one to find the treasure. A friend of mine made pirate/matey's bandana's and sashes to match which where red & white stripped. The children all wore white shirts. They all received a pirtates eye patch upon arrival also. The teams boarded their ships " made from 2 large appliance boxes and decorated to look like pirate ships" to set sail to treasure island. During the journey on your ships the 2 teams will have a Battle to try to sink one another's ship.

Which is game #1 CANNON BALL BATTLE. We used duck tape around newspaper balled up and the children threw the balls to sink one anothers ship. As they are sailing they will notice there are several islands! How will they know which one is Treasure Island??

This is game #2 MUSICAL ISLANDS Only one island is treasure island, who will be the one to find Treasure Island & the map that lies beneath? " I cut out construction paper in different colors in the shape of small islands and drew a palm tree on each one with different numbers. Play the music and the children had to stop on an island when the music stopped. Then we called out a number and if the child was on that number Island called they were out and they took their island with them. The last remaining child on their island was the winner.

Which received then the map to find treasure  Island. Which was Game #3 X marks the spot. I used the same paper in coffee thing and created a map on my computer and printed out in poster size and glued them together and burned the edges to look like a pirates map.

WE hung the map on the wall in the living room and that will be game #3 They had to pin the pirate flag on the X. Which I used clip art to do the flags and put scotch tape on the backs.

They then used that map to start their hunt to Game #4 DON’T WAKE THE NASTY OLE PIRATE who lays by a pile of gold. The map led them up stairs in my house and they were to be very quiet not to wake the nasty ole pirate which was my husband with a pirates mask lieing on our bed with gold rocks spread all around him and some on him too. I took regular small rocks and spray painted them gold. They children really loved that, escpecially when they woke the pirate. They took their gold rocks home too.

If they survived getting the gold their next venture was Game #5 TIC TOC CROC Find the croc before the time runs out. " a kitchen timer hidden in the living room." When the timer goes off if the kids don’t find the croc which was a stuffed alligator.

A net full of cannon balls will fall upon them. " We used a large fishing net and black balloons which we have 10 foot ceilings in our house and it hung from there and my husband let the net down" which was game #6 Cannon Ball POP!!! One of the cannon balls will explode & reveal the clue for you to find the TREASURE!!!The children then stomped on the cannon balls "black balloons". I filled a couple of them with papers that read sorry keep popping , just for fun, When the balloon that had the clue in it was popped. It had a clue which led them to the treasure. When you find your treasure which was near the nasty ole pirate you will then find that a shark is guarding your treasure & he too has a surprise for you!!!! The children then looked around for the shark and found the shark which was a shark pinata sitting on the treasure box.

The surprise the shark had was all his goodies inside. They then busted the pinata and bagged their goodies and opened the TREASURE BOX which I used a styrofoam cooler painted gold, inside was their treasure. I had ordered gold dog tag necklaces and small gems and I used my engraver and engraved each child's name on their own necklace and glued the small colored gems on the necklace's too. They really thought they had found a gold treasure. The necklaces were very inexpensive, they of course were not real gold.

WE had cake which my local bakery had air brushed a pirates theme on the cake.

For their favors, I had ordered several gold tone, brass, ect. Goblets off of  ebay very cheap and hot glued the larger gems on the goblets and filled them with gold chocolate & bubble gum coins, coin stickers, coin note pads & a gold pencil that read "Drake's Birthday Buccaneer Bash". Along with their goblets filled with the favors, they also took home their gold rocks, bandanas, sashes & pirate eye patches. My son's party was the first week of October, several parents told me their children were pirates for halloween and they used the items they took home with them. The children had a wonderful time and the parents did too.