mama urchin

Back before Thanksgiving someone in our house turned four. It might be hard to believe but it’s true. He asked that we celebrate with a pirate party so Captain Tristan invited his mateys aboard the dread ship Compass Rose for some looting and pillaging and all around treasure hunting. Every time his birthday rolls around Tristan requests the same fare — hotdogs, goldfish crackers, marshmallows, and candy — and I figure who am I to argue with the captain? So we taped butcher paper to the table and drew a great big treasure map. We had the pearl islands — where there were bowls of marshmallow — and the fish islands — bowls of goldfish crackers — and Frank’s place — hotdogs — and a spot in the ocean where there is good fishing — swedish fish — and most importantly Treasure Island where Captain Tristan is reported to have hidden his treasure — the cake was here. Somehow I didn’t get a photo of the table so use your imagination.

We played two games, toss the treasure and pin the treasure chest on the X. We made a treasure chest out of a wood crate and some cardboard. We used cheap plastic coins from the party store to toss — each child got 5 coins to toss — and also decorated the chest with dress-up necklaces and rings. For the pther game we made a treasure map from a photo paper cutoff and I burnt the edges. Each child was blindfolded and spun around three times before they attempted to put the treasure chest on the X. The urchins are notorious for cheating at all versions of pin the tail on the donkey and Tristan’s marker did end up right on the X. Pirate captains like to win you know.

For decorations the guests had to walk a plank onto our porch to get into the house — this was huge hit with the kids — and we had a ship’s wheel just inside the door cut from a sheet of cardboard — you can see a bit of it in the treasure toss. We hung pennant banners made from scrapbooking paper and ribbon. The maps and a few pirate toys rounded out the decor I put out. Katie thought we were missing something so she added this sign, quite possibly my favorite thing from the party.