Where

This was a big question for us. A lot of people decide to host their toddler's birthdays at home, but some (due to small apartments or fear of packs of crazy toddlers high on sugar) prefer to host outside of their home. There are plenty of rentable places out there and some even will help you with your theme! For the ultimate pirate party in NJ, there is Jersey Shore Pirates! They offer an actual pirate ship to host your party on. The location is in Brick and they offer different packages to suit your needs. Packages include a private party boat, dress-up gear, loot bags, use of their new indoor/outdoor party room, decorations, plates and supplies, even tattoos and face painting! They don't provide food, but you can easily have it catered by one of the many yummy places in the area or just order some pizza for your little pirates! They will help you will everything along the way. Check out their party page for pricing and details. There is another place to set sail for your party called Pirates on the Manasquan. All parties include your little one will becoming the Pirate Captain and learning sailing techniques, then you will set sail for Treasure Island! Packages include access to Captain Kidd's Village including a picnic area for the celebration, River Rock pizza and drinks for up to 44 people, all dry goods, tattoos, pirate gear, private boat rental and more! Bambino Chef and Three Little Birds (both in Jersey City) offer party packages, where they will help you construct your theme and take care of your whole party. Plus, they both throw a mean pirate party! Argggh! If you choose to have your party at home, why not hire someone to come in and put on a pirate show? Beauty & The Beast Entertainment serves Northern and Central NJ and will put on a show featuring a professional storyteller, character actor, puppeteer, pirate music, comedy, magic show and tons of games and activities with a pirate theme. This is a great bet for kids ages 2 - 7.

Crafts and Games

There are so many great ideas out there for pirate themed birthday parties. Here are some of my favorites and things we came up with on our own:

Buried Treasure: This was a hit with the smaller kids. You simply take a container or chest (I used a galvanized metal tub like this, fill it with sand and hide some little prizes (we found things at Party City like plastic necklaces, pirate figurines, little cars and skateboards, etc.). Add a couple of beach shovels and you've got hours of fun!

Treasure Hunt: An alternative to the buried treasure is to make them hunt for it. This works well for older kids, who can follow a map. Get some treasure maps like these and mark them with clues or landmarks. Hide treasure at those spots and send the kids out to find it.

Wooden Pirate Craft Kits: Michael's sells kits that come with markers and glitter (like this) all ready to be decorated. I bought some packages of pirates and mermaids for the gals. These were a big hit with everyone and were all under $5 to purchase.

Pirate Face Craft: If you are feeling more ambitious, set up a craft table to make crafts like a pirate paper plate face, like this one. You will need things like paper plates, scissors, paint, fabric, wiggly eyes, hot glue gun and fabric.

Balloon Bust: This was a game that everyone got into! It's so simple, too. Just get some black latex balloons and fill them with some sort of treat or prize (we used small candy bars). Blow them up the day of the party (enlist those family and friends that want to help!) and have the kids bust them to get to their prizes.

Walk the Plank/Fishing Game: We combined two games and this was the most popular game of the whole bash. To create a Walk the Plank game, get a board and paint it/stain it. You can even write on it (We wrote "Davey Jones Way" on ours). Get two apple boxes or buckets and place them at either end (to hold the plank up). Put a blue tarp underneath and you've got a plank! To take it to the next level, cut fish shapes out of cardboard or wood, paint them, place magnets or metal screws into the eye. Craft some homemade fishing poles (using dowels, twine or heavy duty string and magnets) and let the kids go fishing from the plank!

Pirate Food and Treats

No birthday party is complete without some yummy grub! For snacks/appetizers, try mixing potato chips and goldfish snacks together and call it "fish and chips." Or try this yummy caramel covered pirate booty snack mix. For the sweeter side of things, cover large pretzel rods with chocolate and call them "peg legs" and make these white chocolate covered treats that look like "bones."

My favorite pirate-themed treat were little marshmallow pirate pops. I bought a bag of large marshmallows, lollipop sticks, red wafers (or white chocolate with red food coloring) and a black food-safe marker. Simply draw a little pirate face onto the marshmallow, stick in the lollipop stick and dip the top in the melted red wafers. These look adorable when done! I put them on the table in a red bucket from Michael's with foam inside.

One thing I had a lot of trouble finding was good quality chocolate coins -- you can't have a pirate party without them! I found Foiled Again! Chocolate Coins online and was happy to see they offered custom coins made of Callebaut Belgian chocolate. I was able to have one side feature a skull-and-cross-bones graphic and one side say "Happy 3rd Birthday." You can even have your child's name on the coins! The coins are available in milk, dark and dark mint chocolate. They also come in eight colors! The business owner Scott was super friendly and very accommodating. Kids and parents enjoyed this yummy treat! I served them in a cardboard "chest" that I got on Amazon.

It is a birthday party after all, so there must be some cupcakes! There are some really cute cupcake decorations out there with a pirate theme. I ordered a kit from Meri Meri and they even have a fabulous pirate centerpiece. The cupcake liners held up better than most and the toppers were adorable.

Decorations

Birthday in a Box is a great one-stop website that offers themed items like plates, napkins, decorations and more. The best part is that they personalize certain items. I've ordered my son's birthday banner from here for every party! I also ordered these personalized lollipops to put into the goody bags. I also ordered personalized stickers to stick onto the bags. They are located in Edison, so you can pick up your goods if you live nearby, but shipping is usually pretty fast. They offer many different decoration items like pinatas, banners and even a jolly roger flag! Plus, you can order pre-made goody bags.