14 Exciting Pirate Themed Games You Would Want For A Kid’s Party

Welcome aboard, party planners and parents! If you’re all about turning a regular kids’ gathering into an epic adventure, you’re in for a treat!

Today I’ll be sharing a treasure trove of 14 thrilling pirate-themed games that come complete with the materials you need and clear instructions on how to play each one.

Last Updated: July 24, 2024  |  8 min Read

You may recognize some of these games, as they artfully incorporate a pirate-themed twist into familiar classic party games.

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1. Captain Blackbeard Eyepatch

The kids will love this variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, as a starter for the pirate party activities. We also call it pirate pin the tail game!

What you need

• Poster of Captain Blackbeard (free download below)
• Paper eye patches in different colors
• Sticky Tack
• Blindfold

Note: If you’re running out of time you can buy this kit instead.

How to play

• Attach or hang the poster of Captain Blackbeard (or any other pirate) at child-height so that the children can reach it easily.
• Blindfold a child at a time – you may start with the party child, or else the eldest, since they are likely to be more familiar with the game.
• Turn them round a couple of times, then lead them so that they stand just in front of the poster.
• Now they have to try and attach the eyepatch on the picture.
• When all the children have done their turn, it’s time to declare the winner – the child who was closest to the right position.

Make the game more challenging

You can repeat this activity making it a little bit more challenging by asking the children to start further away from the poster.

2. Canon Ball Blast

Here’s a blast of a game to get your young guests hyped-up! If you know “balloon stomp” you know what I’m talking about!

What you need

• Black balloons (one for each child)
• String
• Pirate Music (check below)

How to play

• Inflate the black balloons and attach them to a string (2 feet/60cm long will be enough) for every child taking part in this game.
• Before the game is started, tie a balloon to every kid’s ankle.
• Prepare some upbeat pirate music.
• Ask the children to stand near each other, but without touching anyone.
• Whilst the music is playing they can just have fun dancing, being very careful not to burst anyone’s balloon or even their own.
• Then, as soon as the music stops, the children must try to burst anyone’s balloon, by stomping on it, while being attentive to keep their balloon safe from someone else’s stomp.
• The ones whose balloon bursts are out of the game.
• The winner is the last kid with an intact balloon still tied to his or her leg.
• You may opt to tie two (or more) balloons to both ankles.

Play the game in groups

You may also play this game in teams by sorting the children in groups; assign a balloon color – here you can go for white, red and black – for each group; instruct the children that they have to try to pop balloons attached to the children’s legs in the other groups.

Safety tip

Before you start the game guide the children not the be rough, so that no one will get hurt even accidentally.

Older kids

If you want to repeat the game especially with older children, you might ask them to blow up their balloons and tie them to their ankles themselves.

3. Walk The Plank

If you want to hype up your group, then this is the game to start with.

What you need

• Common wood board (1”x 4”x 8 feet)
• Bricks (2”x 4”x 8”) – you need 20 at least
• Kiddie pool (optional) – see below
• Inflatable alligator (optional) – see below further down
• Blindfold (optional)

How to play

• Prepare a long piece of timber (plank) on some bricks at both ends, so that it is some 10 inches (25cm) above the ground.
• To make it more exciting, place a kiddie pool (filled up with water if you’re outdoors) underneath it and put inflatable alligators in it.
• The children have to walk on the plank from one end to the other without falling in the “alligator pit”
• Older Children can be blindfolded so that the game will be a bit more challenging for them.

4. Pass On Captain Flint

An excellent activity to play when you wish to calm down your guests or before to move on to, say cutting the cake.

What you need

• Parrot soft toy – see below
• Music

How to play

• In this game Captain Flint is a stuffed parrot that the children need to pass on to someone else as quickly as possible.
• Think of this game as a variation of Pass the Parcel or Hot Potato.
• Ask the children to form a big circle.
• While you play the music, the children pass Captain Flint around the circle, starting with the party child.
• When the music stops, the child holding the “parrot” is out.
• Restart again until the last remaining player.

5. Captain Flint Pinata

You can’t really leave out a pinata game especially if you’re hosting the kids outdoors. Here’s what to look out for when you are preparing for your pirate themed pinata.

What you need

• Parrot pinata – see below
• Bat
• Blindfold – you can use two pirate eye patches
• Goodies and Favors

How to play

Go to The Quick A To Z Guide For Your Kid’s Party Pinata for ideas on how to play this game. Find expert tips on the best time to play the pinata, as well as crucial safety considerations you need to be mindful of.

6. Pirate Make-Over Relay

Kids in general love to put on costumes and props, and pretend they are someone or something else at least for some time. You just need to get plenty of pirate accessories and old clothes for them to create simple outfits.

What you need

• Large cardboard box
• Dark shorts – you can rip/cut off the bottoms of some old dark trousers.
• White shirts or stripy T-shirts
• Black waistcoats – you can make these from old black T-shirts. Cut off the sleeves, then cut a line up the centre front to make it to a waistcoat.
• Bandanas – use black or red cloth
• Sash belts – use black or red cloth
• Pirate kits

How to play

• Guests are to get in groups of 3 or 4 at one end of the room or yard. (See tip below on how to form teams.)
• They need to choose one of them to be the “captain”.
• On the “go”, one player from each team has to rush to the other side of the venue, where a box full of pirate themed accessories is set in place, grab one of the items and dash back to where the rest of his or her team is.
• On the latter’s arrival to the group, another player goes to get another accessory.
• In the meantime the rest of the players are to help the “captain” to put on the accessories.
• Team members are to keep going to and fro until the box is empty.
• The team whose “captain” has the most accessories wins.
• You can repeat this activity asking the teams to choose another participant to be the “captain”.

How to form teams

An easy and fast way to divide kids in teams, is to assign each guest a number.

Start from 1 till the number of groups you want to have, then start all over again. So, say you need four groups, looking at every child one by one, you say 1, 2, 3, 4, then 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on, until all kids have a number.

Tell them to remember their number and group up together according to the given number.

This way all the ones play together against all the twos, the threes and the fours.

7. Canon Ball Assault

One of the most exciting activities, this game is best played if you’re holding the pirate party outdoors, during a hot summer day. Kids can play this game wearing their swimsuit.

Caution: Kids can get wet!

What you need

• Small black balloons filled with water
• Two buckets
• Towels (optional)

How to play

• Divide your guests in two teams and ask them to go to either side of the area where they’ll be playing Canon Ball Assault.
  
• Give each team a bucketful of water filled balloons.
• The kids have to throw their balloons and try to splash them on their opponents on the other side, without crossing an imaginary middle line.
• To gain extra balloons they can try to catch the balloons thrown at them without letting them burst.
• The game ends when all the balloons are burst.

Make the game more challenging

Fill the balloons with less water and more air. Like this you’ll be prolonging the duration of the game as well.

8. Buccaneer Ship Rescue

If you’re looking for some competitive fun using water, this is one of the activities you should choose.

This team relay is best played in a backyard or any other outdoor space.

The aim of this game is carry as much water as each team can, from one end to the other of the play area.

What you need (for each team)

• Bucket full of water
• Sponge
• Funnel
• Empty water bottles
• Music

How to play

• Form teams of 3 or 4 players – check tip above on how to form teams.
• The players in each team must spread out some few feet apart from their team mates to form a straight line.
• The first player in each team must stand with a sponge in hand next to the bucket that is full of water.
• Play some upbeat pirate music to start the relay.
• The first player is to dip the sponge in the bucket and throws it to the next player.
• The rest of players are to throw it to the next child, until it reaches the last one in the line.
• The last player is to squeeze the sponge to let out as much water he or she can in the empty bottle.
• When he or she is done, he latter has to run to where the bucket is, dip the sponge in the bucket and start the process again.
• Meanwhile all the team players should take the place of the player in front of them.
• The relay race will end when the first bucket is empty.
• The team that manages to save most water is the winner.

9. Big Jones’ Crew

Go for this game if you wish the kids let out some energy without you having to do lots of preparation. Big Jones’ Crew is our pirate-themed variation of Tag.

What you need

• Pirate-themed accessories (optional)

How to play

• Designate one of the kids to be Big Jones (that is “it”). You can start with the birthday child. Make him or her put on a pirate accessory.
• On the “go”, he or she must run after any of the other children and tags them.
• In this variation of tag, when any of the kids is caught, he or she will become part of Big Jones’ crew.
• Anyone who is tagged must also put on some pirate accessory and will join Big Jones to catch other children.
• The winner of each round is the last remaining kid to be caught.
• Do several rounds of this game asking a different child each time to start as Big Jones.

10. Sailors And Lookouts

This is another classic which we have adapted for our pirate-themed party. It is an alternative for the well-loved Lions and Tigers.

What you need

• Jolly Roger flag

How to play

• Have your guests divided into two equal teams.
• Each team has to stay in a line facing each other on either side of the play area.
• Give every player a number, starting from 1 on each side, so that you’ll have a number 1, a number 2, a number 3 and so on, in every team.
• Place the Jolly Roger flag in the middle of the play zone.
• Have the children sit down on the floor.
• Call out a random number from the numbers you have assigned to the players on each side.
• When the children on either side hear their assigned number they must run to the middle to try and take the flag back to their “ship” (their side of the play area). This has to be done avoiding being tagged by their opponent.
• Anyone who succeeds taking the flag behind his or her team’s line earns the latter a point.
• On the other hand the point is awarded to the other team of the child who is called out tags the opponent with the flag in hand.
• Keep on doing several round until everyone has had a couple of turns.

11. Memory Treasure Chest

Younger children will enjoy greatly this game. It is yet another opportunity to help them relax a bit after a hectic game. Memory Treasure Chest is an adaptation of Memory Tray.

What you need

• A small box – this is going to be the treasure chest
• Pirate-themed accessories

How to play

• Place the accessories in the treasure chest (box) and close the lid.
• Ask the kids to gather around the chest, open the lid and give them 30 seconds to study the pirate accessories.
• Instruct the children that they have to memorize what’s in the box. You may hint that they can do this by remembering the number of objects, taking note of their color, shape, different sizes and so on.
• When the 30 seconds are up, ask the kids to turn around and close their eyes.
• Remove one of the objects and hide it. Make sure you would have thought of a good hiding spot as kids are sneaky.
• Ask the kids to open their eyes and look inside the treasure chest once again.
• Ask if anyone could tell which is the missing object.
• The child who gives a right answer will be the one whose turn it will be to hide the next object.
• Repeat this step until everybody would have had their turn.

12. Captain Morgan Says

If you’re familiar with the game Simon Says and you know how much younger and older kids get a kick out of it, then this adapted version for a pirate-themed party will surely be a success.

No preparation needed!

Since there is no preparation required for this game, it’s a good one to keep up your sleeves just in case you run out of games during a party, or in the event that something goes wrong with the other prepared activities.

How to play

• Let the kids know that you are Captain Morgan and that you are going to tell them what to do, in the following manner, “Captain Morgan says…, touch your knees”, for example.
• The players have to obey only those instructions that begin with the phrase “Captain Morgan says…”.
• So, if you shout, “Touch your knees,” without first saying, “Captain Morgan says,” the children must not touch their knees.
• The ones that do, are eliminated.
• The last player standing is the winner.
• All you need to play this game is some imagination to try and come up with as many unique instructions as you can.
• You can also choose another pirate character to play this game, say, Billy Bones says or Blackbeard says or even just Captain says.

13. Captain, Captain, Flint

This adaptation of Duck, Duck, Goose game gets its inspiration from characters in R.L. Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island. No equipment or accessories are needed for this game.

What you need

• Choose one of the children to be the Long John Silver.
• Ask the remaining kids to sit down on the floor, forming a big circle.

How to form a circle

You may help children sit in a big circle by asking them to hold hands forming a circle, stretch out, then let go of each other’s hands and sit down.

How to play

• Explain that Long John Silver will be tagging the children during the game.

• Ask the child playing Long John Silver to walk around the circle, behind the kids, lightly touching each one as he or she passes past, whilst calling “captain” with every touch.

• Explain that Long John Silver will be tagging the children during the game.

• Ask the child playing Long John Silver to walk around the circle, behind the kids, lightly touching each one as he or she passes past, whilst calling “captain” with every touch.

• Long John Silver secretly decides on a kid and calls out “Flint” instead of “captain” upon touching that child.
• As soon as Long John Silver says “Flint”, the child who has been touched, is to stand up, run after Long John Silver and try to tag him or her.
• Simultaneously, Long John Silver flees from Flint by running around the circle, trying to reach the place and sit down where Flint was sitting before he or she was tagged.
• If the Long John Silver is caught before he manages to sit down, he moves to the middle of the circle, which is called the “black spot”.
• Flint will in turn become the new Long John Silver and another round is played.
• Repeat the game until all the children have had at least a couple of turns.

14. Hunt For The Treasure

You can depart from the customary hunts, by going for this adapted pirate-themed alternative that is a blend of both treasure and scavenger hunt. rest assured that this will make the ultimate pirate birthday party treasure hunt. 

What you need

• Map for each team (see video below)
• Treasure list for each team
• Pirate-themed accessories
• Candy in these paper treasure chests

How to play

• Create a map for each team of the area you want your guests to play this pirate version of treasure/scavenger hunt.
• You should sketch out the perimeter of, say, your backyard and the most prominent features therein, for example, trees, sizeable bushes, fences or a barbeque area.
• Then mark on the map where the kids can roughly find treasure.
• Hide plenty of pirate-themed accessories and candy in the area marked off in the map.
• Give each team a map and a list of treasure items that can be found in the area.
• Give them plenty of time to have fun looking for treasure.

Final Thoughts About 14 Exciting Pirate Themed Games

In conclusion, if you’re looking to craft an extraordinary pirate-themed birthday celebration that your child and their friends will cherish, you now have the treasure map to do just that.

FAQs About Pirate Themed Party Games

1. How many games should I plan for my pirate themed party?

The number of games you should plan depends on the length of your party and the age range of your guests. A good rule of thumb is to plan around 5-7 games for a 2-hour party.

2. Can adults play these games too?

Yes! While some games may be geared more toward children, many of the games listed can be enjoyed by all ages.