AAAARRRRR! Pirate Party

Wow, we did it! We had the pirate party that has been 3 years in the planning but only about 3 weeks in the actual organizing. 

The Crazy Housewife will be posting details for where to get the stuff and ideas for games and hopefully link up to the Pintrest Board (which will be updated for things that we actually did as well as the ideas) But one of the reasons that I am happy that it is Done and In The Past is that I Planned Accordingly.

I only ended up being in charge of entertainment (which is a definite benefit of having the party at someone else's house) for a party in 2 halves. 1 half for the afternoon where kids will be involved and then a Post 6pm party which is just for grown ups. 

Part 1 is actually easy to plan for because basically you don't. I have learnt very quickly that children, and toddlers in particular, have no respect for timetables and carefully scheduled activities. So you make sure that there are a few games that you can get out in case of emergency and let them get on with it. Especially when there is a paddling pool so they won't even be dressed up in their carefully chosen outfit for more than 1/2 the party anyway.

Grown ups are a different matter. Some thought has to be put in, but actually the same kinds of principles do apply. You need to leave time for eating (Lots of time!) and for chatting. But actually most kids party games can be tailored to any theme and adults enjoy them too as they aren't too taxing on the brain. 

I did 2 types of games, running around and sitting about. Some bad pirate jokes to act as a during mealtime entertainment. And a guessing game which they could play at any time. This sort of game is the best kind as it's set up early and minimal effort. As I had forseen, the running about games didn't get a look in. Especially after 2 rounds of BBQ and pudding still to come. But we had a game of bingo and a game of consequences which was highly amusing. 

The only difference between adults and kids though is that adults ask questions about EVERYTHING! So make sure that you are fully prepared as teeny tiny mistakes will get picked up and debated for 20 minutes with a lot of repetition afterwards. You have been warned.

So I pillaged the internet, changed a couple of words to suit my theme, got all my stuff together and set off to the party. On the night I read the mood, ate far too much, did the games that were applicable at the time and just let the others go. And I had a very very relaxing evening, albeit dressed up a bit odd. Which is apparently how my parties should have been all along.