9023

Mermaids & Pirates -6yr- Mermaid Sack Race

June 2004

Elise in Nipomo, CA   USA

Honorable Mention

Mermaid/Pirate Party--6 Year Old  My daughter, Kate, Decided that she wanted a Mermaid theme this year.  After she Thought about it, she stated that "Boys can't come to a mermaid party, so they will have to be pirates."  I decided to meld the two themes together.  

We hung a paper palm tree in the kitchen alng with a mermaid Windsock and a Parrot Pinata.  The Cake was an open treasure chest with lots of booty (gold coins, bubble gum coins, plastic compasses, plastic necklaces and bracelets)spilling out of the top,  I had the cake done at a local balkery but it you do it yourslf, be sure to have LOTS of items to spill out of the treasure chest, the more the better.  I also found bright plastic fish shaped toothpicks that were stuck in the cake which sat on a sea of blue icing and had green seaweed up the sides.  plastic jewels decorated the outside of the chest.  

My husband dressed as a pirate ala "Captain Barbossa" and played it to the hilt.  He ran the party games. When the kids arrived, we had two crafts--the girls made "mermaid crowns" with jewels, glitter, and multicolored mini seashells to glue on the crowns; for those who wanted, we sprayed thier hair with hot pink, green or red hairspray to have mermaid hair.  The boys received pirate hats and red bandanas and made pirate bracelets with plastic skull beads, red and black and white beads for accents. We also had a "Treasure chest full of magic beans" game.  I found a treasure chest bank (with a plastic lock)and filled it with jelly beans.  the Kids all wrote down their guesses.  At the end of party, the winner got the key and the chest full of jelly bellies.

We had several theme games:  Pin the Monkey on the Palm Tree,  Nemo Toss (hot potato with a stuffed Clown fish--we used the "Pirates of the Carribean" sound track for music),  Walk the Plank--a 2x4 laid on the grass in which the kids are blind foled and spun around and then released to see if any could walk all the way to the end of the plank without falling off,  Mermaid races--sack race with the bag taped loosely at the waist and knees so kids had to scoot to a treaure chest to pick up a bag of chocolate gold coins. The games had theme prizes such as a "peter pan" or "little mermaid" novel, pirate mazes book and Mermaid paperdoll book.  All of these were from Dover Publications and not too expernsive.

Party bags were split in to themes as well: Girls: a small mermaid doll, star-shaped fairy dust necklace, Jeweled glitter bottle, "little mermaid stained glass" coloring book and crayons, stick-on earrings, lip gloss ring, and a high bounce ball. Boys: pirate tatoos, parrot kite and pencil, plastic compass, rubber spiders, Metal pirate ring, high bounce ball, plus the hat and bandana they received earlier. 

The kids had a great time.  Most of the items described above were gotten either through Oriental Trading or Dover Publications.  It wasn't a cheap party by any menas but it was memorable.

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