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An elementary age boy dressed as a pirate attending a fun pirate-themed event.
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A Fun-Filled Pirate Event for Boys in Your Children’s Ministry

In this Pirate Event for Boys, invite children into a land where pirates sail and where they get to come face to face with the true King of kings…

A Fun-Filled Pirate Event for Boys in Your Children’s Ministry

A mysterious eye patch, bare feet, and a plastic sword can turn video game junkies into daring pirates in search of adventure and priceless booty. All boys have hearts that yearn for adventure and an innate love of action and mystery. Capitalize on these natural pursuits by encouraging boys to gain a sense of strength and courage that only God can provide. Host this swashbuckling fun dinner for boys to experience God’s wild love for them and learn about the strength and courage Jesus provides.

Ahoy, Mateys!

Enter if you dare: All young lads are invited to a pirate adventure on the high seas!

One Month Before

Ask people in your congregation to give Pirate Adventure invitations to boys they know in their neighborhood.

Send invitations home with kids at community daycare centers, preschools, and elementary schools. Consider placing an ad for your dinner in the community section of your local newspaper. Use parchment paper with burned edges to create invitations for boys in your ministry, and challenge them to invite friends from school, sports teams, and clubs. For a downloadable invitation, click here.

Gather items to transform your meeting space into a pirate ship’s galley.

Collect treasure chests, gold coins, faux jewels, and fine cotton to stretch for spider webs. Plastic spiders, mice, and bugs add to the gross factor that boys love. Purchase dark blue or black plastic table coverings to cover the ceiling, and hunt for wooden barrels to use as containers for your drinks or as decorations. Use battery-operated candles to light the room for dinner.

Recruit!

Recruit first mates (table sponsors), a Pirate Captain emcee, a decorating and clean-up crew, a photographer, and adult pirates to serve grub.

Plan the menu.

Plan your dinner menu and either order food from a caterer in advance or recruit table sponsors to shop for menu items. You may also ask your table sponsors to each donate one food item for the dinner.

Galley Grub Menu

Green Guts Punch
Hardy-Har Hot Dogs
Wavy Cheese Curls
Mutiny Macaroni and Cheese
Scurvy-Fighting Fruits
Gory Gummy Worms in Chocolate Pudding

One Day Before

Set-up.

Decorate for your dinner using brown wrapping paper or burlap as tablecloths and tin cans with jewels and coins flowing out of them for centerpieces. Use pie tins as plates and ripped muslin cloth for napkins. For an unbeatable atmosphere, add a fog machine and creaky-ship sound effects (you can find downloadable sound effects at sound-effects.com). Block off a room that’ll be your main deck by taping the door shut with silver masking tape and attaching locks requiring keys.

Get your party favors.

Provide party favors such as stickers, miniature flashlights, or gold-foiled chocolate coins* for all pirates (orientaltrading.com).

Say cheese!

Set up a photo station with barrels, fishing nets, a treasure chest, and jewels overflowing. Decorate your entrance with a sign that says, “Enter…If You Dare.”

Yo, ho, ho! And a bottle of fun!

Follow these steps to make your Pirate Dinner a smashing success.

Gather information.

As pirates arrive, have each one complete a registration card that gathers information for follow-up, such as their name, age, address, phone number, and email. Before heading into the main galley, pirates can take their photo with the Pirate Captain. Then adult mateys escort boys into the pirate galley and assign them a first mate for the evening festivities. When all young pirates have arrived, the first mates can pray with their boatload of pirates and thank God for the food they’ll be foraging.

Create discussion.

After all pirates have consumed their evening grub, first mates can set the stage for the remainder of the program with discussion-worthy questions such those listed below.

  • What do you think pirates are afraid of?
  • What do you do when you’re scared?
  • How do you find courage when you’re afraid?
  • What makes someone courageous?
  • How was Jesus courageous?
  • How does Jesus help you be courageous?

After-dinner games.

Boys move to the main deck (the room you’ve taped off) for the remaining activities. Each boatload of pirates must find a key that corresponds with a location clue at their table to help unlock the gate. (Number the keys and corresponding locks so when boys find them all, the Captain can quickly open the locks and the gate.)

The Captain must announce there’s a problem — the pirates are locked in the galley and can’t get to the main deck until the gate is unlocked. Here are suggested clues.

Buy: For preschool-age boys simply hide large silver coins in the room and give them small bags to find three coins each. When they find enough coins, they can buy a key from an adult pirate.

Search: For older kids, provide them with a treasure map with one or two simple clues for locating a key.

When they find all the keys, the Captain can open the locks and tear away the tape so young pirates can enter the room to watch the movie The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything (Big Idea).

Set sail, ye scalawags.

After the movie, remind young pirates that God gives them the strength and courage to pursue their wildest adventures, and that he alone provides the greatest treasure of all–Jesus.

Shiver Me Timbers

Use these ideas to follow up with the boys who attend your high seas adventure.

Captured memories.

Send or email the photos you take of boys with the Captain as a thank you for attending the event. Include upcoming opportunities for boys to get involved in your ministry. You can load photos into a pirate template by clicking here.

Swashbuckling adventures.

Offer events and activities geared for boys only. Events such as laser tag, rock climbing, or a trip to a bug exhibit will feed boys’ sense of adventure and help them build quality relationships with each other and adult male mentors.

A pirates’ life.

Help boys connect with each other and with God by forming small groups just for boys. Discuss topics that’ll help them as they enter adolescence, such as courage, fear, or trust. Find opportunities for boys to get dirty while serving others, such as planting trees for a local park or painting a house for an elderly resident.

Robin Quackenbush is the director of children’s ministries at Leptondale Bible Church in Newburgh, New York. She’s also a speaker and MOPS Mentor.

Check out this Royal Princess Breakfast for girls in your ministry.

Looking for more ideas? Check out these posts!

6 thoughts on “A Fun-Filled Pirate Event for Boys in Your Children’s Ministry

  1. Helen Cook

    Can I confirm the address for my subscription

    • Christine Yount Jones

      Helen, we have made the correction to your mailing address. We deleted it in your comment for your privacy!

  2. Site to get pirate photo frame template is gone. Where can I find it?

    • Christine Yount Jones

      Margie, We’ve fixed the link. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.

  3. Melissa Hickman

    Great idea! Does anyone have suggestions for questions or a conversation guide for dads & boys at their tables during dinner? Or games & activities to go with the theme?

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