Four year old’s birthday parties are a curious affair. Too old for Peppa Pig (in our case) and too young for a cinema and Maccy D’s party, we fell into that great chasm where we couldn’t quite hit the party nail on the head.

My eldest has had a party every year since he was born (save for last year when we were on holiday) and I always put my heart and soul into throwing together a soiree he’d be thrilled with. Cue second child and I’m trying to get them out of the way as fast as possible! Dominic has pretty much spoken about his 4th birthday and party since the day he turned three, so I had plenty of notice on this one. Still, two weeks prior to the big day, I was banging on the door of The Range, scrambling for Jake and the Neverland Pirates invites and cobbling together a party to remember.

I toyed with a village hall hire and going the whole hog, inviting half the village but then there’s the entertainment, the food, the goody bags…yikes! So as my young star could barely muster up a guest list bigger than ten, I grabbed the chance to have a small, select few of his friends over for a mini shindig and a party to please my pirate! The theme was easy, he is obsessed with all things related to sailing the seven seas as you probably saw in another post I wrote, here, so I whipped up a hearty party at home and got stuck in.

Once I’d chosen the theme, the decor took care of itself really. I went to partybagsandsupplies.co.uk and from their expansive range, found a party package to tick my boxes. I opted for ease this year and even chose pre-made party bags – eeek, horror of horrors – I usually go all out and make my own with awesome party freebies. But these were just the job and I added a few little bits and bobs in of my own, just to give it that personal touch.

It was easy to click through and just put the whole deal together in one go and order a full pirate party package. This got me everything I need for tableware and gifts.

My mum sourced some fab cutesy hand-held pirate galleon balloons in Poundland – amazing value – and we used them for our guests’ exit too, to compliment their goody bags.

We are helium balloon fanatics in my house, so I bought one or two every time I was out shopping for the last few months from Clintons and ended up with loads. Enough to tie on to each party bag for exit and still have plenty left over.

We had good old fashioned party games and activities, a treasure chest pinata (of course!) and first up, decorate your own goody bag and colouring a treasure map for the whole crew. They got stuck in and it took longer than I expected, so packed them all off with my husband and eldest boy to be entertained (poor kids!)

Meanwhile my mum and I were free to set up the fab feast for the hungry tums!

A few rounds of Pie-Face, Musical bumps and Statues later, it was time for the pièce de résistance, this utterly stunning cake from Bakerman Cake Design. I had just given Laura the brief that it needed to be an amazing treasure chest befitting my little pirate so when I saw the sweet spectacle, I was speechless – for all of two minutes! Don’t tell anyone but I almost put my finger through it when we left the shop!! Crisis averted I managed to keep it together til the grand unveiling.

A sturdy, completely realistic treasure chest made of the softest sponge I’ve ever tasted, and covered in white chocolate ganache, edible jewels, sand and sweetness, this cake was a little masterpiece! The guests all had some, we gave a few oversized wodges away to friends who couldn’t make the party and kept a sizeable stash for ourselves. Delicious!!

As we sang happily in unison then tucked into our yummy cake, I looked around at the happy faces and knew I’d done a great job. It took virtually no time to tidy up and before I knew it, wine o’clock was upon me. Age 5 prep underway….

What’s been your fave kids party you’ve thrown or planned? I’d love to hear all about it!

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