A “Princess and Pirates” theme is the perfect solution for planning a birthday party that will be enjoyed by all – the princess-lovers and the adventure-lovers! All children love this super fun (and super easy) birthday party theme!
The Princess Party Conundrum
What was a two-year-old princess-loving little girl to do?!?
Her two big brothers had absolutely no interest (zip, zero, zilch!) in attending a princess-themed birthday party. Even the birthday princess herself often preferred action over tea parties.
We came up with a pretty good solution: A Princesses and Pirates Party!
It satisfies the tiniest members of royalty’s desire for royal high teas, AND it satisfies the desires of the most rambunctious buccaneer for adventure on the high seas. (Plus, I liked the alliteration created by combining the P words of princess, pirate and party.)
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Partying Princess-Style AND Pirate-Style
The dual princess/pirate theme was introduced right away in the party invites.
At the actual party, everything was set up in twos – one for princesses and one for pirates. Two play areas, two halves of the food table, two sets of cupcakes, etc.
I did not bother with any games for the kids. I just let the children run and play as they wished between the two themed play areas.
SIDE NOTE: The themed play areas worked out so well that I decided to never coordinate children’s party games again. Why waste the time and energy on forced games when the kids have such a great time using their own imaginations?!?
Princess Play
The birthday girl’s bedroom was set up as a royal play area.
We cleared the bedroom of any toys that were not related to the theme and decorated. Princess decorations were added to the door and walls.
Thus, it became a wonderland of castles, dress-up clothes, tea parties, ponies, and all other things royal.
There was a small castle playhouse 
ANOTHER FUN PARTY IDEA: A Rainbow Birthday Party
Pirate Play
Next door, her brothers’ bedroom was converted into a pirate play land.
Again, we cleared the room of any toys that didn’t fit into the pirate theme. We added some décor to the walls and door. We even turned their bunk bed into a secret pirate cove. We also set out a handful of foam swords 
HAVE YOU READ ABOUT ANY OF OUR OTHER PIRATE ADVENTURES? A kid-friendly pirate cruise in Hilton Head Island or dining at the Pirates’ House in Savannah, Georgia.
Thar Be Grub!
The food table was simply divided by two tablecloths.
A pink tablecloth covered the princess side of the table where royal treats were set out on our fanciest serving dishes.
A silver tablecloth covered the other side of the table where we served grub fit for a pirate, such as fish and chips (goldfish crackers and potato chips), sword skewers of fruit, and shiny candies served in a treasure chest.
We even set out oranges to protect our seafarer guests from the scurvy!
Desserts for Royalty and Freebooters
Lastly, we continued the dual theme by offering two different cupcakes – cherry chip adorned with glittery rings for the princess dessert and chocolate with pirate décor for the other.
The princess cupcakes were decorated with vanilla frosting, pink sprinkles and sparkly toy jewelry
The pirate cupcakes were topped with chocolate frosting and pirate rings
In Cordial Conclusion…
A fun time was had by all who attended!
Our birthday princess had a great time, and her brothers weren’t bored to tears.
Other than a huge winter storm that kept several of our invited guests away, the dual-themed party was a big success.
OTHER FUN PARTY THEME IDEAS:
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What fun ideas! I wouldn’t have thought to divide the areas like that. As I read this, I remembered our show we did last spring, The Little Mermaid. We let kids 12 and under in free if they dressed as a princess or a pirate. They were adorable. We are planning on doing Beauty and the Beast this spring since we had so much fun!
What a clever idea to let kids in free if they dressed up! I wonder how many Belles you will have appear for this year’s play production. She is one of my favorite Disney princesses.
The princess and pirates party was so easy and so fun… and it worked so well for all of the guests – the ones who want to dress up like a princess and the ones that one to go on adventures like a pirate. Fun for everyone!
This is adorable April! We’ve done a princess and a pirate party In the past…I loved doing fun stuff like this!! But sadly we’re outgrowing all the cutesy stuff now! I’ll just live vicariously through yall!
I know what you mean. We are beginning to outgrow some of this fun stuff, too. I am going to miss the themed birthday parties.
Fun to let the kiddos enjoy their favorite things! Not boy or girl things, but just kid preferences! By having both, I bet they all loved it 🙂
Exactly! All the children had such a great time!