Pirates and Buried Treasure

Today, my coworker, Claudia, and I hosted a two-hour birthday party. I was excited because I planned most of the party, and I really wanted the kids to have fun. Nine 9 year old kids came to celebrate the birthday of Nils, who was turning 9. They put on black eye patches and bandanas and instantly turned into pirates searching for buried treasure. We started in the gymnastics pool where they divided into two teams, blue and green. Each team member had to enter the water, sit on a noodle, and while carrying a cup of water, swim between floating balloons to the other end of the pool and back. The first team to finish with the most water remaining in the cup won and got to dive for the clue to the next activity. The blue team finished first, but the green team had more water in their cup, so both teams dove into the water to search for the clue, which was a laminated piece of paper attached to a red ring by a string. They followed the clue to the water slide. There, each individual and team had to slide down the slide as fast as possible. The team with the fastest collective time won and got to dive for the next clue, which we followed to the bistro, where we took a break to eat pizza and cake. The next clue was hidden under the cake, and the children got excited about the fact that we only had two more activities until we found the treasure! So we headed to the jogging pool. Here, the kids had to ride a caterpillar float around in a circle and against a current, picking up as many floating items as possible along the way. The team with the most items collected won and dove for the next clue. This one led us to the diving pool. Each child had to jump off the diving board, swim across the pool to pick up a ring, dive through two hula hoops and attempt to throw the ring onto a big, yellow, blow up octopus. The team who got the most rings onto the octopus won and dove for the last clue, which led us back to the gymnstics pool, where the kids found a net full of treasure boxes containing coins. They could either keep these coins as a souvenir or exchange them for something to eat at the bistro like a pretzel or icecream. Most of them turned their coins in for a snack, but some kept theirs as a memory of the party. They squealed with delight when asked if they had fun, so I am quite content with a job well done. I am happy that they had fun, and I look forward to the next birthday party!