It be party time me hearties! Arrrr! *review*

The thought of planning a children's party, no matter how small, always causes stress. We've had the pleasure of reviewing party activities for girls in the past and they've worked really well for taking the hassle out of keeping 6 girls happily occupied for 2 hours. 

This month we were sent a Pirate Party set from Interplay UK. 

Suitable for ages 5-8 years, the kit includes all the materials you need to decorate treasure chests, make a pirate hat and eyepatch and a booklet with a selection of pirate-themed party games.

We've had plastic toys to paint before and the paint is usually so thin that it takes coat upon coat to cover the toy but these were so much better. Charlie, his friend and Molly managed to cover the chests with one coat of paint, although there was plenty of paint for more should you wish.

While the children waited for their painted chests to dry they made the foam hats and eyepatches. The skull and crossbone decals were self-adhesive meaning no help was needed from me. What I really liked about these was the strong, adjustable headband. 

Once the main colour of the chests was dry (in about 15-20 minutes) they painted the black wood markings. It was difficult for youngsters to recreate the look on the box but they were very pleased with their efforts nonetheless.

While these were drying I took the gold doubloons from the pack and we had a treasure hunt. Unfortunately we couldn't go outside as the weather was atrocious but they still had fun hunting around the house for the coins.

What most impressed the children was that the gold doubloons were metal rather than the usual plastic coins so they believed they have real treasure!! 

I sent Charlie's friend home with his doubloons in his chest and a couple of sweet surprises. He was over the moon when he opened it at home!

The only slightly negative thing about the kit was that there are only 4 gold doubloons per child, which look a bit pathetic at the bottom of the chest but I added some gold tissue paper to fill it up or you could add more sweets to make it look a little fuller of treasure.

As well as keeping the children busy, and giving you great ideas for party games, there's no need for party bags with this party kits as the guests can take home what they've made.

We think this kit is worth every penny and all Mum & Dad have to do is clear up the paint and serve food! It comes highly recommended from us and I would not hesitate to buy it for one of our parties.

*We were not paid for this review. We were supplied one Pirate Party kit to test and review. All opinion is honest and based upon our own experiences.