Pirates in the Ship Games for a Birthday Party

by Katrina
(Crowley, Louisiana)

Pirates in the Ship Game: Have all the kids gather in a circle and hold hands in a large open area. Have the birthday kid stand in the middle of the circle.

Everyone sways back and forth and sings "Joey the pirate is in the ship and the waves are high, the waves are high, the waves are high, Joey the pirate is in the ship and the waves are high, the waves are high, the waves are high." Insert the name of the birthday child in place of the name Joey.

Then "Joey" leaves the middle of the circle, rejoins the kids holding hands and chooses two other kids to replace him. The verse is repeated with both of their names included this time. Ex: "Karen and Phillip the pirates are in the ship and the waves are high...."

Then "Karen and Phillip" leave the circle and choose three other kids to replace them. The verse is repeated with their names. Ex: "Chris and John and Ronnie the pirates are in the ship and the waves are high...."

This is continued adding 1 more kid to the center of the circle each time until there is no way the kids holding hands can circle around all of the "pirates".

As the game nears the end it will get comical because the kids will need to remember more and more names in the verses and there will be more and more kids in the middle of the ship and less and less kids holding hands as the ship, so the ship will get tighter trying to hold so many pirates in it.

For a fun variation have the kids start by singing the song and swaying at a regular pace for the first kid, speeding up more and more for the second batch and so forth.