We attended the Pirates at the Center Party hosted by Charles County Parks. Here’s how it went….

 Location: The party was held at Hanson Community Center. We arrived to a fairly dark area. I expected to see some indication of the entrance door but because it was dark, we didn’t see the sign.  Another parent and I went from door to door and asked other patrons about the community center but they were clueless too! There was a football game taking place behind the school so we couldn’t really tell what was going initially. Finally someone came out the door with a lightning sword which caught our attention.

 Event: The children first started out with a light snack and a craft. Next it was time to break out in groups to participate in the various games. We did like that the groups were broken up by age group. The children especially loved digging for gold in the sand, the obstacle course and the scavenger hunt. There were other stations but for some reason, our group didn’t visit them all (bummer). All decked out in their pirate gear, many kids took a break from the activities to get a bit of sword fighting in!! At the end of the scavenger hunt all the kids received a pirate themed treat bag filled with goodies including candy, a yo-yo, an eye patch and more!

Overall: The kids had fun at Pirates at the center. I do recommend the following changes for the future:

1. Have more upbeat themed music (especially in the beginning because the kids tend to get excited)
2. The entrance door should be visible by placing lights on or next to it.
3. Maybe the staff can dress up
4. Organize the activities so that there isn’t much room for lingering since the each activity is completed in groups. Smaller kids tend to get bored easily.
5. Maybe setup activity stations for each kid to visit (This seemed to work at the princess party).

Good Job Charles County Parks! See you next year.