Raawr! We’ve all seen Jurassic park, haven’t we? And, I’m sure the kids have had a quick peek from behind the sofa too when the ferocious T-Rex pops his head round the corner, beady eye glinting!

Kids love things that stomp and smash and your little one would probably love nothing more than to have a dinosaur themed birthday party. But how would you go about organising something like that, you ask? Well, fear not! Here’s a few handy tips to help you out.

Invitations

You can set the mood even weeks before the party by sending out dino themed invitations to your child’s friends. You can purchase packs of these from good stationery stores, or if you’re feeling adventurous, you can try making your own. Get your kids to help out too, they’ll have great fun!

• Footprint invites - An invitation in the shape of a giant dino footprint - effective and, if you make lots and lots of them, you can use the spares as decoration for leaving footprint trails around your living room!
• Dino egg shapes - Create egg shaped invites and cover them with big splodgy spots - no-one really knows what a dinosaur egg looks like, but I bet that’s not far off! Draw a little crack around the top to pretend there’s something stirring inside…
• Have fun with the wording too - some suggestions…
  - - - Don’t be a diplodocus! Come to ______’s party, the best bash this side of B.C.
  - - - The Partysaurus wants to invite _____ to _____’s party, for a prehistoric party!

Dinosaur Decorations

What you want to do here is make your house seem like it’s been taken back in time to the stone age! This can easily be achieved with a few random bits and bobs (Unless you happen to own a blue, time travelling police box)

• Polystyrene and grey paint - if you have access to a supply of polystyrene packing material (usually available from certain stockists, have a look around on the internet) you can combine this with a supply of grey paint to create great looking rocks that can be used for decoration or for party games
• With a white sheet and paint you can create a tablecloth covered in mysterious dinosaur footprints. To create the prints, take a piece of cardboard roughly 6 inches square and then cut out and stick on smaller pieces in the shape of a footprint. You’ll then have a template for a dino footprint stamp which you can use, along with some paint, to create the footprints
• Create a jungle effect with lengths of green crepe paper and streamers around the rooms where most of the party action will be happening. For even more atmosphere, have a look around for one of those “Sound effects” CDs in a jungle variety - it’ll really set the mood.
• Buy some green heatproof, transparent paint for lightbulbs and really let the jungle into your house with green lighting effects
• If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can hang sheets on the walls and paint pre-cambrian landscapes on, complete with smoking volcanoes!
• Pick up a few cheap stuffed dinosaurs to make great table centerpieces, surrounded by fake plastic rocks and more streamers
• And, for atmosphere overload try some dry ice - nothing beats this for a really creepy and over-the-top effect!

Dino Food!

You’ll want to keep the theme going with some great prehistoric snacks and meals to feed all those hungry little critters

• Cookie cutters are always a handy thing to have for kids parties. Not only can you use them to create animal shaped cookies, you can also cut out chunks of fruit such as pineapple and melon for a healthy option
• The Cake - If you’re feeling adventuous, you can try making a dinosaur themed cake yourself, but a lot of bakeries do now offer takeaway services where they’ll make a specially customised cake to order. See if there’s any near you that’ll serve you up a dino cake
• Volcano Punch - For the more adventurous amongst you! Make a cocktail mixture using red and orange fruit drinks then take some dry ice inside a sealed plastic container with a few holes punched in it (be careful when handling this stuff. It can burn. Use thick gardening gloves and tongs). Make sure the kids dont try and get hold of any of it. It makes for a fantastic effect, but you should be careful around it.
• Mini eggs - make pretend that a bunch of tiny dinosaurs have left behind a present - a bowl of delicious, sugary eggs. Yum!

Dinosaur Games and Entertainments

• Lost World Obstacle Course - Using some household items and perhaps some play equipment, set up a simple obstacle course around your garden - Try creating a simple “Swamp” or for the more adventurous, try constructing a cardboard volcano and get the kids to throw a tennis ball inside to “pass” that obstacle. Other suggestions are “Pit of snakes” which you can fill with rubber snakes, obtainable from most toy shops or convert a row of chairs into a “Dark tunnel of doom”
• Excavation - turn a sandpit into an archaeological dig site! Bury some random dinosaur toys, sticks, old coins and let the intrepid explorers dig away
• Face Painting - Using safe and water based face paints, paint a simple footprint onto each childs cheek, or forehead. If you have hired a face painter for the day, he or she would probably be able to turn the kids into proper little reptiles!

We hope that’s been of some help to you, best of luck with the party planning and remember, it’s a party - you’re allowed to have fun with the preparations too!