For my son’s dinosaur party, I created a DIY game and take-home activity. Dinosaur parties are great because they appeal to a wide variety of ages. Choosing this generic theme gives you a lot more options for decorations, games, and activities.
When buying decorations, I recommend staying away from specific characters. You are more likely to reuse items that way. For this dinosaur party, I used two items with high reuse. I bought a set of palm leaves that came in three sizes. I’ve used them for a dinosaur party, a pirate party, and a Survivor party. Second was a set of 9″ dinosaur figures that were table decorations. These were actual toys so once the party was over, I just added them to the toy bin.
Dinosaur Ring Toss
Turn this Triceratops into a Tricera-Toss
A simple version of a ring toss game that incorporated the dinosaur party theme and was able to be played by kids of all ages (and some adults later). There are a variety of ways you can create this using cardboard, party hats or cones. We have a 3D printer and my husband will take any excuse to use it. First, I painted the triceratops head on wood (it was a shelf from old furniture) and mounted the horns to it.
Then, I attached the 3D printed horns using screws. The horns were printed using two designs found on Thingiverse.com – nose horn and two head horns. Finally, we used rings from the pool to toss on to the horns. Glow necklaces are a fun alternative.
Dinosaur Excavation Kit
Let’s dig up dinosaurs!
After searching for dinosaur inspiration, I found many ideas to do an excavation or dig. I liked the idea of digging to find dinosaur bones or toys. However I did not like the idea of sand getting all over my house.
I made individual excavation kits as the treat bag item. Each kit had 4 small dinosaurs buried in the sand and we provided a set of tools (plastic knife, brush, magnifying glass).
What you need to make the dinosaur excavation kits:
First, I chose 4 different dinosaurs for each kit.
Then, we made the sand mixture using:
- 8 cups sand
- 1/2 cup plaster
- 1/2 cup water
Next, I packed the dinosaurs and sand into a plastic food storage container
Then, left it uncovered to harden overnight.
A great part of this kit is that you can add 1 tablespoon of water back to it, re-hide the dinosaurs, let it dry, and dig them up again!
Dinosaur Information Cards
After buying a set of small dinosaurs, my kids looked through and kept asking the name of each one. This gave me an idea! Think about all the toys that come with the list of possible options you could collect – some are common, some are rare – it becomes exciting to see what you got, what the name is, how rare it is.
I made a list of possible dinosaurs you could uncover. Then, after digging up a dinosaur, you match it to the list. And because I can’t help myself, I loaded it full of fun facts!
Each card contained:
- Dinosaur’s name
- Pronunciation key – because if I needed it, then likely somebody else would too
- What the name means – because I thought it was interesting and some were really funny
- Picture of the dinosaur toy – these were actual pictures of the dinosaur figures I bought
- Dinosaur’s diet
- Approximate length and weight
- Where the dinosaur was found
The cards were all business card size, hole punched, and put on a keyring together.
How did it turn out?
After the party, several parents sent me pictures of their kids digging out their dinosaurs later that night. They were excited to find them in the list. It was really cool to see their excitement and also to see the piles of sand on someone else’s floor!
Originally I had the idea of adding a little quiz or activity based on all this information. Then set a challenge to sort the dinosaurs by size, group them by diet, lay them out on a map where they were found, etc. I ultimately decided to leave these extra steps out. However, it’s something that adds to the reuse and can be modified to be more or less challenging based on the age of the kids.
This is amazing! You are my hero!!