DINOSAUR PARTY INVITATIONS
Purchase matching dinosaur party invitations, or make your own with cardstock paper, stickers etc. Using pre-cut dinosaur shapes from a
teaching supply or craft store will make the job even easier. 
If hand delivery is possible, fold a small paper invitation
and place it into a plastic egg with some rock candy.
______'s having a dino-mite dinosaur birthday party,
and you're invited!
Include the party details and a suggestion to wear play clothes.
Order matching Dino Friends invitations here >>

DINOSAUR BIRTHDAY PARTY DECORATIONS
Cover the party table with a white sheet and paper dinosaur foot prints. Scatter the table top with rock candy and dinosaur fruit snacks.
Make a simple centerpiece by tying a bouquet of helium balloons to a large plastic or plush dinosaur. Place your matching dinosaur plates, napkins etc. Tape dinosaur footprints on the walls and floor. Create a jungle effect by hanging strips of green streamers in varying lengths from the ceiling. Place plastic and plush dinosaurs throughout the party area. For advanced decorating, use large sheets of butcher paper to make a jungle and/or
paint a dinosaur or two. Enlist a talented teen for this job!

DINOSAUR BIRTHDAY PARTY GAMES & ACTIVITIES

Face Painting
As the party guests arrive paint a small dinosaur or dinosaur footprint
onto their cheek or hand. Tip: Hire a teenager for this job, so you can
be available to the children.

Pin the Horn on the Triceratops
Traditional game with a twist.
Draw or purchase a poster with stegosaurus. 
Make simple horns with paper.

Ring Toss with Dinosaurs
SOLID, heavy plastic dinosaurs are the targets for this game.
Rings can be purchased or easily made with heavy rope and duct tape.
Play just as you would horse shoes or Ring Toss. 
Take turns and reward EACH child for a job well done!

Dig Time
The real memory maker!
Fill a small pool with dirt or sand, to create the excavation site. 
You can also use construction tape to designate a dig area in your yard.
Bury items before the party; real or plastic bones, popsicle sticks, small dinosaur toys, or old coins. Provide each child with a small shovel or soup spoon and a paint brush to clean their finds (optional).

Have fun with this activity by sharing a tale of buried items
or relics from the past…
"This was the hit of the party !" Says Anne from Maine
"To make it easier, I used my unfinished garden patch
as the excavation site.

Make your own fossils with coffee grounds...here's how!
1 cup of used coffee grounds
1/2 cup of cold coffee
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
Wax or parchment paper
Mixing bowl
Small objects to make impressions in the dough (optional)
Cookie cutter or butter knife

Stir the together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well mixed. Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the waxed paper.  Cut pieces for your fossils using cookie cutters or a butter knife. You can create fossil impressions using objects pressed into the dough,  or make bones, dinosaur teeth etc. Let the fossils dry over night or place in a low heat oven for a few hours. Drying times vary on the thickness...so keep watching. Bury the fossils and bones before the party.

Bowling Bones
One mother we spoke to, used empty pop cans and a ball to make
a bone bowling game.
"It only took 30 minutes to cover 10 cans with paper,
I drew a simple bone on each can. Every player took a few turns
and received a small prize."

"Lost World" Obstacle Course 
Set up the course in your garage, covered patio or back yard.
Mark a starting point and an end. Suggested obstacles...
Tires to jump through "Dino Swamp", stones to hop on, sticks to
navigate and dinosaur footprints made with craft foam sheets.
At the end of the course, each player will receive a small prize.
If the prizes are small i.e.. candy , chocolate coin, sticker...
the children can run the course several times.