Dinosaur Theme Party

Dinosaurs are one of the most popular and exciting topics in school these days. Children sit on the edges of their seats with wide eyes waiting to hear more about these huge creatures. You can bring dinosaurs to life for your child at his or her next birthday party with these fun ideas.

DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS
Brown grocery bags are fantastic for making huge dinosaur footprints. Cut out several and lead your guests up the sidewalk or to the back yard for the party. If you're short on time and have a walkway leading to your home, draw big footprints on the sidewalk with chalk instead.

MY PICTURE WITH A T-REX
Find someone with artistic talent and ask him or her to draw, paint or color the image, and then cut out a large T-Rex dinosaur. It should stand taller than an average adult so it looks really big when a child stands next to it. You can either attach it to a fence or stabilize it with wood supports. As children arrive, take their picture with the T-Rex. Once all the guests have had their picture taken, have someone run to the nearest one-hour photo developing store. Each child will have their very own picture to take home with them!

AN ARCHEOLOGICAL DIG
If you don't already have a sandbox or an unused area of the garden, create your own "dig" area by filling an inexpensive plastic swimming pool with play sand. Hide small plastic bones, dinosaurs, rocks, and other cool stuff for the children to find. Give each child a plastic shovel and have them go to work finding the treasures. (You may want to mention this activity in your invitations so they children can wear their play clothes.)

DINO STOMP
Tie (loosely) a balloon to each child's ankle. The object of the game is to see who can stomp on and break the other children's balloon first. The last child standing is the winner. Everyone else is now "extinct".

A VOLCANO CAKE
Create a mountain-shaped cake by stacking a few bundt cakes upside down. Now, cut a hole in the center of the mountain. Frost the outside of the mountain cake with chocolate frosting. Tint some vanilla pudding red and place that in the center. Bring a bit up and over the top so it looks like it's oozing out as if it's erupting. Crumble several Oreo cookies to spread down the sides and around the base of the mountain cake. Use blue frosting to create water and green frosting to create grass around the mountain. It will look and taste fantastic! Serve the cake with "Lava Juice". Red punch with orange sherbet swirled in will look like molten lava. Here is another volcano cake that looks yummy too!

A DINOSAUR CAKE
There are of course many different types of dinosaur cakes that you could make for your party. Here is a dinosaur cake that looks great and there are easy to follow instructions to go with it.

CREATE YOUR OWN FOSSILS
Purchase a few packages of air-drying clay or plaster of Paris. Before the party, roll the clay into medium-size balls. On the day of the party, each child receives a ball of clay and some plastic dinosaurs, bugs, and bones. Show the children how to flatten their clay and then press the plastic toys into it. Allow the clay to dry, and if there is time, the children can paint their creation.

Your dinosaur party will be a big, stompin' hit with your child and all of their friends!