15 EPIC Dinosaur Party theme ideas (and simple ways to make them work)
Are you looking for a theme for your little dinosaur’s birthday?
We’ve got 15 dinosaur party theme ideas and each one is fun, simple and unique. And we share just how you can make them work.
I was researching and not just *ahem* distracted.
As I age, my ADHD traits have become increasingly apparent. I like to over-prepare, am partial to rabbit holes, and am easily distracted.
For birthday parties, our little dinosaur fan chooses from the detailed options I’ve prepared. At least four of them.
Our dinosaur parties are never just dinosaur parties. There is always an angle, a detailed theme, and ideas for what decorations we will need to buy or make, what activities would work, and what the cake should look like.
Today we’re sharing 15 far-from-ordinary dinosaur party theme ideas. Fun. Simple. Unique. And we’ll tell you how to make them work.
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1. Three Rex! Number theme
This simple dinosaur party theme idea is not just for 4-year-olds. It works for most ages, with an appropriate saying. Dino-Mite 5th Birthday. Roar! I’m turning 4! Two-a-saurus. Teen-Rex. This little dinosaur’s turning 1.
The key to ensuring this dinosaur birthday party is a success and doesn’t require too much organisation is buying (or making) a birthday set with invitations, thank-you cards, decorations, etc., and purchasing other elements, like balloons, to match. Stay simple and stick to an easy colour scheme to make it work.
Tip: I know you’ve been searching Pinterest and Google for ideas. Use the fantastic elements you’ve found (within budget), and colour-coordinate them to make it cohesive.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Balloons. Roar balloons. Dinosaur balloons. Number balloon. Signs. Bunting. Plates and serviettes that match your colour theme (not everything has to have dinosaurs on them). And some toy or paper maché dinosaurs.
Invitations: Decide on these first and let your colours for your decorations and cake inspiration flow from there. There are so many to choose from!
Cake: A simple cake in the shape of a 4 (or whatever the right number is) and some dinosaurs, preferably in your coordinating colours.
Food: Dinosaur-themed food (check out our recipes for inspiration). With coordinated dinosaur-themed labels.
Activities: This really depends on the age of your little dinosaur fan and your guests. Typically, a number birthday theme works well, where you have a diverse group of guests, with family and good family friends, neighbours, friends from kindergarten or mothers and babies course, etc. This can make it more difficult to find activities that suit all guests. If possible, try one craft activity (e.g., decorating and painting papier-mache dinosaurs) and two games (fossicking in the sandpit, dinosaur dance-off). And a dinosaur piñata.
Favours: This will depend on the age of your guests, but toy dinosaurs, tattoos or stickers, stamps, keyrings, dinosaur candy, any crafts made and piñata winnings in a bag to match the rest of your theme. You could also make some dinosaur fossils.
2. Dinos and Doughnuts Party
For a simple idea, combine dinosaurs with your little dinosaur fan’s favourite food, like dinosaurs and doughnuts or dinosaurs and burgers.
Let your favourite food guide your food choices. Consider holding the birthday party at a place that serves doughnuts and saves you from cooking, like a doughnut shop, diner or burger bar. Yes, it can still be a dinosaur party! For extra fun, have someone dress up as a T. rex and help serve the food.
This one works well for baby showers, too!
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Toy dinosaurs. Intermingled with food, as appropriate. Like a T. rex eating a burger or a toy Brachiosaurus with doughnuts around its neck.
Invitations: Something with images of dinosaurs and your little dinosaur fan’s favourite foods, like a Brachiosaurus with doughnuts around its neck.
Cake: This depends on your little dinosaur fan’s favourite food. Obviously, if it is doughnuts, you need to have doughnuts as the cake.
Food: Whatever your child’s favourite food is. Doughnuts and bagels, for example.
Activities: 1. Doughnut decorating with dinosaur sprinkles, pizza or burger making – whatever is most appropriate. Let your guests photograph their creations before pretending to be hungry raptors. 2. If you are going to be dining out, get some markers and placemats with appropriate images on them and let your guests colour in while they wait for food. 3. Set up a temporary tattoo spot to let your guests get a glitter dinosaur tattoo. 4. Play snap or another simple card game. 5. Make dinosaur masks. 6. And a piñata shaped like a dinosaur or their favourite food.
Favours: Small toy dinosaurs, fun candy, placemats, and markers or masks. And photos of them with their creations for the thank-you cards.
3. Dinosaur Movie Night
There are so many dinosaur movies to choose from (and a few franchises), so why not have a birthday party to watch your little dinosaur fan’s favourites? It does not have to be a night party or sleepover, but if you’re planning a sleepover, this theme would easily work.
If you’re lucky, you will even have a dinosaur movie playing at the cinema when it’s birthday time (Like the new Paw Patrol Dino Movie).
Tip: If you are planning a cinema visit, be sure to check for any discounts, coupons, birthday specials, or special screenings. It can help stretch your budget and may, depending on screening times, change your party time.
An ironed white sheet, a projector, some picnic blankets and pillows can turn your dinosaur movie party into a magical cinema under the stars.
The big decision for this dinosaur party theme idea is whether to focus on “movies” or on the dinosaur movie itself.
Tip: Make sure your chosen movie is appropriate for all your guests.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Toy dinosaurs. Intermingled with food, as appropriate. Like a T. rex eating a burger or a toy Brachiosaurus with doughnuts around its neck.
Invitations: Something with images of dinosaurs and your little dinosaur fan’s favourite foods, like a Brachiosaurus with doughnuts around its neck.
Cake: This depends on your little dinosaur fan’s favourite food. Obviously, if it is doughnuts, you need to have doughnuts as the cake.
Food: Whatever your child’s favourite food is. Doughnuts and bagels, for example.
Activities: 1. Doughnut decorating with dinosaur sprinkles, pizza or burger making – whatever is most appropriate. Let your guests photograph their creations before pretending to be hungry raptors. 2. If you are going to be dining out, get some markers and placemats with appropriate images on them and let your guests colour in while they wait for food. 3. Set up a temporary tattoo spot to let your guests get a glitter dinosaur tattoo. 4. Play snap or another simple card game. 5. Make dinosaur masks. 6. And a piñata shaped like a dinosaur or their favourite food.
Favours: Small toy dinosaurs, fun candy, placemats, and markers or masks. And photos of them with their creations for the thank-you cards.
4. Dino-thrills Party
Do you have an amusement park or theme park near where you live that has a dinosaur-themed ride or area? Why not have a party at the park and let your little dinosaur fan and their guests ride the ride?
Possible parks include Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Universal Studios in Hollywood, Singapore and Japan, the new Universal Kids Resort in Texas, Paulton’s Park in Romsey, South of England (Lost Kingdom), Dino Dash at Emerald Park in Ireland, Junglia in Japan, Movieland, The Hollywood Park near Verona in Italy (Expedition Pangea), China Dinosaur Park in Changzhou, Legoland (California, Malaysia and Germany have dinosaur-themed rides) or even Playmobil (Adventure Tree House).
Some parks are expensive, so this idea might not be within your budget, or limit the guest list to one or two best friends. Some parks do have birthday freebies, which are worth checking out.
Tip: Before you go, check that all of your guests fulfil the (height and age) requirements to go on the dinosaur ride!
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: None – unless you want to have some streamers or balloons in the car for the ride there.
Invitations: Something that relates to the ride and theme park in question, e.g. Lego bricks and a Lego dinosaur for Legoland, dinosaur scratch marks for Jurassic World.
Cake: Dinosaur cupcakes – easy to transport and eat wherever it’s suitable.
Food: Finger food (vegetable sticks, fruit, pretzels) or park food. Check out any package deals the park might offer and any rules on taking food into the park.
Activities: Rides, rides, rides!
Favours: If you are going to a large park, you might want to get distinctive matching t-shirts (spot your birthday party easily in the crowd!). Personalised drink bottles save money on drinks, too (grab plain bottles and label them with your Cricut – don’t forget to fill them with water for the day). Remember to get a matching bottle and T-shirt for the little dinosaur fan, too. Leave any other party favours in the car so you don’t have to carry them around with you all day. Just remember, gummy bears and chocolates like to melt in warm cars, even dinosaur gummies.
5. Camp Cretaceous Party
Camp Cretaceous is Netflix’s newest addition to the Jurassic Park franchise. After winning a video game and an adventure on Isla Nublar, Darius meets five other teenagers to camp on the island. When dinosaurs break free from their habitats, the campers are stranded without help and have to find their own way out alive.
This dinosaur party theme idea lends itself well to an overnight camping event. If your little dinosaur fan and their guests are old enough to camp outside in a tent, this theme could be for you.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: If you’re really good at building things, you could recreate the Camp Cretaceous gates as the “entry” to your party. If you’re not, this banner would be great for photos and to set the scene. Add some themed plates, cups and bunting.
Invitations: If you can find some with the Camp Cretaceous logo on them, that would be great. I love these tent invitations and know you could easily make something similar – with a dinosaur or two, of course.
Cake: Play up the camping theme. Try a chocolate cake decorated with a campfire (flames made of roll-ups and pretzel sticks or wafer sticks for logs). Or try a chocolate cake covered in toasted marshmallows (either meringue or individual toasted marshmallows) for a giant s’mores cake. Alternatively, just have s’mores instead of cake.
Food: Camp food. Think dino dogs, corn on the cob, twist bread or damper, Bronto burgers… whatever you would have camping or at summer camp. Don’t forget breakfast (dinosaur pancakes and fruit).
Activities: 1. A sleepover in the tent – the highlight, of course. 2. Singing songs around the campfire. 3. Telling campfire stories (involving dinosaurs). 4. Stargazing. 5. Toasting marshmallows and making s’mores. 6. Playing charades. 7. If the party starts earlier in the day, you can try a scavenger hunt (for dinosaurs) or orienteering. 8. Whittle dinosaurs out of wood. 9. Or even visit your local dinosaur park (if you have one near you).
Favours: These Camp Cretaceous T-shirts would be fun to make the party feel like a Summer camp. Perhaps with some s’mores kits (take crackers, marshmallows and chocolate and put them in little plastic bags). You could let your guests take their torches with them. And perhaps gift them a toy dinosaur that appears in the series.
6. Palaeontologist Barbie Party
We’re all for encouraging girls to love maths and science. That’s why this Palaeontologist Barbie is great – and lives at our house. And why it is one of my favourite dinosaur party theme ideas.
And how about a palaeontologist Barbie party to celebrate these two loves? With pink hard hats for guests to decorate with sparkles and glitter, pink glittery dinosaurs for guests to take home and pink paintbrushes for uncovering fossils in the sandpit? Pink balloons and lots of paper or plastic fern leaves for decorations and a photo backdrop, and a chocolate fossil cake with Palaeontologist Barbie at work.
Dinosaurs and pink – what could be easier?
Tip: If your little dinosaur fan is not such a fan of pink or Barbie, have a Palaeontologist Party or a Dinosaur Dig Party with your little dinosaur fan’s favourite colour(s).
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Pink. Lots of pink balloons. This Barbie box and these pink sequin curtains would make a great photo backdrop with a dinosaur for photos. Or pink balloons interspersed with paper or plastic fern leaves for a pink Jurassic jungle effect. Pink tablecloths with green leaves as place settings.
Invitations: Either with an image of Palaeontologist Barbie or black, white and gold fossil images, and pink Barbie font writing.
Cake: A dinosaur fossil cake with Palaeontologist Barbie at work. And pink candles, of course.
Food: Pink lemonade and dinosaur-themed food (e.g. dino dogs, herbivore vegetable stick snacks, pink jelly).
Activities: 1. Hard hat decorating (with pink or plain helmets and lots of jewels and glitter), 2. Fossil egg discovery and excavation (with pink protective glasses), 3. Stop dancing with dinosaur, plastic doll, and supermodel dancing styles, 4. Fossils in the glitter kinetic sand sandpit with pink paintbrushes for excavation, 5. Pink dinosaur piñata.
Favours: The hard hats and protective glasses, any uncovered dinosaur fossils, DIY pink glittery dinosaur keychains, the winnings from the piñata, and some pink candy.
7. Pangaea party
This dinosaur party theme works really well if you have a garden with lots of plants, access to a botanical garden or rainforest, or don’t mind turning your house into a jungle. Think tropical birthday party trend with dinosaurs.
Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed before the dinosaurs and started to break up at the start of the Jurassic period. It was centred on the Equator, so rainforests – and their plants – were common.
Around 200 to 175 MYA, as Pangea began to break up, volcanic activity increased. This lends itself to volcano or lava cakes, lava cookies (black and red crinkle cookies using black cocoa powder), and even the floor is lava game.
This theme is easy to adapt for a wedding, especially a garden wedding. Think invitations with greenery and gold writing, gold dinosaurs, plants and flowers as table decorations, and gold dinosaur cake toppers. You can even have someone dressed up as a dinosaur to greet guests, start the dancing, or be a “flower Rex”. And there are some great digital backgrounds with dinosaurs for fun photos.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Lots of real plants, leaves and maybe some tropical flowers or leis.
Invitations: The invitations must feature leaves. Lots of leaves.
Cake: A beautiful cake with hand-painted leaves. Or a delicious chocolate cake with cardboard leaves and a dinosaur or two as cake toppers (you could easily DIY these). Or get some gold dinosaurs and use the rest for your activities.
Food: Lots of leafy salad. Tropical fruit salad. Tropical fruit lemonades. BBQ skewers or even Bronto burgers.
Activities: 1. Picnic in the garden amongst the plants. 2. Scavenger hunt in the garden for gold dinosaurs. 3. DIY tropical dinosaur paradise: let your guests and your little dinosaur fan decorate flower pots with stick-on jewels, letters and perhaps some tropical stickers, pot a small fern in the pot and add gold dinosaurs and some colourful stones.
Favours: The tropical dinosaur paradise with the gold dinosaur. A lei. Your favourite tropical flavoured candy.
8. Tea-rex Tea Party
Our little dinosaur aficionado loves tea parties and would regularly have tea parties with her dinosaurs. If your little dinosaur fan is the same, this might be the dinosaur party theme idea for you.
All you need to do is plan a tea party with dinosaur elements, like dinosaur-shaped sandwiches, cupcakes with dinosaur toppers, and some dinosaur decor. We recommend making several dinosaur cake toppers and using them as decoration. If you want them to drink tea, find a cheap dollhouse tea set.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: I prefer florals and pastels for this theme, but you can use whatever colours your little dinosaur fan prefers. Add a few dinosaur balloons and make your own dinosaur table decorations and cake stands out of toy dinosaurs.
Invitations: On Mothers’ Day a few years ago, our little dinosaur aficionado gifted me a paper teacup with a teabag between the two layers. I can imagine a similar invitation, with a dinosaur on the teacup and the tag on the teabag, and the party details on the back.
Cake: Tea cake, of course! With dinosaur decorations on top.
Food: Afternoon tea sandwiches cut into dinosaur shapes with your dinosaur cookie cutters, cupcakes with dinosaur cake toppers, and dinosaur-shaped cookies.
Activities: 1. Assembling and decorating dinosaur wands. 2. Dinosaur cookie decorating. 3. Stack the sugar cubes – who can make the tallest tower (and then let the dinosaurs knock them down). 4. A traditional game like pass the parcel.
Favours: The dinosaur wands. DIY Dinosaur soap or poured resin dinosaurs. Teapot-shaped gift boxes with little toy dinosaurs and your child’s favourite sweets inside.
9. Dinosaur King Party
We missed this series when it originally aired, but our LDA has been enjoying it on Netflix. The series is based on a Japanese card trading game in which Max, Rex and Zoe try to find dinosaur cards and the dinosaurs they activate.
For this dinosaur party theme idea, try to source some Dinosaur King cards. You can find some on amazon and eBay, for example.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Red, yellow and black balloons, and Dinosaur King trading cards copied in poster size.
Invitations: They have to look like a Dinosaur King trading card, of course.
Cake: Red and yellow with toy dinosaurs or a banner with your dinosaur fan’s name in Dinosaur King font. Alternatively, you might try to make a cake that looks like the “O” in the logo (dinosaur eye) or get a professional cake decorator to make something more extravagant.
Food: Pay homage to the game’s origins with Japanese food: sushi, teriyaki chicken skewers and yaki udon noodles, for example.
Activities: 1. Sushi making? 2. A parkour or scavenger hunt to find dinosaur cards and dinosaurs. 3. And some time to play the trading game or SEGA game. 4. A dinosaur egg piñata painted to look like one from Dinosaur King.
Favours: Dinosaur King trading cards, small toy dinosaurs, water-hatch dinosaur eggs, and maybe some fun Japanese candy.
10. Power Rangers Dino Fury party
Power Rangers has recently become a hit with our LDA. I’m not sure she likes them enough for a Power Rangers party, but it would be a good dinosaur party theme idea for a little dinosaur fan who does.
The concept is simple. It would help if your little dinosaur fan has several Power Rangers Dino Fury toys or if you can get a Power Rangers-themed party pack.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Balloons in red, blue, pink, green, gold and black, the colours of the 5 Dino Fury Power Rangers. Some of your little dinosaur fan’s Power Rangers toys. The decorations in your Power Rangers-themed party pack.
Invitations: I would make my own based on the symbol on the front of their uniforms in white, silver and one of the 6 colours. Alternatively, you could just use the Power Rangers invitations in the set.
Cake: This one might be one I’d pay to have someone make for me. I can envisage one that looks like this Dino Fury Morpher. Or I’d use two to three colours of fondant and a printout to create a Dino Fury mask/helmet. Or use edible paper to print out a topper for the cake.
Food: The Power Rangers are the alter egos of a group of high school students. Why not go with school lunch boxes (Bronto boxes perhaps?) or cafeteria-style food?
Activities: 1. Start by having each child make their own Power Ranger mask (that they can take home with them) and take photos of the new Dino Fury Team. 2. Set up a parkour course or Olympics-style competition for them to test their Power Rangers skills.
Favours: Let guests take home their masks, some red, blue, pink, green, gold and black M&Ms or other sweets in Dino Fury colours, and perhaps a small Power Rangers toy as a favour.
11. Plesiosaur pool party
An easy dinosaur party theme idea if you have a pool and a dinosaur fan with diverse interests.
We had a mermaid and plesiosaur pool party for our LDA’s combined sixth birthday and first day of school. She had two school cones – a mermaid one and a dinosaur school cone – and could not decide which one to use as the basis for the party, so we did both.
I must admit, I struggled with how to turn dinosaurs and mermaids into a combined party until I thought of the prehistoric kings of the sea. And yes, I know they are not dinosaurs…
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: This will depend on whether you are holding your party at a public pool (especially if your pool has dinosaurs) or at home. Try mermaid-coloured balloons and two plesiosaur balloons, one in blue and one in purple. Seaweed streamers for them to hide in. These jellyfish decorations are cute. You might have to forgo most of your decorations if you are at a public pool (they tend to disagree with the filters): check with the pool before purchasing anything.
Invitations: We sent invitations via WhatsApp, with seaweed at the bottom, some mermaid tails and a plesiosaur hiding in the seaweed.
Cake: A cake with blue ombre frosting to resemble the ocean, or a pastel paint effect to resemble mermaid scales. Add mermaid cake toppers. We had vanilla cupcakes with blue frosting with mermaid meringue decorations or mermaid sprinkles and butter cookie sand. Ours are no longer available, but these sugar seashells would work.
Food: Fish and chips, obviously.
Activities: 1. Swimming in the pool! With a plesiosaur pool float, and small toy dinosaurs and mermaid jewels to find on the bottom of the pool. 2. Bubble fun. 2. We had kinetic sand to play with, too. 3. And a mermaid or dinosaur piñata.
Favours: We had different favours depending on whether the guest was male or female. For the girls, we found some holographic pencil cases/makeup bags with a fish scale imprint at our dollar store. These sequin pencil cases/makeup bags would work well. We also included little sea creature rings. For the boys, we had some slime or kinetic sand. And some dinosaur tattoos. And some fish gummies for both. You could also try to find dinosaur beach towels, perhaps even a towel with a hood.
12. Godzilla
While they haven’t received as much publicity as the film in the Jurassic Park franchise, several movies and even an Apple TV series have been released over the past few years. If your little dinosaur is a fan, Godzilla might be the dinosaur party theme for you.
Save some money by DIYing most of the decorations – simply create a cityscape out of cardboard boxes. This will be a great backdrop for photos. Can you imagine your guests pretending to be giant monsters terrorising the city?
You can save money on activities too with just a little more DIY.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Your DIY cityscape, a large inflatable Godzilla, light blue streamers strung up in straight lines to look like Godzilla’s “atomic breath”. A few radiation signs and, if you like, a Kaiju activity sign and the Monarch logo.
Invitations: Obviously, the monster needs to be front and centre. You can find some on amazon or Etsy, but I would probably find an image online and use it to make my own invitations.
Cake: I found a wonderful cake that was Godzilla’s head just above the water. If your cake-making skills are not up to it, use a toy Godzilla and blue sugar sticks to resemble the “atomic breath”.
Food: Like our Dinosaur King dinosaur party theme, lean into Godzilla’s Japanese origin and serve Japanese food: (candy) sushi, Teriyaki skewers or noodles. Add drinks that look radioactive, like Mountain Dew or blue Gatorade (with the appropriate radiation signs). Green jelly shots served in syringes, Bugles (Godzilla claws), and green popcorn (Godzilla boogers) round off the spread.
Activities: 1. Photo ops with your skyline backdrop. 2. Get your kids to build their own Kaiju out of masking tape, crepe paper streamers, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. If you have enough, you could use Lego instead. 3. If the weather allows, set up some large Kaiju forms (cardboard cutouts) in your yard (or the park) and let your guests attack them with water bombs. 4. Set up a laser obstacle course in a hallway or small room using streamers and challenge your guests to get through it. These can also double as decorations.
Favours: Small bags of green popcorn and glow-in-the-dark slime.
13. Dino Detectives Party
The dinosaur museum or dinosaur park is probably your little dinosaur fan’s favourite place. This makes it perfect for a dinosaur-themed birthday party if one is close to your home.
Unsurprisingly, the main event will be a tour of the dinosaur exhibits. Some museums and parks have guided tours; others have a self-guided scavenger hunt.
What else you will need will also depend on your package and budget.
A museum’s dinosaur hall is a great wedding location. If you want to hold your wedding at a museum, try the Museum of Natural History in London, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the Naturkundemuseum in Berlin, the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, the Natural History Museum of Utah and the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. All of these offer wedding packages.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Probably none: you won’t be able to hang anything at the museum, and the dinosaur park is likely to have a party area that is already decorated.
Invitations: For a museum visit, I would use invitations with dinosaur fossils on them, perhaps even vintage museum sketches. For a party at a dinosaur park, I’d probably use these dinosaur-shaped invitations.
Cake: Unless there is somewhere you can really set up and cut a cake, cupcakes are probably easiest. Our Stegosaurus cupcakes would work wonderfully.
Food: Easy snack food. Think bones (white chocolate or yoghurt-coated pretzels), (jelly bean) eggs, raptor claws (Bugles or Takis) and dinosaur-shaped sandwiches. The museum probably won’t allow food in the exhibition rooms, and a dinosaur park probably provides food as part of their birthday packages.
Activities: A dinosaur tour. If available, some fossicking in a fossil pit or other activity offered at the dinosaur park.
Favours: Magnifying glasses and whatever they found in the fossil pit. If the museum or park is large and busy, you might want to add matching T-shirts or hats to make it easier to find your group. I love this pith helmet and safari vest pack. If your location would prefer that you not have food at the location, pack cupcakes for your guests to take home.
14. T-Rex Runner Party
Have you played this free game? Is your little dinosaur lover a fan?
The addictive run-and-jump game features a cute, black, pixelated T. rex as the “protagonist”. It’s a great theme for a dinosaur birthday party.
To set up a course, you will need a garden or park. Alternatively, a trampoline centre would be great for this dinosaur party theme idea.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: Pixels. Print out the letters of “Happy Birthday” on squares of (green) paper and stick them on a wall to look like pixels.
Invitations: These have to feature the little T. rex and some cacti. Or the birthday T-Rex Runner optic with a birthday hat. Keep to black and white and green if you can.
Cake: Rich chocolate cake (or vanilla cake if you prefer) cut in the shape of the little T. rex, covered with black frosting. You could also shape Rex out of cupcakes, where each cupcake is a pixel.
Food: Pixels. Everything cut into squares. Brownie squares, pizza squares, fruit salad, all in squares.
Activities: 1. A parkour course, preferably one with some cacti (cardboard drawings), or even one that looks like the game. 2. A homemade black T. rex piñata. 3. Fuse bead dinosaur creation.
Favours: Simple. Perhaps a themed notebook? Take home the fuse bead dinosaurs? Some dinosaur or square candy. All in a black gift box to look like a pixel.
15. Containment Breach AKA Dinosaur Lockdown Party
This is the party we would rather hold in person, but many little dinosaur fans have had birthdays while in lockdown, isolation (such as when receiving treatment), or quarantine. Still, those circumstances shouldn’t stop you from throwing a party your little dinosaur fan will love.
Pretend some dinosaurs have somehow escaped containment, AKA lockdown, and need to be found. And your little dinosaur fan and their guests have to track them down.
The instructions below are for holding a containment breach party, while one or more guests or the birthday boy or girl needs to be isolated from others. If isolation is not an issue, you can still hold a containment breach party à la Jurassic Park and a dinosaur hunt in the garden, park or your neighbourhood.
Tip: You will need help from other parents or friends to get this dinosaur party theme idea to work. Alternatively, use toy or stuffed dinosaurs and hide them in the garden.
How to make this dinosaur party theme idea work
Decorations: At a central location (your front garden), establish your dinosaur cage (which will obviously be empty). Add some balloons and a birthday sign. Be creative with sound effects, warning lights, “Danger – Velociraptor Containment” signs, plants or leaves – whatever works.
Invitations: Cages. Empty. I think you might have to make them yourself with some black and grey card. The instructions on the other side will have to be detailed.
Cake: Cupcakes. Easier to dispense without contact. As this idea involves staggered visits from guests, it may not be possible to sing “Happy Birthday” together. Add some dinosaur cupcake toppers for fun.
Food: Cupcakes. Carnivore treats (grilled sausages or burgers on bread rolls). Herbivore cups and dip. Any food that needs minimal contact to serve and prepare.
Activities: Give guests a check-in time to collect their instructions, map and tally sheet. In their car (with a parent driving), or on foot, guests should move along the route looking for dinosaurs (that you have placed in strategic positions just before the start). The finish line should be back at the start, so guests can hand in their tally, get a cupcake, and even play a distanced dinosaur game, like Dino Dump or Pop-up T-Rex.
You can still use this party theme if you do not have to maintain distance from your guests. Set up your (toy) dinosaurs around your garden, neighbourhood, or park, and let your guests move along your route, searching for the escaped dinosaurs.
Favours: Pith helmets (and vests) for the little hunters to wear on their hunt, a favour box that looks like a cage or transport crate and contains a cupcake, a small toy dinosaur, and some candy. I love these build-your-own-dinosaur stickers.
A party theme within budget
No matter which dinosaur party theme idea you choose, set a budget and stick to it.
Some of the best decorations are handmade – all you need is some empty boxes and a marker for a Godzilla backdrop. If your little dinosaur fan is anything like ours, you probably already have more dinosaurs than you can use for cake toppers and decorations.
I make my own invitations using Canva, and you can too using your favourite tool. I have the paid version, but the free version works well, too. I like being able to send the invites via WhatsApp, Messenger or Email to save on postage.
Homemade invitations can be darling and don’t have to be complicated – a dinosaur silhouette with the information on one side would be perfect. I can see them in black or green with a pixel T. rex silhouette for a T-Rex Runner party, or on bright pink card for a Palaeontologist Barbie party. These work especially well if all the guests are in the same class and you can deliver them at school.
The food does not need to be complicated. Make your little dinosaur fan’s favourite cake and decorate it with toy dinosaurs. Dinosaur-shaped sandwiches, some dinosaur cookies and little cakes are perfect for afternoon tea. School-style packed lunches (Bronto boxes?) work well for Dinosaur Detective or Dino Fury parties. Cookie cutters can dinofy most foods. We have six more easy tricks for dinofying food.
You can also make rather than buy guest favours. Our dinosaur keyrings, sun catchers and fossil eggs are simple DIYs and make perfect guest favours. You can make edible homemade favours too, like dinosaur cookies. Don’t forget: any crafts your guests make at the party, any real or fun fossils they uncover and anything they “win” from your piñata count as favours.
Our ultimate dinosaur party planner recommends you start preparing 6 to 12 weeks before the intended party. This reduces stress, but also allows you more time to make decorations and scan your cupboards, local stores (thrift stores, budget stores, and supermarkets) and online (Prime Day) for sales on any party supplies you may need and to find things you might be able to repurpose. Don’t forget to look for presents for your little dinosaur while you’re at it!
A simple dinosaur party timeline
You’ve picked a dinosaur party theme idea, you know how you want to make it work, and you’re scouring the local stores and looking online for supplies. But how are you going to make things work on the day?
This simple timeline keeps kids busy and the party flowing smoothly without you having to run around frantically.
- Welcome
Let your guests ease in while everyone arrives. Show them where things are, get them their party hats or Triceratops crowns, t-shirts, park or museum maps, dinosaur tails, or whatever might be appropriate, and let them take some great photos in your “photo booth”.
If your little dinosaur is going to open gifts in front of everyone, now is a good time to do so. - The first 15–30 minutes
Let your guests have some free time to mingle and try the first activity. Consider whether any activities should happen first, such as paintings or clay that might need time to dry. Set up an activity table, start the first part of the tour, line up for the first rides, set up cookie decorating or hat decorating, etc. - Mid-party activity
When your guests are ready, move on to the main game or feature activity. This might be a dinosaur dig, obstacle course, tour, crafting, hunt, movie… If you’re at an amusement park, make sure you have your roughest rides out of the way before eating. - Food and cake
Serve snacks, followed by cake or cupcakes. They are likely to be ravenous little raptors, especially if your main activity has taken a lot of energy, time or concentration. This is a natural moment for kids to slow down and regroup and gives you the opportunity to set up the last activity or activities. - Wrap-up activity
If you’re at a dinosaur park or museum, there might be an activity that naturally happens at the end, like a dinosaur dig for prehistoric shark teeth and gemstones. If you’re having one, it’s time to get out the piñata. - Farewell
Add anything from the piñata, dinosaur dig (dinosaurs uncovered) or craft activity (bedazzled construction helmets, paintings) to your party favours. Hand these out near the exit so nothing gets forgotten.
Lastly, take a breather and relax! You’ve got this, and your little dinosaur will absolutely love whatever you’ve put together for them.
Which dinosaur party theme idea will you choose?
We haven’t tried all of these dinosaur party theme ideas. Our little dinosaur fan isn’t old enough to have had this many birthday parties! But that hasn’t stopped me from making lists and developing options…
These aren’t the only dinosaur party theme ideas you can use, either. You could build your party theme around Rex from Toy Story, or his alter ego, Partysaurus Rex. If your friend is a fan of either series, you could have a Dino Dana or Dino Dex party, with homemade dinosaur badges as guest favours. Or choose one of the many films in the Jurassic Park universe and base the party on that.
Whichever party theme you choose, your little dinosaur is bound to have an amazing day. Hopefully, some of our ideas help make planning simpler.
And next time I go down the dinosaur party theme idea rabbit hole, I’ll consider making another post.
Which dinosaur party theme does your little dinosaur most want?
If you do try one of these dinosaur birthday party ideas, please let us know! We’d love to see some photos!
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