My two youngest boys have birthdays just a month apart, so this year I decided to combine their parties into one big epic party! And the one thing they both are obsessed with – dinosaurs. July is so hot here in the South, water is just a must when it comes to outdoor parties. We’ve had a ton of rain and actually had to push the party back a day, but it all worked out perfectly. That evening wasn’t too hot, and I think it will be the party to be remembered.
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The Food
I like to keep kids party food very simple with little to no prep involved. This party we picked up a dozen pizzas from Dominoes as the main dish, and then I had a table with other sides and snacks.
- “prehistoric puffs” – chickpea cheese puffs from Costco
- “stegosaurus spikes – watermelon
- “herbivores” tray- veggies and dip
- “Carnivores” tray- meat and cheese tray
- “cretaceous cookies” – sugar cookies that I gently pressed the feet of toy dinosaurs into when the cookies came out hot from the oven and still soft
- cake and cupcakes were from Sam’s
I topped all the cupcakes with mini dinosaur toys (we had a lot of cupcakes and ended up just bringing them all outside on a giant tray) and the kids were able to bring these little toys home, too.
I made these food labels that you can print out for free HERE.
Cake topper is from Meri Meri and is just SO cute!
Paper plates and Napkins
I use these wood forks for most of my gatherings and parties.
Drinks
- “swamp water”- just plain water
- “fossil fizz” was a punch I made- lemonade, pineapple juice, and sprite
- “prehistoric sweet tea” was more for the adults but some kids did drink it
- We had a cooler of sodas, too
These cups are so cute! They have dinosaurs on them and came with lids and straws.
The Decor
The green backdrop is from Target- I used two of them. The “RAWR” balloon is also from Target and came with the 8 balloons. The dinosaur banner was a four-pack and I strung those around the party. Green checkered tablecloth is from Target.
These inflatable dinos were a hit! They were actually part of the boys’ birthday gifts because I knew they would play with them after the party. Link for the Triceratops and the Brachiosaurus.
My son and I made this welcome sign. We picked up a foam board from the Dollar Tree and I wrote out the letters and he drew the dinosaur. The dinosaur track stickers were from Dollar Tree too! And I placed those on the floor from the door to the bathroom, so kiddos would know where to go.
These party hats are from Target
It’s not Pinterest-perfect, but I am so thankful we have this tent and can sit out of the sun with our mix-matched chairs and folding tables. I got white tablcoths from Target and used a couple burlap runners (I use these ALL the time!)
Artificial Palm Leaves pack– this came with more than I needed, but I used some on the food table, some on these tables we ate at, and then hung some from the tent.
It was windy so I had to tape all the leaves down with painter’s tape!
The Favors
These favors turned out SO cute! I ordered this set and the little plush dinosaurs are just darling. They came with these little cardboard boxes! I added in some dinosaur stickers, dinosaur temporary tattoos, and an organic lolipop. The tattoos I got off Amazon were terrible, but the ones I found at the Dollar Tree were awesome!
Entertainment
We had Pin the Tail on the T-Rex which is always fun.
I made a super simple “Dino Dig” out of our sandbox. I buried these Dinosaur Skeleton toys in the sand, added in some scoops and large paintbrushes from the Dollar Tree, and the kids loved it! My 4 year old spent a lot of time here when the party was a bit too overstimulating for him.
We told our guests to have their kids bring suits and towels for some water fun! They had no idea that we had a BIG surprise for everyone!
This inflatable water slide was on clearance at Sam’s and its just too fun. My boys like to play on it even without water. I didn’t get pictures of the splash pad, but we got a big splash pad from Costco earlier in the Summer, and its so perfect for littles! It is similar to this one. We also had a tiny plastic kiddie pool filled with water for the water guns and reusable water balloons (also from Costco).
This inflatable water slide was on clearance at Sam’s and its just too fun. My boys like to play on it even without water.
This inflatable slip-n-slide is awesome! You can jump and slide and not get injured because it’s off the ground. Even the parents joined in!
Then the real fun began when the FOAM PARTY started! We hired The Foam Party Guy, and were So happy with everything! They bring a huge speaker with kid-friendly upbeat music, and he even let me plug in my phone so we could play “Dino Disco”- a Yoto exclusive song that is my son’s absolute favorite song.
He set everything up quickly and soon the whole front yard was a giant pile of foam!
This foam is 100% hypoallergenic, natural, biodegradable, and pet and kid friendly. And it didn’t mess with our grass at all! The kids (and some parents) had an absolute blast. It was the highlight of the party and we will never forget it.
The Foam Party Guy is local to Lynchburg, Virginia and surrounding areas. I cannot recommend him enough!
Things got real crazy when we moved the slip-n-slide into the foam! SO so fun!
The really cool thing about this foam, is that it doesn’t make you all sticky! It just kind of dries and goes away! And my youngest got a lot in his eyes, and was not phased at all.
The surprises kept coming when my husband and oldest son came out in inlfatable T-rex suits we found on Facebook marketplace. My boys didn’t know what to think at first, and then they loved them! They were dancing and high-fiving everyone- it was awesome. My son said he felt like a character from Disney World.
We sang happy birthday, had cake, and then spent the next several hours to hanging out and playing.
We had such a good time and the evening ended with some fireworks in the front yard. The party started at 5:00 and folks didn’t leave until after 10:30pm! It was fantastic- sometimes these things go by so fast, I don’t even know how it ends so quickly! But you know its a good one when we are partying for over 5 hours!
As I looked around my front porch while my husband lit some fireworks, my heart was so full. We are so blessed to have good friends and to be able to celebrate our boy’s birthdays with them. It was definetely a party to remember!
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