How to Throw a Dinosaur Birthday Party - The Centered Parent (2024)

If you are thinking about throwing a dinosaur birthday for your little one, then this post is for you. We threw a dinosaur birthday party for our daughter’s 2nd birthday and it was so much fun! Read on for all kinds of super fun dinosaur birthday party ideas!

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How to Throw a Dinosaur Birthday Party

Dinosaurs are seriously cool. Don’t ask me why exactly, they just are.

And it would appear that this is a fact we understand from a young age. For some, it’s an understanding that predates verbal language. Other babies know how cool dinosaurs are before they even set foot in a museum.

For my daughter, it was love at first sight. From the minute she could speak, she was learning the names of her dino friends. Her first love was T-rex, followed by ‘ceratops, as she lovingly referred to Triceratops. And it went from there. As her 2nd birthday approached, it wasn’t hard to figure out what the theme would be. 🙂

The real key to throwing a dinosaur birthday party is to make sure it’s fun!

No matter how old your little one will be, a dinosaur birthday party is always correct. 😀 And it’s pretty simple to pull off, too! Decorations are easy to come by, every bakery knows how to do a dinosaur birthday cake, and finding dinosaur birthday party supplies is a breeze thanks to Amazon.

Whether you go the DIY route, or you purchase everything ready-made, the dinosaur birthday party ideas in this post have you covered.

But be warned – when you choose a dinosaur birthday party theme for your kid, your guests will assume your child likes dinosaurs (a fair assumption) and they may buy gifts to match the theme.

That was not a problem for us, as our little girl adores dinosaurs.

Here she is enjoying one of her many adorable and awesome dinosaur birthday gifts! RAWR!

The Dinosaur Birthday Party Ideas in This Post

When I planned my daughter’s dinosaur birthday party, I had so much fun doing the research to prepare for the big event. Of course, there was no way to include everything I found and I had to narrow my choices and make some decisions.

But the good news is, I saved a lot of what I came across so I could share it with you.

Here is the short list of what’s in this post:

1. Invitations
2. Decorations and Party Supplies
3. Food Ideas
4. Dinosaur Birthday Cake Ideas
5. Other Fun Ideas

Dinosaur Birthday Party Invitations

So full disclosure, when trying to choose a dinosaur birthday invitation, I came across way too many amazing options. I narrowed them down as best I could, but I couldn’t decide on just one. Ultimately, I created my own. But I saved all of my favorites so I could share them with you.

FYI – My go-to places for invitations are Etsy and Minted. So the collection below features dinosaur invitations designed by independent artists. Click on each to buy.

Here are my absolute favorites:

DIY Dino-Themed Invitation

In addition to all the amazing invites above, you could consider making your own invitation like I did. I didn’t technically make mine by hand or anything major though. I made our dinosaur birthday party invitation with Canva.

It was really fun and pretty easy to do. Here is what I created for our daughter’s 2nd birthday party:

I used our home printer to print the invites on cardstock and cut them to size using this paper cutter.

If you want to use Canva to do something similar, go here to create a free account, check out their amazing design tools AND get a free gift.

Dinosaur Birthday Party Decorations and Party Supplies

I had such a blast choosing decorations for my daughter’s dinosaur birthday party. From little dinosaur figures to dino footprints on the floor, our decor scheme was light-hearted, fun, and EASY.

Here are the dinosaur birthday party decorations we used for our party, plus a couple fun bonus ideas:

Dinosaur Footprint Decal Stickers

These removable decal stickers were such an amazing touch! My daughter loved the idea that a real dino had stomped through the room. 😀 Get them on Etsy.

Dinosaur Action Figures

We interspersed these really cool dinosaur figures all throughout the house to kick the theme up a notch.

Dinosaur Birthday Party Supplies

I got this pack of dinosaur party supplies on Amazon and I was really happy with it.

Dinosaur Birthday Party Banners

Here are a couple more fun dinosaur-themed birthday banner ideas. Click on each one for more details.

Dinosaur Wrapping Paper

I used some dinosaur wrapping paper in a few different patterns to wrap my daughter’s presents. It made the present table pop. 🙂 You could also get some dinosaur coloring wrapping paper or some extra special personalized dinosaur wrapping paper from the designers on Etsy.

Dinosaur Party Balloon Ideas

We did simple helium balloons using our color theme, but there are so many ways to incorporate balloons to make the dinosaur theme come to life. Here are a few ideas.

These awesome dinosaur balloons would look excellent throughout your home or venue.

More Decoration Inspiration

Here are a couple ideas from Instagram for some dinosaur birthday visual inspiration.

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Food Ideas for Your Dinosaur Birthday Party

A dinosaur birthday theme offers lots of versatility and opportunities for creativity and that especially includes food!

We did a light-hearted food theme for our daughter’s dinosaur birthday party, including things like T-Rex Tenders, Dino Dogs, and Dinosaur Eggs (decorated sugar cookies).

Here are a few other ideas to inspire a truly magnificent menu:

Dinosaur-Themed Food Tents

One super simple and really fun way to make your menu fit the theme is to use fun dinosaur-themed food signs for your food table or food buffet. Come up with a few clever titles and you’ve got a dinosaur-themed food menu!

Etsy has lots of food tents to choose from. Here are a couple to check out.

Dinosaur Birthday Cake Ideas

Getting creative with the birthday cake is a key way to communicate your dinosaur birthday theme. We worked with a local baker to create prehistoric perfection. I gave the bakery a copy of my DIY dinosaur birthday invitation I made on Canva for inspiration, and they made the incredible dinosaur birthday cake below.

[FYI: For those local to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I highly recommend Grandview Bakery! That’s where we got the kick-ass cake below.}

Here are a few more ideas for some super fun dinosaur birthday cake inspiration!

Dinosaur Cake Toppers

These handmade dinosaur cake toppers will make a classic cake extra special and completely true to your dinosaur theme.

Dinosaur Cookies

And don’t forget the cookies! You can buy these FANTASTIC cookies from amazing independent artist bakers on Etsy.

Other Fun Dino-Themed Ideas

These extra special dinosaur birthday party ideas include some additional fun touches that you might want to consider for your child’s dinosaur birthday party.

Dinosaur Temporary Tattoos

What’s cooler than sporting some temporary dinosaur tattoos? Kids love to wear temporary tattoos and they will have so much fun putting on the dinosaur of their choice. xoFetti on Etsy has some killer dinosaur temporary tattoos – get yours here.

Dinosaur Birthday Party Favors

While you don’t have to give out party favors, it is a really fun way to celebrate the dinosaur theme and give your guests a little thank-you. We had dinosaur-shaped homemade chocolates that my niece made, which were a hit.

Here are a few more amazing dinosaur birthday party favor ideas:

Birthday-Saurus Dinosaur T-Shirt

I made a custom t-shirt for my little 2 year-old to help her celebrate her big dino day and I gotta say, I think it turned out great. My daughter’s first name is Liana and I thought Lianasaurus had a nice ring to it.

I used my rose gold Cricut Maker and the Cricut Design Space to make this super fun t-shirt for my daughter’s birthday party. Learn more about the amazing Cricut craft machine here!!

Here is my Cricut and the gorgeous seaside green iron-on vinyl I used to create the dinosaur iron-on decal for my daughter’s t-shirt.

Dinosaur Books for Decorations and Gifts

We had a bunch of dinosaur children’s books in the nursery so we used them as decorations around the house. We also purchased a couple new dinosaur books as birthday gifts for our daughter.

Here are our absolute favorite dinosaur children’s books. Click on each one for more details.

For more dinosaur children’s books, check out these 20 Fantastic Dinosaur Books for Kids!

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