Dinosaur Dig Party -4yr- Triceratops Cake

My daughter Bella, asked for a dinosaur themed 4th birthday party. We thought a dig would be fun for both boys and girls. We used the theme for everything fom invitations to thank you notes.  

Invitations Bella and I made the invitations by cutting oval shaped pieces of burnt orange project cardboard. I then wrote the party details and added a pteradactyl with a happy birthday banner, printed it onto cream paper which we cut into ovals and glued to the back of the egg piece of cardboard. We then cut another oval shape out of a cream project cardboard. We then used pinking shears to cut in half. We used a coloured grommet to fix the two halves to the back oval.

To open the invitation you cracked the egg. On the inside of the back oval we glued another cream oval of paper that had printed on it a baby dinosaur coming out of its egg. The wording invited the children to a Dinosaur Dig at Bella's house. 

Decorations We decorated the driveway with giant dinosaur prints that we cut out of brown, dark green and red project cardboard. We continued with the prints through the entrance and house to the back room which was the Dino Centre. We had signs outside and in sttrategic points of the house directing people to the Dino Centre in the back of the house and to the Dino Dig in the front garden. For about a month before the party my husband, daughter and I cut out, folded and glued hundreds of dinosaurs made of project cardboard. We used templated I found on the internet and coloured with the computer.

We had Muttaburrasaurus, Triceratops, T-Rexs, Anklylosaurus, Camarasaurus, Iguanodons and Elasmosarus. We had them in herds on every flat surface in the house and running riot in the Dino Centre.   The Dino Centre not only had wild herds of dinosaurs but we had made and hung two large Pterandons from the ceiling and had a large poster of a volcano with dinosaurs that Bella had painted on the main wall. In a corner was a large nest made with a large wicker basket and shredded green paper filled with plastic eggs.  

In the front garden we set up the Dig Site. We had a large table with a dinosaur tablecloth adjacent to the dig. There we stored the buckets and junior garden spades that the children were given to dig for dinosaurs and to take home with them. We had left a part of our flower bed unfinished and Bella and I had interred small plastic dinosaurs, small fossils we made following a recipe we found on the internet, small plastic eggs with plastic dinosaurs in them and some fossilised timber pieces we had found on a recent holiday. 

Activities We had all children go to the Dino Centre on arrival. There they could take refreshments, make or colour in dinosaurs, read dinosaur books, whilst we waited for everyone to arrive. We set up a table with black and white versions of these dinosaurs, colouring pencils, textures, safety scissors and glue for guests to use. Another table was for childrens food whilst higher surfaces were for parent food.

Once all of the children arrived we took them to the Dino Dig were we let them grab a bucket and space from the table and dig. We ensured that all children found an appropriate number of plastic eggs, dinosaurs and fossils. Once this was done we went back to the Dino Centre and played. As it was a hot day we broke theme and all had a swim in the pool. After that it was time for the cake. 

Food For the children we prepared standard party fare with a twist. We had 'rock' and 'lava' cakes - cupcakes with food colouring to suit. We had Dinosaur biscuits made with great T-Rex, Triceratops & Diplodicus cookie cutters we found in a shop by chance. We had fairy bread, also cut into dino shapes using the cookie cutters with dinosaur confetti sprinkled everywhere. Cups, plates and napkins continued the theme with dinosaurs as did the balloons.   

Birthday Cake The Birthday cake was a chocolate cake made at home by my husband. Using a template he found on the internet he made a triceratops cake with wafers for the plates. He placed the Triceratops on a base of chocolate cake and dug out a nest. He used chocolate sticks to line it and then placed one whole white easter egg on it which he had decorated with cracks using chocolate icing. He then cracked open another white chocolate egg and lay it in the next with a large plastic dinosaur coming out of it. It was a triumph! Bella blew out the candles, the children played, swam and had fun.  

Party Favours the plastic eggs in the nest in the Dino Centre were the party favours. In them were  dinosaur lollies, plastic dinosaurs, smartie packs. When it came time to leave the children were all asked to take an egg from the nest in the Dino Centre, a Dino balloon and to collect their plastic bucket, spade and treasure from the dig. 

Lastly we sent everyone thank you notes using the same template as the invitation.