DINOSAUR PARTY GAMES & ACTIVITIES
Super fun dinosaur party games and activities for all those budding dinosaur explorers.
Get ready to explode your own volcano, feed t-rex or to master the dino egg relay. And if you haven't already thought of a birthday party theme, then head on over to my KIDS DINOSAUR PARTY IDEAS.
DINOSAUR PARTY ACTIVITIES
Exploding Volcano
Fill a paddling pool or a sand box, with lots of slightly moist sand. Get the kids to each make a volcano sand mound with a hole in the center.
Place a small disposable cup in the hole, put in 1 tablespoon of baking soda plus 2 tablespoons of water in order to make it dissolve. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to which you have added a few drops of red food coloring, then watch it erupt! You can repeat the activity over and over again.
Fossil Dig
Ask your butcher for any left-over bones. Boil them for 1/2 to 1 hour and then bake in the oven at 350F for another hour, in order to dry them out.
Cool and spray with primer and white paint or leave as they are and then hide the bones in a large sand pit. Issue each child with various digging implements and a bowl for storing their bones and get them to dig away to their hearts content.
Fossil Fantasy
Buy some quick air-drying clay or plaster of paris.
Before the party, mould into balls – enough for each guest. Lay the table with a selection of fossil items such as plastic dinosaurs, leaves, shells, bugs and bones. Get the kids to flatten a ball of clay and gently press in a fossil item. Remove the item and allow the clay to dry.
These can then be taken home as souvenirs of their great dinosaur exploration!
Cave Painting
Build a cave using lots of large cardboard boxes. Secure them together well or your cave will collapse! Cover with a large brown cloth but leave an opening. Put torches, marker pens and pots of washable paint inside and get the kids to decorate the cave walls.
Dinosaur Feet
In advance collect lots of shoe box size boxes. Create an opening in the top of each box and near to one end. The opening should be big enough to fit a child's foot inside. Spray paint green or brown and allow to dry. Get the kids to decorate their feet (the boxes that is!) using paints, glitter, marker pens etc. For the finishing touch, cut out large claws from fun foam and glue to the front. If the holes are too big, just stuff the box with newspaper for a tighter fit. The feet can then be used in various party games.
Visit a Museum
Locate your nearest museum and see if they have a dinosaur exhibit suitable for your dinosaur theme party.
DINOSAUR PARTY GAMES
Dinosaur Egg Hatch
Using large round balloons, place a small toy dinosaur inside each and then blow up and tie. Divide into teams and give each child a balloon egg. The aim of the game is to sit on the balloon and get it to pop and so the egg is hatched. No hands! First team to finish wins and everyone gets to keep their hatched dinosaur.
Hunt the Dinosaur
Hide lots of small plastic dinosaurs, around the house or garden. Whoever finds the most is declared the "Mega dinosaur hunter".
Dinosaur Egg Toss
Make a dinosaur nest out of a large washing up bowl wrapped in lengths of straw, leaves or old rags. Line the kids up and let them take turns to throw small rubber bouncing balls or toy eggs into the nest. Whoever gets the most in is the winner.
Feed T-Rex
Using a large cardboard box, paint on a picture of T-Rex's head. Cut out an opening for the mouth and stick on teeth made from pieces of fun foam. Line the kids up a couple of feet from the mouth and get the kids to throw in beanbags. With each successful throw, they take a large step backwards and throw again. Whoever ends up the furthest away from the dinosaur is the winner.
Dino Egg Relay
Split the kids into 2 or more teams and line them up at one end of the room with a bucket or chair placed several feet away in front of them.
Issue each team with a pair of the dinosaur feet that the kids made in Dinosaur theme party activities, (or you could use swimming flippers), a spoon and a plastic egg. Each member of the team takes it in turns to quickly put on the feet and run (or stomp!) up to and around the chair and back to home base whilst carrying the egg. If they drop the egg they have to start again. Then it becomes the next team members' turn.
First team to complete the relay is the winner.
Dinograms
Choose the name of a well known dinosaur such as 'Tyrannosaurus Rex' and get the kids to see who can make the most words out of the letters of its name.
The Great Dinosaur Theme Party Hunt
In advance draw a large dinosaur out of craft paper. Color or paint and then cut into approximately 10 pieces. Make one dinosaur for each team.
Color code the pieces on the back so that you know which one belongs to which dinosaur and then hide around the house or garden. Give each team a color and their mission is to find all the pieces that belong to their dinosaur then to piece them together and find out its name. Have several dinosaur charts or books ready.
Not only is this a fun game but it gets the kids learning a few dinosaur names.
Piñata
Having a piñata is always a great success at kids parties. It is fairly easy to make your own pinata.