For his birthday breakfast he was, as always, very particular about how he wanted his pancakes. This year he did NOT want any chocolate chips or MMs in it and he wanted to do the fixin's himself....
He got a dinosaur playdough kit & a Jurassic Park Super Nintendo Game.
For decorations, I found a bunch of quotes and spoofs from the movie on the internet, printed them full page & laminated them, then we hung them around the house.
The cakes:
For his school treats we made cupcakes and put cheap plastic dollar store dinosaurs on top. In Spearfish you could still take homemade treats.
He has been into decorating his own cake since he was 4. It's HIS day, so I totally let him decorate (& mangle) it to his heart's content. Also "cake" for him is really brownies.
The food:
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| Dino suckers & large lollipops |
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| leftover oreo crumbles & gummies from dirt cups |
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| pre-scooped ice cream in cupcake liners |
The fun:
Jake loved the big inflatable dino. We had a phase with these big inflatables this year.
One of our most time consuming & most popular activities was the dino dioramas.
Something my mom had done for one of my own birthday parties as a child (probably a Jurassic Park one in the 90s, like I said, kid of my own heart), I remember loving this simple craft then & knew they would now.
Each child got a can flat (thanks to my friend Jen P for helping brainstorm that solution of what to use for the bottom that was flat and open but still had enough lip to contain dirt and rocks- I'm sure I looked awesome taking empty can flats & restocking shelves from nearly empty ones at WalMart).
Next they got a sticky tile leftover from some projects in our basement, but also can be found cheap at Menards, Amazon, or even Family Dollar. They peeled the backs off and layed them sticky side up in the bottom of the flat so that the materials would stick to it and stay put longer.
Then we passed around pails of dirt, sand, rocks, grass & other nature inspired items that may have been found during the Jurassic period.
Each child got a couple of the cheap plastic dollar store dinos for their scenes to be complete. There were many herbivore vs carnivore battles immediately following.
We also made dino footprint fossils from salt dough.
Each child got a ball of salt dough to flatten, then got to choose from Zach's dinosaurs to make footprints in their dough. We then threw them in the oven until the end of the party.
There was of course some dino tackle during transitions....
There was also "How did the dinos go extinct?" Where the kids got to take a Sunday dish container (bought at a garage sale from an old fast food manager- can also be found at Sam's Club and on Amazon) and fill it with "tar or quick sand" with another couple cheap plastic dinos. They were a hit.
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| What's your idea for how the dinosaurs went extinct? |
On to the outdoor games! We played "Triceratops, triceratops, T-REX"
Then we lined up to watch this year's version of an exploding jurassic volcano. They each got their own mini bottle. We tried to do Mentos & coke but it went all wrong. Most of them never went off. FAIL.
So they drank it instead....
Last was the piñata. There is no good way to do these without open rafters or large trees. Someone usually gets whacked, usually in a fun place.
Cake Time:
Present Time:
Party Favors They Took Home:
What?!?!?! No goodies, no toys? No usable crap?
Not this time. I generally try to incorperate favors into activites and this time they were all disposable.
YOUR WELCOME PARENTS!
I'm sure these all hit the trash after they took their eyes off it once in the door or at least by Sunday night.
Which, let's be honest, most party favors do.
The budget:
As always, I budget for $150 for party supplies, decorations, entertainment, food & gift. Here is a breakdown from the costs of this party:
Sticky tile (already had leftover peices, a box would cost $5-10)
Can flats from WalMart's empty can areas on shelves $0
Dirt, Sand, Rocks, Mud $0
Tar -oobleck- cornstarch & water $1.50
quick sand - cloud dough type stuff- corn meal or flour & water or cooking oil (already in kitchen, we'll say $2)
sunday cups (got a HUGE box at a garage sale for $5 & use them for everything- maybe used 25 cents worth for this party) $0.25
Plastic dinosaurs $5
Mini water bottles drank and saved $2.50
2 liter of coke from $tree $1
Mentos $2
Brownie mix $2
Gummies $2
Oreos $2
Pudding $1
ice cream $5
Pinata $10
Candy filler: $5
inflatable dino $10
Decor- printed & laminated, we'll say $1 worth of sheets
Napkins, paper plates, cutlery, cups, cupcake liners $10
lollipops $14
Dino playdough kit on clearance $7
Jurassic Park Super Nintendo game $3.50
Later on he got to open some Jurassic Park action figures from the movie- those were super hard to find and more pricey, but not as pricey as when the new movie was announced the following year, or any year following. This kid sets the trend. Those were around $30 for 3 things.
Total: Around $125
Under budget & over successfully
