Christian's Dino Dig

Christian turned 4 on July 21st. I really wanted to make this birthday special because we will be moving soon, and he will be leaving his little friends. I let him invite all of his friends (who were in town), so we had the party at the park so there would be enough space for everyone. We decided on a "Dino Dig" theme because Christian is obsessed with dinosaurs. We told the guests that they were going to attend Paleontology School and learn to be dinosaur scientists. Here are some of the activities and photos from the day:

The Decorations

We decorated the park by our house with the dinosaur theme. There were balloons, paleontologist hats, and streamers. We also made little gift bags with Christian's special Dino Dig sign.

We had some huge T-Rex footprints (made from 12x12 paper) leading up to the party area. The kids loved to jump from footprint to footprint, so it served as a game and a decoration.

Dinosaur Eggs

We made a bunch of dinosaur eggs using this recipe. We put a plastic dinosaur in the middle and then baked them until they were hard and looked and felt like rocks. Before the party, we put them in a little nest. Andrew really liked the eggs and kept sneaking over to play with them.

For the first "school" task, we told the kids that our park had fossilized dinosaur eggs and we needed to open them. They all ran over to the nest and were so excited to see the "eggs".

The paleontologists-in-training got to choose an egg and crack it open to find the dinosaur. They pounded them on the table to crack them and then dug at them with spoons (our substitute for chisels). Here they are hard at work. This is my favorite picture of the day... check out Christian's face!

Fossil Imprints

After the kids got their dinosaurs out of the eggs, we told them that next a paleontologist needed to make molds of the bones they found. We gave them a ball of playdough that they rolled out and pressed their dinosaurs into. This made little fossil impressions that they got to take home to dry.

Dinosaur Skeleton
The last part of our Paleontology School was putting together a dinosaur skeleton. We drew a huge dinosaur on a big piece of cardboard. Then we divided it up and traced each little piece on some white craft foam so that it made a bunch of bones. The kids got to take turns putting the bones on the board. It was a huge hit!

Below is the finished dinosaur and the kids admiring their work. Christian loved it so much that he wanted to keep it in his bedroom. Hopefully, he will get bored of it soon so we don't have to move it across the country.

The Food
After we finished the games, we had a light lunch. I tried to keep with the dinosaur theme, so I asked the kids what kind of foods dinosaurs ate. We talked about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. The kids kept saying, "I want to be an omnivore so I can eat everything!"

The "Jurassic Jelly Sandwiches" had cookie cutter dinosaur shapes cut in them, and we used jerky pieces for the "Carnivore Bites."

"Prehistoric Punch" and "Herbivore Munchies"

The Cake

This whole party idea started because Christian wanted a "long-neck (brachiosaurus) cake." That was his only request, so that is what he got. I was worried about making a dinosaur cake, but I LOVE how it turned out. The idea came from here. When I baked the cake in the round pans, Christian got very worried and asked if I remembered that he wanted it shaped like a dinosaur. I told him that it wasn't done yet. He looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm not worried anymore. You make the most beautiful cakes." Talk about pressure...

Happy 4th birthday to my sweet Christian!