Awesome Jurassic Park Dinosaur Party Theme

My son has been obsessed with dinosaurs ever since Netflix came out with Jurassic World. I saw on Netflix that it was recommended for kids so, naturally, I clicked it and started to watch the show with him. I found it a little too violent for his age, but when I say he enjoys the series A LOT, I am not exaggerating. 

I have 2 boys and love decorating their birthday parties to the theme they choose. My youngest turned 2 and obviously asked for a dinosaur themed party. 

This was so much fun for me and the look on my boys faces when they see everything makes all the hard work worth it. I DIY’d what I could and tried to find the cheapest options for a lot of the supplies.

Jurassic Park Entrance

Everything used to make this Jurassic Park entrance, I got from the dollar store, except the sign. I made the sign in Canva (free version) and had it printed at Walgreens for about $5 on a 20×30 poster. Walgreens always has coupons for photo prints, so look for those before you print. To make the sign, create a Canva project with 20inx30in custom size. You can download the empty logo from google and generate your personalized font using a Jurassic Park font generator.

The rest of the entrance was made up of 24″x30″ black foam boards from the Dollar Tree. I ended up using 9 poster boards. To cut out the shape of the columns, measure how tall you want to make the entrance. Mine was about 105″. I laid out 4 poster boards on the floor and marked 105″. Then I took a string from one corner of the bottom poster to the top of my 105″ line. Trace the string and you will have the angled column. 

The best way to cut the foam boards is with an X-ACTO knife. You can buy this from Amazon if you don’t have one (linked here).

Dinosaur Party Hats

What birthday party doesn’t have party hats? My issue with party hats is that I find them somewhat expensive for something that not everyone is going to wear, kids destroy them, and they are usually thrown away the day after. Dinosaur party hats on amazon were about $12 for a park of 12 hats. I decided to save the money and DIY the hats. I bought a pack of basic party hats at the Dollar Tree, 8 hats for $1. I had construction paper at home already so I just cut out the dinosaur spike shape and taped it into the fold of the hat. They turned out great and look exactly like the $12 hats from Amazon (linked here). 

Food and Dessert Table Decorations

A balloon arch is so easy and cheap to set up yourself and they take your decorations to the next level. They are also really fun for the kids to play with so many balloons. This is the kit I got on Amazon (linked here). It comes with the balloon arch balloons and even the dinosaur balloon decorations. It comes with a balloon arch tape that is also easy to use and gives you the flexibility to put it in whatever shape you want. I usually use this (linked here) balloon arch rod and attached the arch to the table. I filled the arch with some vines (linked) that I also got on amazon and used a green curtain as my backdrop (linked). Everything looked so good and my boys loved everything about it.

Food and Dessert

This is where I spend the most effort. I have 2 tables and usually set up one for food and one for desserts. One of my favorite Dollar Store purchases has been these dry erase signs.

You can write on them with dry erase markers, but I do not have the prettiest writing or drawing skills so I made my signs on Canva and printed them on regular paper and taped on. They hold up really well and the tape comes right off so you can reuse the sign for your next party. 

It is so fun to make the food and snacks dinosaur themed too. I had meats, cheeses, fruit, dessert, and of course the cake. Check out all the ideas below.

These beef empanadas were also a hit. I bought the empanada dough from my local grocery store and made the meat using my recipe for picadillo (linked here). Then when I closed the empanada with a fork, you pinch the ends to make the dinosaur shape. The picture below is how they look before baking or frying. Depending on what you prefer, you can bake at 350F until golden or heat oil to 350F and fry until golden. I personally love frying them, but when there are so many it is easier to bake them. Just make sure that the dough you bought says “bake or fry”.

As for favors, I decided to hand out goodie bags with dinosaur footprint cookies. When a birthday party has a mix of both adults and kids, I find that cookies is a really good option for favors. I made the cookies with the boys and it’s a good way for them to get involved in the party set up and thank you’s.

I hope this post gave you some ideas for your party! I loved this party so much and my kids had so much fun. I would love to see your decorations, so don’t forget tag me @acentomio #acentomio.