How to Throw The Best Dinosaur Party on a Budget

Dinosaurs always make a great theme when it comes to planning parties. Whether the dinos are cute, scary, or somewhere in the middle, little ones can't get enough of them. It's a no-fail theme that will work work for both girls and boys, and can be carried out in your home, at a small venue or in the park. Not forgetting that a dinosaur theme will give you lots of ideas when it comes to decorations, food idea and games. Throwing a party can be lots of fun, but you might be worried about the cost. There’s no need for a great party to break the bank, however you can host a ROARRRRSOME party on a budget without skimping on the fun. 



1// Organise a Venue 

Organising a venue or location for a party can be the stressful, especially when you're trying to stick to budget. It's all about location, location, location. It would be ideal to have a party in your own home or at a local park. By choosing to host a party at home will most definitely save on cost, but aim to have the party when the weather is nice so that children can have some fun outside. But if that isn't an option perhaps consider a village hall or small party venue such as a bowling house, or even the local park.


Parks are great locations for budget-friendly birthday parties for children because they typically don’t require an admissions. Taking the party to a park gives guests a place to spread out and play. Lay out a few picnic blankets, hang up some bunting with a few fun activities for the children and they will be entertained for hours. For our dinosaur themed party we decided to host ours at home to cut down on cost and due to the unpredictable weather in the UK we didn't want to risk organising that party at the park. 

2 // Dinosaur Tablescape

The truth is, tablescaping can be a very costly. While you may love spending money on fancy decor, some of the stuff you have sitting around your house could be perfect for your party, and it won’t cost you a penny. Tablescaping done right is such a rewarding experience and it doesn’t have to be overloaded with lots of things. A minimalist tablescape can make a big difference and look amazing. 



Our dinosaur tablescape was so much fun to put together and I knew that I really wanted to keep it minimal with four main elements. A table cover, a runner, a centerpiece, and place settings, but seeing as there was only a few of us we had to try and be creative. The central colour scheme with our theme was two light tone greens, with pops of orange, gold and brown. These earthy hues bring to life to our prehistoric friends without being too scary and really complimented one another. For our table cloth we used a plain taupe table cloth that we already had at home, but trying to find a table runner that suited the colour scheme wasn't very easy. We needed to be a little more creative and so we found some gift wrap that has light pastel green with cute dinosaurs characters all over, a couple of folds and we had a table runner. 


For our centrepiece we kept it simple and used some artificial plants that we already had displayed in our farmhouse kitchen and the strategically placed lots of toy dinosaurs along the tables that my daughter had in her toy box. We were very fortunate to come across some of the cutest little light green dinosaur bowls, plates and cups and they fitted so well with our colour scheme and used gold striped straws. 



3// Party Food

One of the easiest ways to bring together a party theme, apart from the tablescape and decorations, is fun food! We are going to be serving a wide variety of food that with be a good mixture of dinosaur themed and so that are not. So in order to really help our dinosaur theme come alive I know that I need to be a little creative with the food choices, with a dino twist and the food labels. But trying to find those kind of labels can be costly, so we decided to make your own. 




No dinosaur theme party is complete without some dinosaur themed treats, right? For young children, think snacks and finger foods such as fruit salads, sausage rolls, bite-sized cheeses, breadsticks, or small veggie sticks. You could make biscuits or sandwiches and cut them into dinosaurs using these T-Rex Cookie Cutters from Lakeland, or press the cutter into fruit. For some sweeter treats we used white chocolate covered pretzles for dino bones which were easy to make, but you could easily swap the chocolate for yoghurt if you wanted to. We also had some chocolate covered raisins and labelled those as dino poop which went down a storm with the little ones whilst grossing out the adults. Claw shaped crisps were added to the food table as well as bowls full of mini dinosaur eggs. All washed down with some homemade volcanic punch. 


4// Dinosaur Party Games

Games and activities keep the guests entertained and energetic. Try and include more physical activities and limit mental games, always ensure that they are not too time consuming as children can get bored easily. Try and mix it up between games and activities to keep those little minds occupied. 


Starting with an old classic, pass the parcel. This one actually works best in the middle of the party to try and space out some time so you can set up food tables or other activities. The beauty of pass the parcel is it is familiar to most people but really easy to get the hang of if you don't. There are so many budget friendly games that you could host for your dinosaur party that won't be too costly such as pin the tail on the dinosaur, a dinosaur scavenger hunt, a dinosaur twist on simon says, or you could even go all out with these T Rex Head Torches for the littlest of guests to get into character and hunt in dark spaces. 

5// Party Favours

No guest can leave a party without a party bag, can they? If you want to make sure that the birthday party guests have a good time long after cake has been eaten, the easiest thing to do is to hand them a goodie bag on the way out the door. You can get as creative as you like when it comes to a party bag. To give you a little inspiration perhaps add in dinosaur toys, crayons, dinosaur stamps or even a grow your own dinosaur egg with some sweet goodies and a sprinkle of confetti. BOOM!


Dinosaurs always make a great theme when it comes to planning parties. Whether the dinos are cute, scary, or somewhere in the middle, little ones can't get enough of them making dinosaurs the best birthday party theme. Throwing a party can be lots of fun, but you might be worried about the cost. There’s no need for a great party to break the bank, however you can host a ROARRRRSOME party on a budget without skimping on the fun. What are your tips for throwing a budget friendly dinosaur themed party?

If you like me, why not pin me for your next birthday party!!!


0 comments