Kids, especially boys, of all ages are into dinosaurs and a dinosaur party can be very simple and lots of fun to plan! For my oldest sons fourth birthday he wanted to take his friends on a "dinosaur hunt". Here, you will find lots of ideas that you can implement for a very low cost, fantastically fun party.

For invitations I took a picture of my son on a life size dinosaur for the front. We have a "dinosaur park" near our home, so this was easy, but you could print off a picture of a dinosaur from the computer for the front. The front of the card read "The Dinosaurs Are Back For a Birthday Bash". The inside said "Kyle invites you to a Birthday Dinosaur Expedition", then all of the party details. The bottom said "You'll be sure to uncover a dino-mite time of food, fun, games, and some dinosaurs too! Don't be extinct!"

As the kids were arriving I had them decorate bags with their names on them. I had markers and dinosaur stickers spread all over the table for them to use. They would be using these bags to collect their goodies in throughout the party.

Once everyone was there and finished with their bag I asked them if they'd like to go on a Dinosaur Hunt. They were very excited about this but first they needed the proper equipment! I had purchased from Oriental Trading Company pith helmets for each child and a pair of plastic binoculars to use for the hunt. Once the kids were ready to go we headed down to the basement. We have a finished basement in our house, but you could do this activity in any room, or outside for that matter. Just make sure the kids won't have access to the area that you're using ahead of time.

I had decorated our basement with brown, green, orange and yellow streamers and used the same colored balloons on the ceiling and scattered extras around on the floor. I also purchased blow-up dinosaurs and had them around the room. I had bought a roll of brown packing paper and taped it to one wall where I drew a very simple dinosaur scene. Believe me, I'm no artist, so it was very simple, but really helped to create a prehistoric atmosphere. The doorway that led into the room was covered with floor to ceiling streamers so nobody could see in. I told the kids that they were to look for dinosaur eggs as well as mini dinosaurs. Each child had to find 3 dinosaur eggs, one brown, one black and one grey. I had taken small balloons and used paper mache to create the dinosaur eggs. Inside the eggs were different prizes. In one, there was a dinosaur craft kit, a pack of sticky dinosaurs in another and a large plastic dinosaur in the third. The kids found one of each egg and put them in their bags and then looked for small plastic dinosaurs that were hidden among the balloons on the floor.

It is very simple to make paper mache and can be a fun (yes, a little messy too) project to do with your kids. Just follow these simple instructions:

Use a simple mixture of flour and water. Mix one part flour with about 2 parts of water until you get a consistancy like thick glue. Add more water or flour as necessary. Mix well to get out all the bumps. Add a few tablespoons of salt to help prevent mold! Use torn newspaper dipped in this mixture to cover small balloons to create the dinosaur eggs. Once the paper mache is completely dry you can paint the "eggs" to make them look realistic. You can also cover large balloons and then decorate with streamers and colored paper to make your very own pinata!

The next activity we did was play "Musical Dino Prints". I had made dinosaur prints out of cardboard and numbered them. Each child stood on a print and we started the music and took one away. When the music stopped I picked a number and the child on that dino print was out of the game and went into the kitchen to get a dinosaur tattoo. This game went on until each of the kids was "out" and got their tattoo.

We then went back down to the basement where each kid got a dinosaur mask purchased from Oriental Trading Company and they played for a while pretending they were different kinds of dinosaurs. Then we had a dinosaur pinata full of candy and more small dinosaurs. For food I made dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets for the kids, "Pteradactyl" (chicken) wings, Dinosaur Bones (pretzel sticks) and Dinosaur Eggs (tater tots), among other finger foods. A dinosaur cake and presents rounded out another great party!