Everyone loves a good party, and a themed one is even better! Selecting a theme for a children’s birthday party is a great way to get yourself and your child excited for the upcoming days. I can get carried away with event decorations, and there is no exception for my children. Celebrating their birthday for me is a holiday. There is so much joy and commemorating a years worth of milestones. Our oldest son was born in the middle of the pandemic. It was a heavy year for us all and so many big moments feeling missed. A year with him was under our belt, and I felt compelled to celebrate in the best form I could. My husband and I decorated the house with balloon garland, pictures of him and every themed snack from his favorite TV show (Blues Clues). It was so much fun to see him excited and curious that we decided to make decorating our house the night before a tradition. This year, our son is interested in all things dinosaur and we decided to pull all the stops within our budget. I’ve taken the time to link all our dinosaur decorations that will help child have the time of their lives while remaining on a budget.
(1) RAWR Balloon Garland | (2) Dinosaur Party Hat Garland | (3) Dinosaur Napkins | (4) Dinosaur Action Figures | (5) Dinosaur Balloon | (6) Meal plates | (7) Cake Plates | (8) Dinosaur Goodie Bags
- I found this cute RAWR balloon garland at Target in addition to the rest of the dinosaur party collection. Target has excellent party theme supplies at an affordable cost. Many of their plates are $2 for a pack of 10. There is no need to use helium for your balloon garland. I purchased my balloon pump on Amazon and have used it for multiple birthday parties. The balloon pump is great because it also comes with string and additional balloons that I mix and match for other parties.
- Our son’s dinosaur party hat garland was also found at Target in the store’s party section. We typically place any garland underneath our balloons. Some other ideas is across a dessert, food or gift table. The garland comes with little pom poms for the dinosaurs that matched perfectly with the action figures I’ll discuss later in my post.
- I also purchased the dinosaur napkins from Target. I stuck with Target’s dinosaur theme but don’t be afraid to mix and match patterns and colors. A stripped black and white napkin or a plane colored napkin would have worked with this theme. I chose to stick with Target’s dinosaur theme because I am 7 months pregnant and felt limited in the amount of energy I could give to decorating.
- I found our son’s dinosaur action figures in Target’s bullseye section. They went perfectly with the theme because their party hats matched the hats of the tableware theme. I placed the dinosaurs across the table, and his reaction to them was perfect. He truly believed they all arrived there before to celebrate with him. Some other ideas we did not execute was to tie balloons around their hands or place them throughout the house as decor. If you cannot find those action figures (Target switches their bullseye section quickly) you can find your child’s favorite dinosaur toy at home and place them in the same locations as suggested.
- We found our dinosaur balloons from Target. These balloons are an excellent quality and came with a tube to blow the balloon by mouth. In this instance I wanted our dinosaur balloons to float in the air. I purchased a helium tank from Target and blew them up while our son was taking his nap. Helium only lasts for a certain amount of time so it is important to blow your balloons with helium closer to the time frame of your event. I then placed a mix of our helium balloons with some additional balloons that came in my balloon pump kit from Amazon (not pictured). I can’t recommend the helium tank and balloon pump enough! It has saved my husband and I alot of time and money for every birthday party.
- Our dinosaur meal and cake plates came from Target. If you don’t want to stick directly to your store’s theme, its always okay to go outside the box and pick different colors and textures to make your theme more unique and personalized.
- Finally, our dinosaur goodie bags are from Party City. I had to put these goodie bags together as it came with a tail, arms and a head. The adhesive for this pack was not helpful , but some double sided tape did the trick. When selecting items for your goodie bag, I try to keep in mind the child’s age. My son turned 2 , and I felt candy wasn’t appropriate for his age group. Instead, I chose animal crackers (his favorite), mini play dough and dinosaur figurines. I stuffed the goodie bags with tissue paper for a polished touch.
Other items not listed is the table skirt and the paper banana leaves I used to decorate our kitchen table from Party City. Feel free to use other items such as confetti, florals, rocks or food! When it was time for our son’s birthday breakfast I purchased foods to go with his dinosaur theme. I bought a box of Dunkin Donuts Munchkins and named them “Dino Eggs” along with his favorite fruits. I carved out the watermelon and mixed multiple fruits in as a bowl. Finally, I cut the watermelon in a zig-zag formation and named our fruit salad “T-Rex Salad”. We think he really enjoyed himself, and it was a great way to start our son’s birthday.
