Luca’s Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

We celebrated Luca’s 5th birthday with a dinosaur themed birthday party with family and friends. ...

We celebrated Luca’s 5th birthday with a dinosaur themed birthday party with family and friends. 

Luca’s Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

Let me preface this post by saying little kids don’t need much.  just to blow out some candles and feel a little extra special on their birthday. Seriously,  I mean it. Birthday parties at this age are more for the parents anyway, to celebrate the survival of another year! Our kids this little most likely won’t have any memory of this party, but we will.

Last year, the twins were born right before Luca’s birthday and so we didn’t have a party for him, just a cake and hang at the house with our family (which was beautiful and perfect.) So this year, I wanted to go all out and personally, I love a dinosaur themed party. Plus, I used to plan events for a living, so anytime I have a reason to have a party, I’m going to have a party!

For those of you planning a dinosaur themed birthday party or just curious about what I did for Luca’s party, here we go.

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

The decor

When I’m thinking of a theme for a birthday party, I think about what I can do with the decor to bring a theme together. Kids love seeing themed decor, and probably my favorite part of the party was when he first entered and saw how I transformed the space with dino decor! Also, this dinosaur greeted him.

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

Adriana from Balloon With Me made the balloon decor of my dreams with a backdrop that I eventually used when we sang happy birthday to Lu and he blew out his candles. The customized Luca Jurassic Park sign was from Etsy. She also made a balloon arch on the outside entrance of the venue that was supposed to be kind of like a Jurassic Park welcome. Then, when you entered, we had balloon stands separating the front area from the back party area just as a little extra to tie in the theme.

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

At this venue, there are cubbies for all the kids to put their gear in and I used this as a decorative moment to display the goodie bags. I scattered the goodie bags and some large dinosaur figurines which ended up adding more theme cohesion.

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

And of course, the dessert table was decked out in dinosaurs. The venue had this great long table that I covered with a linen tablecloth. Then, I added wood crates from Michael’s on either ends and stuffed them with Jurassic Park-y flora. I perched up little dinosaur beware signs (this one and this one) and set up two velociraptors (like this one) for effect.

The cake sat in the middle on a tree stump slice (from Michael’s), flanked by two cupcake tiers with chocolate and vanilla cupcakes topped with mini dino figurines. I also had two smaller tree slices where I laid out the custom dinosaur cookies from Double Dough. Finally, I scattered dino confetti and small dinosaur figurines across the table and hung a little cute felt happy birthday sign above the table.

Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday

Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday

One little detail I loved were these dinosaur decals I stuck to the floor to mimic dinosaur footprints.

The venue & entertainment

We held the party at an indoor sports training facility that Luca loves (he’s been to summer camp there, classes, etc.) We were so grateful they let us transform the place for the event! It’s also a great place for a party, because the parents can (mostly) talk and hang out while the kids run around and play, led by the coaches there.

 

 

 

 

 

I also hired a dinosaur performer to come and play with the kids a bit. He was so fun and while there were a couple younger kids who got a little spooked, Luca and his friends got a kick out of him. After about 40 minutes, he took off the costume and made balloon animals for all of the kids!

Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday

 

To fill in the gaps in between the entertainment and food, I set up a little “excavation site” with kinetic sand, rocks, and dinosaur fossil figurines. It was so easy to set up and I love the inflatable “bin” that was perfect to hold the sand and tools. The kids loved it and I always saw someone over there playing, so I’m glad I set it up!

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

And of course, we ended on a piñata which was hilarious. Everyone got to swing the bat and then Luca ended by absolutely crushing that piñata – it was so fun to watch him and cheer him on!

The food & cake

I don’t know why I always try to fight it, but this time, I just went straight pizza for the party. It’s easy, affordable, and literally everyone loves pizza. I ordered from a local pizzeria and they delivered it right in time! I ordered veggie pizza, plain pizza, and then sausage & peppers.

Aside from the pizza, I had these adorable dinosaur claw/foot fruit skewers, made by a local caterer. They went so quickly, everyone loved them. I also got mini paper bags and put in yogurt covered pretzels as “dinosaur bones” as well as some regular pretzel sticks.

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

For drinks, I just did water (juice is fun but honestly, I always find that the kids get so sugared up it ends up being a little overkill since there’s cake!) and I wrapped them in custom Luca labels that fit the theme. I went with mini plastic water bottles!

Most importantly, the cake from Hudson Cakery. I went full dinosaur on that cake, made by Hudson Cakery, my favorite spot for my kids’ themed birthday cakes. It was a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream (Luca’s favorite.) Then, I had them make me little dino dirt and grass cupcakes, which I topped with mini dinosaur figurines. And then of course, some custom Jurassic Park themed dino cookies from Double Dough.

Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday

Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday

Luca's Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

The tables for the kids to sit at and eat were covered with this green tablecloth, dinosaur paper napkins, compostable paper plates, and mini bottles of water customized with a label.

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

Dinosaur Themed 5th Birthday Party

The goodie bags

Lastly, as I mentioned, the goodie bags ended up being part of the decor! I just used simple kraft bags with customized stickers and stuffed them with dinosaur finger puppets, dinosaur scratch art, dinosaur Haribo gummies, and a dinosaur grow toy. And at the end, everyone used their goodie bags to catch all the candy from the piñata!

It was such a special day for Luca, and I’m so happy everyone was in good health and could enjoy the party!

All photos by Erin Dwyer Photography.

with love, Ali

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  • Wow, so amazing!
    • So cute, right?! Glad you enjoyed!