With sustainability at the forefront, Tanya involves her children in every way possible to forage, create and craft in the lead up to a birthday party. This builds excitement but also gives children a sense of accomplishment and pride on the day, which is always a good thing. Read on as she goes into detail on how to take an ordinary Dinosaur themed party to the extraordinary.

Where do you look for inspiration? 

My inspiration was to have a colourful play on the dinosaur theme. I wanted to take it away from the Jurassic Park to a more age-appropriate feel. Keeping it whimsical and playful, and I did this through the use of colour. I also used natural objects to spark that connection to nature.  

Describe the cake.

My son came up with the cake concept. 'Not one but three dinosaurs together on the land mummy, with palm trees and a volcano'. So I chose to include lots of colour, sprinkles and different elements.

What kind of decorations did you make? 

Oh boy did I have fun with this one! Hand-making paper baskets using artworks my kids had painted, creating binoculars from two
toilet paper rolls glued together, also painted by my kids, and tied with a wool string. I hand sewed 17 dinosaur tails in a suite of colours, which the guests could also take home with them as a party favour. I repurposed cardboard boxes into hand-drawn dinosaur paintings that were hung around the backyard and house for a homemade touch. We also hand painted signs like 'Dino Crystal Castle', 'Fossil Cove' etc.

How did you dress the table? 

I wanted to bring the outside in, so I took the opportunity on a recent trip to a friend's farm and had the kids collect buckets of these beautiful tumbled stones from the river on the property. I placed them in the middle of the table along with dried palm leaves, glitter dinosaur eggs, glitter felt balls and wooden dinosaur cutouts. My son had an absolute ball arranging the elements with me. Again, it was so nice to include them in the process, and the children attending loved the tactile elements on the table. They were touching, playing and picking up all the objects when they sat down for lunch.

Any details you want to mention? 

The games! I really wanted to infuse some adventure into the day, so I created a crystal cave in our sandpit by covering it up with painter drop sheets and having the children dig around for buried crystals.

I also created a dino hunt that was all about nature foraging. I really wanted to veer away from lollies and single use toys as party favours. Creating a treasure hunt was such a fun way of giving kids gifts without sending them home with more...let's say crap from another birthday party.