• Pull out any dinosaur book and flip through the pages. Then, ask your child what his/her favorite dinosaur is.  In a Dinosaur Dig, your theme is filled with bones, bones and more bones!!!  This theme should evoke the sense of a dusty, desert feeling where the job is to find hidden bones and fossils of long gone dinosaurs.  Your guests should all feel like paleontologists waiting for that next amazing discovery!   
• Envelope your guests in the feeling of being junior paleontologists by creating the role in layers.  Kids, unlike adults, are far more likely to let themselves go and get into the role you are creating - so have fun and introduce your guests to another time, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
• Have activities that would be similar to what an paleontologists would do.
• Have your party space set up to resemble a Dinosaur Dig!
• Incorporate foods and serving that are inspired by your theme.
 

• If your child doesn't have a book about dinosaurs, this might be the time to get one!  Use the pictures and text to help keep your Theme real.  The other obvious resource here is the internet - you will probably find more than you could ever possibly use as inspiration!
• - Dinosaur Dig parties can fit just about anywhere, but if you want to incorporate some of the more realistic activities an outdoor space would be very helpful.  Also, if you really want to step it up a notch, consider your local natural history museum as a venue option.

• Dinosaurs on the card (these can be made or bought preprinted)
• Dinosaur Skeleton:  Create a simple skeleton of a T-Rex out of poster board.  Cut out and include the pieces in the invitation so that the guest can put together their own dinosaur bones.  Include party information on the card. 
• "Dinosaur eggs" cast in clay:  These can be purchased in many places, and include a small scraper to scrape away the clay and unearth the dinosaur bones inside!  Include the party details  on a crinkled, ancient looking piece of attached parchment.
•  Safari hats with party details on the inside rim for your Dinosaur Dig.
• Party Reminder - Send an e-mail with a picture of a dinosaur or a dinosaur skeleton with directions, any party specifics that may be appropriate, etc.  It's a second chance to get the buzz going for your party!

Dinosaur Pictures

• Create a dinosaur - Start with the skeleton outline of a dinosaur and have the kids create what they think the dinosaur may have actually looked like.  Was it brightly colored?  Did it have scales or feathers?  Have a variety of items available for the imagination to use:  feathers, construction paper scales, items that sparkle and glitter, puff paint and markers…. 

• Your Own Dinosaur Dig:  If you have some space outside, create your own dig.  Have a load of sand delivered (or build a sandbox - you get a permanent fun feature out of a party prop!) and bury plastic bones, plastic dinosaurs and plastic eggs (filled with fun treats and prizes) throughout the dirt.  It's messy, but it will be a GRAND adventure for future archeologists.  This is probably good as an end of party activity so that dirty hands and bodies don't have to be scrubbed to come inside or eat!

• Make Your Own Fossils - with coffee grounds!  You'll need 1 cup of used coffee grounds, 1/2 cup of cold coffee, 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, wax or parchment paper, a mixing bowl, small objects to make impressions in the dough (optional), and a cookie cutter or butter knife.  Stir together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well mixed.  Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the waxed paper.  Cut pieces for your fossils using cookie cutters or a butter knife.  You can create fossil impressions using objects pressed into the dough, or make bones, dinosaur teeth, etc.  To finish, the fossils need to dry over night or be placed in a low heat oven for a few hours (drying time depends on thickness so keep an eye on these) - so send kids home with instructions for parents.  This is also great if you are going to be hiding bones for the party!

• Pin the skull on the T-Rex - need I say more?
• Lost World Obstacle Course:  Set up an obstacle course and name each obstacle in a theme related manner (Jungle Jump, Dino Swamp, T-Rex Trench, etc.)  Use construction paper Dinosaur Footprints to lead your guests through your obstacle course.  Create the world you believe dinosaurs once lived in.
• Dinosaur Seek and Find:  Use poster board to create the skeleton of a dinosaur, then recreate a second image and cut out the individual bones on this.  Hide the bones throughout your party space and have the kids hunt for them.  Then they have to work as a team, using the original picture as a guide to recreate the dinosaur from the bones they have found. 
• Cave Painting:  Create your own prehistoric cave mural!  Hang a wide roll of off white or brown butcher paper on a wall, or spread it on a smooth surface.  Provide paints, markers, crayons, stamps, etc. for your cave kids to use while creating their cave paintings.  Lay out books and magazines with dinosaur pictures to give your guests extra ideas.  Hang the mural up when the kids  are finished to add more decoration to your party space!
• Catch the Dino by the Tail:  Form the children into a line (a dinosaur) with one player as the head and another as the end - all of the other children are the body.  Tie a scarf around the child at the end of the dinosaur, leaving at least a foot of excess fabric trailing behind (tie it so that it's loose around the child's waist sot that if it's tugged hard the child won't be injured).  Each child will hold the waist of the child in front of them and the goal of the game is for the child playing the head to catch the scarf.  The dinosaur body will twist and turn but cannot break.  The child wearing the scarf should avoid being caught.  Once caught, the end becomes the head, and everyone else shifts back one spot before playing again.
• Jungle Vines  - This game will put your guests to the test by challenging both their skill and intelligence. Begin by having the children stand in a circle, facing inward. Have everyone extend their right hand into the ring and take hold of someone else’s hand. Then, have them do the same with their left hand. The object of the game is to untangle the “Jungle Vines” by stepping over, ducking under, turning around, or doing whatever it takes. Remind the kids not to let go of hands until they have successfully untangled the vines!
• Dinosaur piñata!
• Dinosaur piñata!