My boys have had some killer birthday parties over the years, but one of the most successful was Griffin’s Ninja Dino party for his fifth birthday.
This was at a time in life when Adam and I were still trying to make friends in Mooresville, so we (and I really mean I) invited everyone we knew to our kids’ parties and hosted them at our house. So not only did I spend an insane amount of time planning every detail and tying together the theme that Griffin chose, which in this case was both dinosaurs and ninjas, but I also had to get the house and backyard in shape for hosting.
The good news for you is that I have a bunch of tips and tricks to help YOU successfully host a Ninja Dino birthday party for your kid. Step one is to use the free services of Greetings Island to create a killer invite. I will explain more of the how-to in another post, but love using their app to build a super cute invite that can be texted out to friends and family.
Next, pick an easy and on-theme party favor. In this case I bought a bunch of balloon animal balloons and created ninja swords for each of the kids. They also each received a dino mask upon entering the party, and a gift bag that would be used to collect their toys from the different ninja dino activities.
I love a good chalkboard sign, so put one at the entrance to our backyard. It clearly explained what guests should do upon arrival, and ensured that no one had to be manning the house when guests arrived. That way if someone came late, and the party had already started, they would know what to do.
Decorations were easy, as the boys were very into dinosaurs at the time. We had a dino punching bag that I created a cloth mask to wear in order to turn him into a ninja dinosaur, and a ton of Dino Smasher toys (examples here, here and here) to sprinkle throughout the party.
Since the guest list included children aged three to seven, I thought it would be helpful to have a couple planned activities that could be done at their leisure. This would ensure not all kids were partaking in the same events at the same time, which was necessary due to the varied age ranges. I set up a Dino Bones Dig Site in the boys’ sandbox, and filled it with dinosaur fossil skeletons. The kids loved digging for these fossil treasures, especially because they got to take them home.
I also placed ninjas inside balloons for the kids to karate chop open at the Dino Egg Karate Chop station. It was hilarious watching them sit on the balloons to try and make them pop! The last station used dinosaurs for a Dino Footprint Creation station where kids used them to create footprints in play-doh. Bonus was that the leftover dinosaurs were used as toppers on Griff’s cake (Costco sheet-cake is the way to go for large parties as it’s cheap and delicious!)
Yard signs clearly labeled each activity, so any accompanying parent could help their child get started. And I’ve decided that although pricey, a bounce house is always a winner at a backyard party. The kids played for hours in the ninja themed jump course!
Finally, we set up a couple covered tables that accommodated food, drinks and seating for much needed breaks out of the hot North Carolina sun. Griff had an absolute blast playing the afternoon away, as did all of his friends. Parents left with tired but happy kids, which is always a win as it means a good night of sleep is in the cards.
Have you planned a successful Ninja or Dino party? Add any additional activities or tips you have in the comments below!
