{Dinosaur Birthday Party Food}

Dinosaur Party Food

For Herbivores, Carnivores, and Sweetivores

Sweet Pea loved her dinosaur birthday party for her 4th birthday! And I had lots of fun creating crazy dinosaur-themed food for the party menu!

For the cake (yes, it did take me all day! and no, I'm not good at cakes at all!) I pretty much followed the directions in this pin but added spikes from small triangles of cake that I attached with frosting blobs. I didn't bother printing the template and just did it freehand instead, which may have been a mistake but oh well! To decorate it, I used colourful confetti sprinkles, a spot of frosting and a candy dragée for the eye, a line of frosting and mini chocolate chips for the mouth, and brown mini M&Ms for the toes [affiliate links]. This was my first time making a shaped cake and I have to say that cutting the cake to make the dinosaur shape was pretty easy. It was frosting it that was hard for me, but I always seem to have trouble with frosting.

Some of the other treats we had include:

Dino Dig Cups

Layered jello cups with crumbled chocolate Oreo cookies on top, topped off with a gummy dinosaur candy and some watermelon jelly beans as dinosaur eggs [affiliate links].

Dino Poop

Gross, but let's face it - four year olds love gross! And they love marshmallows! So these chocolate covered marshmallow treats were Sweet Pea's special birthday party food request. And I'm sure real dinosaur poop wasn't nearly this pretty!

Herbivore Platter

Gotta get some veggies in them, right?

Dinosaur Cheese Plate

My original plan was to make dinosaur-shaped sandwiches with this adorable dinosaur sandwich cutter I got specially for the party (similar but not quite the same as this one [affiliate link]). But as it turned out, our bread is smaller than the cutter, so I had to scrap that plan at the last minute and make normal sandwiches and dinosaur shaped cheese slices instead!

Carnivore Rolls

Our little carnivore loves sausage rolls, so we have to find a way to fit them in to any party theme! So carnivore rolls it is!

Dinosaur Nests

A handful of coloured marshmallows (I did mention that Sweet Pea's special request was to have lots of marshmallows at her party!) in mini silicone cupcake holders [affiliate link] made easy-peasy nests full of dinosaur eggs.

If you have a dinosaur lover, too, you might also like these posts:

Decorating Dinosaur Eggs

Rainbow Dinosaur Dig

DIY Dinosaur Costume

Follow Mama Pea Pod's board Parties on Pinterest.

{Edible Sparklers}

Edible Sparklers:

Pizzazz for Your Party Table!

"Mummy, I can't take my eyes off them, they're just so loveable!" 

If you're looking for a little pizzazz to dress up your party table, these edible 'sparklers' were so easy to make - they literally took 5 minutes - and are an easy party treat for kids to make! We made them for New Year's Eve, but they would be perfect for any fireworks night such as the Fourth of July or Canada Day, or for kids' birthday parties.

To make them, get some pretzel sticks or bread sticks (we liked the salty pretzel sticks combined with the sweet topping - mmmm!) and dip the top half in melted chocolate (see my tips for melting chocolate here, as it can easily burn). 

Then we quickly rolled them in various sprinkles. (Do not use coloured sugar as it will just dissolve in the warm chocolate.) I had a few gold sprinkles left, which I combined with some confetti sprinkles, some star sprinkles, [affiliate links] and some normal rainbow sprinkles, mixed together on a shallow plate. I love how the combination turned out! 

Then lay them out on some baking paper or wax paper, spaced apart, and refrigerate for a little while until the chocolate hardens.

They really remind me of real fireworks!

I first saw the idea of edible sparklers over at Nurturestore, but hers are a bit different - made from chocolate fingers. Have a look and see which will work for you. 

These are definitely going to be our new party food staple!

Don't miss out on new ideas!

Affiliate links are links to websites where items are for sale, and for which I receive a percentage of the sales made from traffic that comes through my pages. These profits help to pay for the expenses associated with keeping this site going. Thank you for your support.

{Cooking With Kids - 10 Christmas Recipes for Preschoolers}

10 Christmas Recipes To Make With Preschoolers:

Preschoolers love to help in the kitchen, and Christmas is the perfect time to make some recipes that your little ones can help make and proudly serve to guests! Try these this year:

Christmas Cookie Pops from Nurturestore

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies from Bakergirl

Red and Green Layered Jello Dessert from JDaniel4'sMom

Edible Christmas Ornaments from Red Ted Art

Easy 'Gingerbread' Houses from Red Ted Art

Molasses Crinkle Gingerbread Cookies from Nothing If Not Intentional

Spritzgebäck German Christmas Cookies from Glittering Muffins

Christmas Peanut Butter Blossoms from We Made That

Nutella Christmas Smores from Pint-Sized Treasures

Cookies in a Jar For Santa from Make It Do

You might also be interested in:

Princess Pops - party treats

Fruity Strawberry Banana Creamsicles - healthy, sweet treat

Gruffalo Crumble - kid-made, cozy weeknight dessert

Easy, Homemade 'Candy Canes' - great little gift for classmates

{Fruit and Vegetable Sensory Guessing Game for Vocabulary Development}

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GUESSING GAME

For Sensory Learning and Vocabulary Development

A fun and educational sensory game for toddlers and preschoolers! 

Play this simple Fruit and Vegetable Guessing Game to help young children learn to use their senses and logical reasoning to deduce what's hidden behind their backs, while developing their vocabulary at the same time ....

{Princess Pops}

Mama Pea Pod was voted in the Top 10 for Red Tricycle's Most Awesome awards for Birthday Party Ideas! Thanks so much! x

Princess Pea just turned 6 (ahh!), and we celebrated this year with a Princess and the Pea party. It was the party of her dreams, pink and girly! One of the treats she served her royal guests was these 'Princess Pops'. They are so easy to make, and a pretty twist on the traditional smartie-on-a-marshmallow party treat my mum always made for birthdays when we were kids....

{Sweet Summer Treat: Fruity Strawberry Banana Creamsicles}

These homemade fruity creamsicles are my kids' favourite summer treat and a great way to involve kids in 'cooking' in the kitchen! They're quick and easy to make (my 3 year old made these ones) and full of real fruit....

{Gruffalo Birthday Party}

Like Mama Pea Pod for birthday party ideas? Please consider throwing a vote our way in the Red Tricycle Most Awesome awards for Birthday Party Ideas! Thanks so much! x

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood...

Sweet Pea had her 3rd birthday last week, and since her absolute favourite story of all time is The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson, what could be better than a Gruffalo themed birthday party?

Now my tummy's beginning to rumble...

Naturally, we had a Gruffalo's feast menu: 

Roasted Fox (sausage rolls)

Mouse on a Slice of Bread (turkey sandwiches)

Fruits of the Forest (strawberries)

Scrambled Snake (jello, set then scrambled)

and Gruffalo Crumble with Owl Ice-Cream on the Side

(you won't want to miss our super easy Gruffalo Crumble recipe!)

Cakes are definitely not my forte, so I made it easy on myself:

a simple chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting, and a store-bought, personalized, edible Gruffalo cake topper that I ordered here. All I had to do was peel it off the backing paper and lay it on top. Because I used butter cream frosting, I decided to make a marzipan backing for it in case the butter caused the topper colours to run (it's made of a very thin layer of icing, printed with food colouring). Then I just placed the whole thing on the top of the cake.

For the sides, I printed some pictures of the Gruffalo and stuck them onto a piece of green construction paper. Then I stuck the paper onto a backing of baking paper the same length and width, wrapped it around the cake, and taped it together in the back.

His eyes are orange, his tongue is black,

He has purple prickles all over his back.

For games and activities, we made Gruffalo masks that I printed from here, read The Gruffalo story while huddled in the Gruffalo's cave (I placed all our large houseplants in a semicircle around one corner of the living room to make a den and we sat in the middle), we had Gruffalo hunts (taking turns hiding Sweet Pea's little toy Gruffalo), and played pin the parts on the Gruffalo with this large, felt Gruffalo I made (which we can use as a Gruffalo felt play board afterwards).

I had originally planned to also use our DIY Gruffalo Puppet Theatre, but in the end we didn't.

I also made some DIY Gruffalo window clings to decorate and play with (separate post to follow).

Oh help! Oh no!

It's a Gruffalo!

And I made some attempt to turn our kiddie table and stools into toadstools - though I ran out of time to attach them better, so they ended up being a rush job. 

And for her birthday present, we got some Gruffalo t-shirts made for her at our local t-shirt printing store. She LOVES them - definitely her favourite gift!

In the party favour bag were some bubbles, a little toy, and some Gruffalo printables from here (in addition to the masks, we included the DIY finger puppets, colouring sheets, and mazes).

She had so much fun, and was soooo excited to be having a Gruffalo party!

Happy birthday, big girl!

If you're interested in throwing a Gruffalo party, I also ordered these items and highly recommend them:

{Gruffalo Crumble Recipe}

Like Mama Pea Pod for birthday party ideas? Please consider throwing a vote our way in the Red Tricycle Most Awesome awards for Birthday Party Ideas! Thanks so much! x

Sweet Pea turned 3 this weekend! 

We celebrated with a Gruffalo birthday party! Details to come, but right now I have to share the recipe for the Gruffalo Crumble we served for dessert (naturally, with owl ice-cream on the side).


This recipe was so easy and quick, I think it could easily become a weeknight dessert at our house. And definitely one that the kids can make. And soooo delicious - for once, something that the whole family agrees on!

Gruffalo Crumble

You will need:
5 bananas (peeled and sliced thickly)
350g (12 oz) frozen (or fresh) berries (I used mixed red berries)
250g (9 oz) cookie crumbs (I used plain digestives smashed up, but graham crumbs would work; I think gingersnaps would be good to try, too!)
140g (5 oz) brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
140g (5 oz) melted butter

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
• Stir the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon into the crumbs until well coated.
• Lay the bananas and berries in a shallow casserole dish and top with the crumb mixture.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until it starts to brown.
• Let stand at least 10 minutes, then serve with owl ice-cream ;-)

"Now my tummy's beginning to rumble!"

If you're looking for Gruffalo things to make and do, you might also be interested in these posts:

DIY Gruffalo Window Cling Stickers
Gruffalo Birthday Party
DIY Gruffalo Puppet Theatre

{Christmas Around the World - Hungary}

Gingerbread

"Boldog Karácsonyt!" (pronounced more or less like Bowl-dog Car-ah-chont) is "Merry Christmas" in Hungarian.

One of the things that makes our family's Christmases a little more interesting (and a lot more complicated!) is that we celebrate a mix of English and Hungarian Christmas traditions. Our children are half Hungarian and we live in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Hungary is located in central Europe, bordering Austria, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine. 

In Hungary, there is no Santa Claus that comes on Christmas Eve. Instead, Szent Mikulás (Saint Nicholas) comes on the night of December 5th, filling children's newly polished boots on the windowsills with chocolate, tangerines, nuts, and small gifts. You can read more about the Mikulás tradition here. 

Walnut and Poppy Seed Beigli

Christmas itself is celebrated on December 24th, not the 25th. On Christmas Eve, families enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner of carp soup, stuffed cabbage, and possibly some other meat (could be pork, chicken, or turkey - likely as breaded and deep-fried cutlets known as ránttot hús), followed by beigli, a sweet pastry roll filled with walnut paste or poppy seed paste.

Száloncukor candies to hang on the tree

After dinner, children often go out for a walk or some other such distraction with their grandparents. While they are out, Baby Jesus comes to the house and delivers presents and a fully-decorated Christmas tree. Trees usually have száloncukor candies hanging on them - chocolate covered candies with various fillings (marzipan, jelly, nougat, etc.), and it's not unusual for there to be real candles on the tree instead of lights. Children come home from their walk to this magical sight and open their presents.

Budapest Christmas Market

One of the highlights of Christmas in Budapest is the Christmas markets. They are a great place to find some special, handcrafted gifts, including beautiful locally made pottery and elaborately decorated gingerbread cookies. Or just wander around drinking forralt bor (mulled wine) or hot apple cider from your special Christmas market mug and eating Hungarian specialties such as mangalica sausages, stuffed cabbage, and roasted chestnuts. Nighttime at the market is especially magical, with all the Christmas lights twinkling.

Stuffed Cabbage

Ummm....rooster testicles stew, anyone??

Some of the challenges for us celebrating a multicultural Christmas here include getting a Christmas tree earlier in the month (although they are becoming more popular and easier to find now), since most Hungarians don't put up their tree until Christmas Eve; and buying a whole turkey to roast for our Christmas dinner - we have to pre-order one specifically from a butcher as you can't buy them in supermarkets. And, of course, 'keeping the story straight' for all the various relatives from each culture can be very complicated and confusing!

Despite the challenges, celebrating a mix of cultural Christmas traditions makes our Christmas special, and reflects who we are as a family. We love that our children are growing up bilingually and biculturally!

If you want to get into the spirit of a Hungarian Christmas, why not try this beigli recipe, or have a go at making some of these lovely decorations made from dried fruits and spices? They smell divine! (Follow these instructions for drying oranges)

Hanging decorations made from dried oranges and limes,
 cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves

How do you celebrate Christmas where you live?

This post is part of the Christmas Around the World series from Living Life Intentionally. Catch up on previous posts in the series to learn about how the holiday is celebrated in other countries! And be sure to get your free Christmas Around the World ebook to accompany the series.

Happy holidays to you, wherever and however you celebrate!