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Dino Lab

I want to tell you about one of the greatest birthday parties I have ever been to. It was so much fun, and super educational too! And, yes, full of dinosaurs!

The funniest part of this story is that the birthday party wasn’t for a kid. Nope; it was for our Internet Ninja, Lisa! She decided that the best way to celebrate her birthday was with dinosaurs (obviously!), and so she booked us all to visit Dino Lab in Victoria, BC, Canada. When she first called them, they asked her twice if she was sure this was for an adult’s birthday; I guess back then (it was in the “before times”) it seemed unusual for adults to have a birthday party at Dino Lab. Tours, yes, birthday parties? Not so much.

Oh boy was it awesome! The two lovely people who met us in the shop to get us started for our tour knew everything about dinosaurs! They took us on the coolest tour, showing us many fossils, specimens, and even a giant T-Rex skull! There was so much to learn, and they were also incredibly patient with us. We all suddenly turned into 10 year old kids, asking a million questions a minute, and wanting to see everything. There was lots to touch, hold, and take pictures with; it was very exciting.

The next stop on our tour was the actual lab itself, where we all got to don lab coats and spend time with the tools, gently sanding away rock to try to expose real dinosaur fossils! This was very serious work! And also a little loud.

After we had a chance to grind away for a bit (unfortunately, none of us made any great discoveries), we went on to the party room, where we were met with a really fun dinosaur cake! Lisa blew out her candles all in one go (amazing!) and we had a really great time talking about all the cool dinosaur stuff we had just seen.

Our last stop before heading out was the gift shop. Everybody loves a gift shop, especially when it is full of dinosaurs! A few of us purchased stickers, some purchased art, and one person even bought an actual fossil! It was the best shopping spree ever! Fun Fact: The Dino Lab shop now has exclusive stickers from The Dinoverse that you can’t get anywhere else!

We had so much fun at the Dino Lab! If you haven’t been there yet, you really should put it on your list of things to do this summer. They have all different types of programs for kids and adults, including the opportunity to go on your own real dig! And if you haven’t guessed it yet, we here at The Dinoverse think Dino Lab birthday parties are definitely the best birthday parties!

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Dinosaur Board Games

Dinosaur board games can be great fun for the whole family! There are so many options now for dinosaur board games too. You can get great games for lots of players, or, if you or your kids are more solo players, there are dinosaur board games available that you can play on your own. A dinosaur board game can help to teach kids to work together, to learn about different species of dinosaur, and can create great family memories. Here are a few of the dinosaur board games that we at The Dinoverse have found exciting and fun to play!

Happy Little Dinosaurs:
This dinosaur board game is our number one pick. All players get a card, and then try to survive the disasters that come their way – meteors, tar pits, even really bad haircuts. Players get points depending on how well they dodged the disaster. First player to 50 points wins! This Dinosaur board game is great for kids 8+, and also really fun for adults, and the best part? You can buy all sorts of expansion packs to make it even better!

Draftosaurus:
Make you own Jurassic Park with this Dinosaur board game! Players try to make the best park by placing their dinosaur meeples in pens around their park. The play is to do it in a way to get the most visitors! But not all dinosaurs can go into any pen! It’s a super fast game that will only take about 15 minutes to play, so you can play several rounds before players get board (see what I did there?). Players 8+ will enjoy this game of strategy.

Dinosaur Island:
Imagine if you could build your own version of Jurassic Park! That is what players get to do in Dinosaur Island. This Dinosaur board game is great for kids and adults alike. Players get to run their own park, create dinosaurs, and (hopefully) build an amazing park! Just watch out that the dinosaurs don’t start to eat the visitors!

Dinosaur Tea Party:
This is a tea party, but with Dinosaurs! If you have ever played “Guess Who”, you will know how to play this game quickly. It’s a game of deduction; you will ask questions like, “Are you wearing a hat”, to try to figure out who you are having tea with. It’s lots of fun for both older players and young kids too!

Dino World:
The best part about playing a dinosaur is getting to eat things. With this fun dinosaur card game, that’s exactly what you get to do! Players flip cards one at a time, the large dinosaurs “eat” the small dinosaurs, and whomever has eaten the most dinosaurs when the cards run out, wins! It’s fun for young kids as there isn’t really any strategy involved, just lots of fun.

Of course we can not talk about dinosaur board games without mentioning dinosaur meeples. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Meeples, they are cute little figures that you can buy to add to your board games in place of the regular figures. Dinosaur Meeples are the best Meeples, cause it means ALL your board games are dinosaur board games. Now when you play Monopoly, instead of a top hat, it’s dinosaurs that land on Park Place! That is the best way to play any game, if you ask me!

Before I sign off, here are a few honourable mentions. These are great dinosaur board games too, we just haven’t had the chance to try these adventures! If you have, pop on to our instagram page and let us know! We would love to hear how you liked them so we can try them too!

Raptor: Great for older players and adults
Sos Dino: Perfect for younger kids, ages 5+
Fossilis: For the budding palaeontologists!
Tiny Epic Dinosaurs: A fun game for strategy players!

Clearly dinosaur board games are the best board games. Whether you have lots of players or a single player, a dinosaur board game can make your afternoon an exciting adventure! Kids and adults alike will enjoy a good game of anything you choose when it has dinosaurs in it! I hope you enjoyed our list, and if there is something you haven’t tried yet, I encourage you to check it out!

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