I am planning a carnival party for my daughter's 6th Birthday. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I plan on having games and fake tattoos (face painting is too expensive to hire and I cannot do it). I love new ideas and I have several months to plan this.
Michele from Houston, TX
Pony rides are fun. You could have several small balls the kids could try juggling. You could have a bubble station. The kids could blow bubbles or make the giant bubbles using string and a dish pan. You could have the small, plastic floating ducks with numbers painted on the bottom. The kids pick a duck and the numbers correspond to a prize. You could have the kids "bowl" using 2 liter bottles filled with a little sand as the pins. You could have 3 legged races and sack races. You could have a pie eating contest. An adult or the kids could make cotton candy. Walmart sells the small cotton candy machines and some use regular sugar. Walmart also sells a roll of tickets for under $3. These would make it feel like a real carnival. (11/07/2005)
By Cheryl from MO
You could cut out a giant sheet of cardboard and paint a clown's face on it and cut a round hole for a mouth and the kids could play a game to see how many balls they can shoot through the mouth. Lots of popcorn would be good, and hotdogs, too. Someone could pretend to be a fortune-teller, someone could start practising juggling (if they've lots of time). You could set skittles (used in European lawn game similar to bowling) or bottles up on a table and the kids could throw a ball or something to see who can knock down the most, you could make it harder by lining them up rather than setting them up like in ten-pin bowling. Use paper plates full of foam or cream and have someone stick their face through another sheet of cardboard with a hole in the middle and paint a large target around the hole and let the kids try to hit the face! If I think of more I'll add it. Sounds like fun. (11/07/2005)
By Jojo
You can make some of the foods that they would eat at a carnival such as popcorn and funnel cakes, etc. As far as face painting I would have a volunteer do that maybe a teenager. It doesn't have to be professional, they could draw flowers or hearts, their initials, or stars. It would be a lot more fun for them than the tattoos and wouldn't have to professional. If you have some parents who will volunteer to help out it would be really cheap. One could be a clown and pass out balloons. Several could run game booths such as ring toss or balloon pop. Our church does a carnival every year so we have games for the really small kids to adults. And we don't build booths, it would be too expensive so we use a piece of particle board that stands upright and pieces of two by fours on the back to make it stand up. You can paint the particle board and drive pegs into it or whatever you want. For small children we make a fish pond that they can catch toys or baggies of candy in. Hope this helps. (11/08/2005)
By Christi
About learning to juggle, the easiest thing and also the least harmful thing to use is silk scarves because they fall very slowly making it easier to learn
If you can find some light little scarves or hankies (or even some small pieces of fabric) and a friend or helper who knows how to juggle to help teach them, this is ideal and kids love it. It certainly fits with the carnival theme and will keep them occupied for a long time.
Susan from ThriftyFun (11/08/2005)
By ThriftyFun
I know that lots of teenagers know how to face paint. Maybe if you know somebody like that you could hire them cheap. (11/08/2005)
By Sandy
I'm also planning a carnival party for my son Ron. We found a lot of cheap games and prizes at Oriental Trading Company. A lot of the games my husband built, but they were very inexpensive. Also, try Party Boy Rentals for the popcorn machine and cotton candy. Good luck. (01/20/2006)
By Ana
I am also having a carnival party for my daughter's 6th birthday. We are doing a lollipop tree where you color the ends of a select few of the pops and put them on cardboard tree. The kids pick one without seeing the backs and if they get a colored one, they get a prize. Also we are doing a duck pond. and a beanbag toss, my brother is dressing as a clown and my sister is painting faces. We are making snow cones and having hot dogs. I think it will be a blast. (04/29/2008)
By Judy
I'm throwing my son a carnival party in November. I have a lot of great ideas. I was going to rent a popcorn and a cotton candy machine. Scratch those ideas because those rentals are very expensive. So instead I ordered small bags of cotton candy and I'm going to have a label printed with my son's face on it. I'm taking regular popcorn from the grocery and putting them in individual bags.
By BKPARTYMAMMA
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