Need Ideas for Carnival Themed Birthday Party

I wouldn't necessarily mix a bouncing tent with cotton candy. It could get expensive to clean up. You could do other carnival food like apples in caramel or animal crackers (get the brands that really look like animals rather than blobs). Eat most food off of kabobs. Bean bag toss, pick a duck with a dot for a prize.
Have the kids make masks out of paper plates (or buy the animal paper plates that can be mad into masks) - add rhythm instruments and have a parade.

Michelle, as a party planner wanna be - I have a ton of ideas.. go to Iparty and buy a bunch of little yellow duckies.. they have themed ones I think clowns are one of them.. fill ababy pool and float them in it.. mark them all (the kids are only 4 and will never know) with a dot on the bottom and let them pick one - they can get a prize for doing that.. Give them one of those red and white striped popcorn "bags" for their goody bags and they can put the ducky in that and their prize. You can rent a cotton candy machine at any party rental place. Make a board with a bunch of holes in it and do a bean bag toss game.. Pin the tail on the donkey, pin the nose on the clown... change it to your theme.. play musical chairs, check out Oriental express for prizes, and games! they have a lot of blow up games (basketball etc) that are not that expensive. You can buy a face painting kit at Michaels or AC Moore and have a parent do painting. Hula hoop contests are fun, scavenger hunts are fun.. do you have a sandbox? buy toys in the sandbox! pinatas of course are a party staple.. if you want more idea, email me!!!

Hi M.,

I get most of my party ideas from birthdaypartyideas.com they have wonderful ideas and are broken down to age groups which helps. http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/carnival_party.html

I also buy alot of my prty things at orientaltrading.com. Most of the time I am lucky to find what I need in the clearance/sale tab and it helps with the budget.

I hope this helps,
T.

You can rent cotton-candy makers and big popcorn machines. I saw a place under the MacGrath highway in Cambridge/Somerville right north of Somerville Ave on the southbound side. I don't know what it's called, but if you're desperate and can't find another store, you could take a drive down there.

Also, maybe make some cardboard cut-outs of animal bodies for the kids to put their faces through and take wacky pictures. Have some simple games like ring/pillow tosses or shooting hoops and let them win little dollar-store prizes. Sounds fun! Good luck!

I am also doing a carnival themed birthday party for my soon to be 2 yr old in June. My father in law ownes a hot dog cart and one of those real popcorn machines and I have an inexpensive cotton candy machine from Walmart I bought a few years back and a sno cone machine. I am also doing the rubber duckie in the swimming pool game I also have potato sacks for potato sack races (for kids that are old enough) I also have a bean bag toss game that we use tailgating at the Patriots games. I am going to skip the face painting because its time consuming but I will have temporary tattoos and a bounce house. Check Oriental trading they have a lot of stuff for a carnival theme. Good Luck.

I just saw some great carnival "stuff" at IParty yesterday! They have a lot of the things that you'd need for some classic carnival games, including the sacks for sack races, "milk" bottles for knocking down, bean bag toss, etc. They also have a coupon on their site for 20% off, I think(?) I think a visit would at least inspire your planning... Have fun!

Hi M.
I am doing the carnival theme for my son in Jume he will be turning 6. I dont have it all planned out yet but I do have some ideas. For invitations make it look like an Admit One ticket. Cotton candy machines are expensive to rent so we will be buying store bought and putting it in kid sized clear party bags with twist ties and the same with popcorn. For the drinks you can buy the restaurant types cups with lids and straws and have kool Aid or juices or whatever drink you want.
For the games we will have the kiddie pool with duckies. The duckies will have a color on the bottom and when the kids get the color they will pick from a prize from a color box. We will be doing a ring toss with different sized soda juice bottles filled with sand. The sring with the hanging donughts is always fun. Have two or more kids see who can eat the hanging doughnut fastest. We will also be doning a water balloon fight at the end. Its something we did last year and all the kids had a blast doing it.
Somehow we will be doing something with tickets. Im not sure how yet but Maybe winning tickets to get the food or buying tickets with play money to play the games. Just some ideas.
Here is a link to some carnival ideas.

http://familyfun.go.com/parties/birthday/feature/famf0803...

Hi M.,

Great idea. I saw some great party tableware on the birthday express site. I think it was Jo Jo's Circus. (sorry, not familiar with that show, my kids are older now) but the party packs were really bright and sunny looking. You could also think circus food. Popcorn, cotton candy, hotdogs, sno cones. You can even rent a popcorn or cotton candy machine. For games simple ring toss, or knock down the bottles are fun. You could even do clown face makeup or have someone in the family dress up like a clown. Have fun.

J. L.