Clown Around at a Carnival Birthday Party

Bring the excitement of a Carnival Birthday Party right to your own backyard!

This party is one that will be remembered for a lifetime! It takes a little bit of effort, but it is sooo worth it!

Give these ideas a whirl and kids of all ages will think that this was the best birthday party ever!

Carnival Birthday Party Invitations

Bounce House Invitations would be a great choice for this party theme! They are festive and fun, and get the kids excited about what's in store.

Popcorn bags also make adorable invitations.

Buy red and white striped popcorn bags here, or make your own by using red and white striped paper.

Cut a rectangle out of yellow cardstock (cut thin enough to fit inside the bag, and long enough to stick out of the top).

Cut the top edge in a "cloud" shape to look like a mound of popcorn.

Print all of the party details on the cardstock.

Carnival Birthday Party Decorations

• Giant Outdoor Carnival Decorating Kit: This kit is so festive and fun! It includes one 24-foot fringe banner, one 24-foot bunting, one 24-foot pennant banner and one 65-inch sign banner. Don't you just love the excitement it brings to the party area?!!
• Carnival booths: For each booth, cover a large box with a brightly colored plastic tablecloth. Use empty wrapping paper rolls to prop up a posterboard sign with each booth's name. Decorate with balloons, streamers, curling ribbon, etc.



• Balloons and Streamers: Put these everywhere to create a fun party atmosphere!



• Carnival Tents: If it's going to be a hot day, carnival tents will provide shade and pizzazz!

• Face painting: Kids love to have their faces painted! Make sure you enlist extra hands to help out at this table because there's sure to be a long line.



• Penny toss: Cover the sides of 5 or 6 small little rubbermaid bowls with different colors of brightly colored wrapping paper. Use masking tape to adhere them to a square of cardboard or plywood, covered with a contrasting colored wrapping paper. Standing at a starting line, let the kids try to toss pennies into the bowls. Have coordinating bags or buckets available. If they toss a penny into the yellow bowl, they get a prize from the yellow bucket...etc.



• Feed the Clown Bean Bag Toss: Paint a clown face with a big, open smile onto a piece of foam board. Prop the board up against a stool or something to make it stand up, or you can use another piece of foam board to create an easel. Have the kids toss bean bags into the clowns mouth to "feed the clown!"



• Bottle bowling: Add some sand to 6 or 7 empty 2-Liter soda bottles, then turn them into clowns by attaching styrofoam ball "heads" to the mouths of the bottles. Use felt, pom-poms, curling ribbon, markers, stickers, etc. to make the face, hair and clothing. Stand the bottles up in a pyramid shape, then have the kids toss a ball at them to see how many they can knock down!



• Fishing: Cut fish shapes out of different colors of foam, then attach paper clips to their mouths. Put some water in a baby pool for the fish to "swim" in. String magnets onto stick poles and let the kids go fishing for a prize! Have different color bags or buckets filled with little prizes available. If they catch a red fish, they get a prize from the red bucket...if the catch a blue fish, they get a prize from the blue bucket...etc.



• Silly photo booth: This activity is a must for a carnival birthday party! Provide funny glasses, clown noses, mustaches cut out of felt, oversized hats, etc. and take silly pics of the kids using a Polaroid or digital camera. These pictures are great for including in thank you notes!



• Water Balloon Toss: A perfect outdoor activity that's loads of fun!



• Water Gun Blast: Balance lightweight balls on top of water or soda bottles. Use water guns to blast the balls off of the bottles.



• Tin Can Tower: Build a tower using tin cans (we actually used plastic toy cans), and have the kids throw balls to try to knock the tower down.

Here are some more ideas that would be a great addition to your carnival birthday party:

• Balloon Animals
• Magic Show
• Jumpy Inflatables (like a Moonwalk)
• Hire a Clown for entertainment

Oriental Trading Company is a fantastic resource for carnival supplies and prizes. They have a large variety and their prices are very reasonable.

All of the prizes that the kids win throughout the day can be used as their party favors.

Have the kids decorate their own goody bags with brightly colored stickers, crayons, and glitter, and have them collect all of their prizes in their own personalized bags. This is a great activity to do while waiting for everyone to arrive.

Some ideas for prizes are noisemakers, pinwheels, clown noses, stickers, bouncy balls, and other little toys that can be bought in bulk.

Carnival Party Food

A carnival birthday party calls for classic carnival food! Here are some good, old-fashioned favorites:

• Hot dogs or corn dogs
• Popcorn
• Chips
• Caramel Apples (or apple slices with caramel dip)
• Cotton Candy
• Sno-Cones

For a real carnival feel, you can rent popcorn machines, cotton candy machines, and sno-cone makers from your local rental supply store.

Carnival Birthday Party Cake

Ice cream is a must-have at a carnival, but warm weather and ice cream don't go together very well.

Instead, try serving up these adorable Betty Crocker ice cream cone cupcakes! They look like the real deal, and taste equally as yummy...not to mention that they're the perfect size for little party guests!

They are SOOOO adorable and easy to make! For full instructions, click here.

Carnival Birthday Party Supplies

Complete your party with matching carnival party supplies! Birthday in a Box has a selection that would be a great match, along with some fun games that the kids would enjoy! Take a look here:

Clown Party Game	Carnival Balloon Kit	Sack Race Game
Carnival Party Beverage Napkins	Carnival Party Cups	Carnival Party Deluxe Birthday Box
Carnival Party Favor Set	Carnival Party Favor Boxes	Carnival Party Napkins
Carnival Party Birthday Box	Carnival Party Cake Plate	Carnival Party Tattoos
Pin Drop Game	Bowling Game	Can Toss Game

	Oriental Trading Company is like the carnival party jackpot! It is positively loaded with everything you could possibly need for your party, and then some! From carnival tickets and games to prizes and toys galore! Seriously a must-stop shop when planning your carnival!
	Birthday in a Box has some really fun pre-made games for your carnival (like a can toss, bowling game and bean bag game), as well as some really fun supplies to make your party complete. I think the circus canopy tent is super cute and would be great for photo ops! :)
	Birthday Express is where you'll find an awesome outdoor carnival decorating kit, popcorn boxes, fun partyware and so much more!

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