Looking for tips and ideas about games and party favors for a carnival or circus birthday party? I threw a party with a carnival / circus theme for my daughter’s birthday party that was a huge success! thought I’d share how we put our party together in case any of you have a similar carnival or circus theme in mind for a future party (post includes affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}).
For invitations, we found the perfect ones on Etsy at {here}. The invite also comes in blue and red color combo if you’re looking for something less girly:
Here are some other invites that are also super cute:
I originally planned to make all of the games for the party but then found some really cute carnival games online at prices that weren’t much more than the cost of supplies if I made them myself. For each game that we set up, there was an opportunity to win tickets, which were then redeemable for prizes from the prize table. The girls were given buckets with their names on them to hold both their tickets and their loot.
Some red and white plastic tablecloths were perfect for throwing on card tables in the backyard and setting up the games, a prize table, and a treat table. I can’t find these exact ones anymore but {these red and white striped ones} would be perfect.
The six games we played included:
*Disk Drop Game – found {here}. It’s just like Plinko on The Price is Right, only smaller. The girls were each given several wood disks to drop from the top of the board with a goal of getting them to fall in the bottom slots with the highest numbers. They won the same number of tickets as the highest number slot that the disks landed in.
*Carnival Can Bean Bag Toss – found {here}. Each of the girls got two turns using three bean bags per turn to knock down the tower of cans. They got a ticket for each can that they knocked down.
*Water Gun Game. This was one of the two simple games that I made myself. I simply stuck a few golf tees into a foam block and placed ping pong balls on top of each tee. The girls picked a water gun and competed against each other to see who could shoot down their ping pong ball first. Five tickets were given to the first person to shoot off their ping pong ball and three tickets to the second.
*Duck Matching Game – found {here}. Twenty ducks with numbers preprinted on the bottom of them were set afloat in a galvanized tub. The girls picked two ducks at a time and checked to see if they had matching numbers on the bottom. They got a certain number of turns and earned a ticket for each match that they made.
*Spin-A-Prize – found {here}. This was a party favorite. Who doesn’t love to spin a carnival wheel?? Each of the girls got a certain number of spins at the wheel and they earned the number of tickets of the highest number that they spun. In reading the reviews of this game online, several people mentioned that they had problems with the yellow pegs coming out and we had that issue too. Fortunately, the few pegs didn’t come out until the end of the party and the lost pegs didn’t significantly affect how the wheel worked but just wanted to give you a heads-up that it’s been a problem for some who bought this game.
*Lollipop Tree – this was my other simple DIY game (which I forgot to take a picture of!). I bought a bag of blow pops and colored a few of the ends blue and a few of the ends green. The lollipops were stuck into a foam block and the girls got to pick two lollipops off of the “tree”. They were rewarded with five tickets for blue tipped lollipops and three for green tipped ones. And of course, they got to keep their lollipops 🙂
In addition to the games, we had a Carnival Photo Backdrop found {here} that was also purchased from Oriental Trading Company. I taped the plastic backdrop to a rolling clothes rack and took pictures of the girls posing as a trapeze artist and muscle man. I made sure to get a picture of my daughter with each of her friends so that I can include a copy of it with their thank-you cards.
These punch balloons surprisingly ended up being the biggest hit:
Of course, a circus isn’t a circus without gorging yourself on treats! We had a treat station that included candy peanuts in {these “Time for a Treat” bags} (I cut them down a bit to a shorter size), popcorn in tall scalloped favor boxes ({these} are similar), and cotton candy in cones that I made from rolled sheets of red & white scrapbook paper.
Good luck with your party planning!!
Stacey {steward of design} says
June 3, 2013 at 3:17 pmAnother great party, Kris! All great ideas! I was sweating for you reading about the delay in shipment. So happy it all worked out. 🙂
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
June 3, 2013 at 10:37 pmThanks Stacey – I can’t tell you how glad I was that my package arrived. And how glad I am that the stress of that party is over 🙂
Kim says
June 5, 2013 at 11:32 amWhat a fun party theme! Really clever idea to use scrapbook paper for the cotton candy. You obviously put a lot of work into the party and I’m sure your daughter loved it. 🙂
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
June 7, 2013 at 11:34 amShe did love it which makes all the stress and work worthwhile! Have a great weekend!
Carla @ Inside Home Living says
June 6, 2013 at 2:30 amAnother great party and theme it just looks fantastic!! amongst all the colourfuI pictures I cant help but notice your beautiful garden… all that lush green grass!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
June 7, 2013 at 11:36 amWe have had the perfect weather this past few months for keeping the landscaping and grass nice and green. Now I just wish it would warm up so that we can take advantage of being out of school with some time at the pool!
Cheryl says
August 13, 2013 at 5:26 pmlooks like a great party and some great inspiration – wondering if you limited each prize type one per kid or how you made sure that you didn’t run out of certain prizes by the last kid? We’re doing this party next week and so torn how to go about doing the prize table to make sure that there’s enough of everything :S
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
August 13, 2013 at 8:48 pmYes, that’s exactly what I did – the kids were told that they could not have more than one of any particular item. We were having a smaller party (seven kids) so I bought at least seven of each prize. For the girls that didn’t end up with enough tickets to get one of each prize, I ended up giving them one of everything before they went home anyway but for larger parties that would get to be too much $$$. If you do mostly dollar bin items like I did, you can always buy more than you think you’ll need and return the party leftovers!
Guadalupe Fuentes says
September 5, 2013 at 4:16 amThank you for making my planning so much clearer!! My sons Birthday party (circus theme) is in 10 days and didnt have a clue on how to get started on the games. Thank You! now i know where to start!!
Guadalupe Fuentes says
September 5, 2013 at 4:18 amohh one more thing my party will be larger than 7 kids,is it easier to do the treats and stuff after the games or do they grab them throughout the party??
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
September 5, 2013 at 2:20 pmHi Guadalupe – we played all of the games and then the kids exchanged their tickets for prizes when we were done. That way they could all enjoy the games without trying to rush through them for fear of someone else getting the best prizes! They went back and played some games after we did the prizes but they were just for fun with no tickets being given out. Hope your son’s birthday is fun!!
Anonymous says
July 30, 2014 at 6:29 pmWhere did you buy the star tablecloth?
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
July 30, 2014 at 9:05 pmThe star tablecloth was from Target – unfortunately I think it was just a seasonal item for the 4th of July.
Anonymous says
August 10, 2014 at 11:35 pmHi Kris! Love the ideas you had for your daughter’s circus party. What stores did you purchase the large buckets, masks and the scrapbook paper for the cotton candy at? Thanks for your ideas and response!
Kris @ Driven by Décor says
August 11, 2014 at 1:25 amI got the masks and scrapbook paper from Michaels! I doubt that they have the masks anymore – they were in the dollar bins that turn over pretty quickly – but you may have luck still finding the paper. I can’t remember where I found the buckets – either Michaels, Target, or Party City.
kelsey says
January 21, 2015 at 2:58 pmI am throwing my twins a big carnival party and am looking to order many of the same games, any interest in selling yours?
Kris @ Driven by Decor says
January 21, 2015 at 11:26 pmHi Kelsey,
Sorry but I already gave them away! I hope you have a wonderful party – ours was so much fun!
Nicole says
April 1, 2015 at 4:04 pmThank you for posting all these fabulous games and ideas! I am doing a Carnival party for my daughter and this made it so easy! Thank you!
Kris @ Driven by Decor says
April 1, 2015 at 9:55 pmThanks so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment – I hope your daughter’s party is a big hit!
Alison says
April 13, 2016 at 6:30 pmI really appreciate this post. I am planning my 4 yr old’s class party and this was a great post having the details/notes included along with the photos. I think I’ll be using a lot of these.
Kris Jarrett says
April 15, 2016 at 10:34 pmSo glad you found it helpful – hope it’s a great party!
Arlene C. says
January 12, 2018 at 7:54 pmI am throwing my 3 year old granddaughter a circus theme party. I usually have about 30 to 40 kids at her party. we are giving this party at a church, inside a large room, 3 hour party. We are having corndogs, hot dogs, fries with cheese and juices. I decided to have games from 12:00 until 1:30. The character will come from 1:30 until 2:30, and from 2:30 until 3:00 we will trade the tickets in for a prize and have cake and ice cream. I will have a total of 1000 tickets to give out to the kids that win playing the games, the kids will win 1 ticket per game. Most prizes will be 5 tickets, 4 tickets, 3 tickets, 2 tickets and 1 ticket. I will make sure the prizes equally up to 1000 tickets. the games will be matching ducks with a number, can knock down, toss a ball into a fish bowl, toss a ball into a basket, the penny game where you toss a penny into a small glass that will be positioned in an aquarium. we might have 2 of each game since there will be so many kids. Please give me you suggestions. Your party was nice. Thank you so much for your help.
Carlee says
January 30, 2018 at 5:37 amGreat party! Where did you get the cotton candy from?
Kris Jarrett says
February 4, 2018 at 10:20 pmYou can actually buy bagged cotton candy at most party stores or even online at Amazon!
Chris says
October 8, 2018 at 8:57 pmWhere did you get the red buckets and how did you do the labels?
Kris Jarrett says
November 4, 2018 at 9:13 pmI got the buckets from either Target or the Dollar Store and the names are just stick on letters.