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    Updated: Apr 5, 2022 by Kris Jarrett

    Our Circus Themed Party!

    Looking for tips and ideas about games and party favors for a carnival or circus themed birthday party? I threw a party with a carnival / circus theme for my daughter’s birthday that was a huge success! I 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 your own party! (post includes affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}).

    Ideas for how to throw a carnival or circus birthday party

    Invitations

    For invitations, we found the perfect ones on Etsy:

    Carnival or circus party invitations

    I love Etsy for invitations because you can get the perfect personalized invitations at reasonable prices. Some sellers create invitations that they mail to you while others provide you with a digital file of the invitation that you can print yourself. You can browse their large selection of circus / carnival themed invitations {here}.

    at {here}. The invite also comes in blue and red color combo if you’re looking for something less girly:

    Circus / Carnival Games

    I originally planned to make all of the games for the party myself 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.

    We placed inexpensive red and white plastic tablecloths on card tables in the backyard where we set up the games, a prize table, and a treat table. The exact tablecloths I used are no longer available but {these red and white striped tablecloths} would be perfect.

    Sandpails used as treat buckets for carnival party

    The six games we played included:

    Disk Drop Game

    I bought {this disk drop game} that’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 party drop disk game

    Carnival Can Bean Bag Toss

    You can find a similar carnival can bean bag toss to the one I used {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.

    Carnival party bean bag toss 
    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 such as {these} 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.

    Carnival party water gun game - shoot the ping pong ball off the tees!
    Duck Matching Game

    I filled a red galvanized tub similar to {this one} with a set of 20 rubber ducks with printed numbers on the bottom of them that you can find {here}). 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.

    Carnival circus games - Duck pond matching game

    Spin-A-Prize

    Next they got to spin a carnival wheel (you can find a similar one {here}). This was a party favorite! 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.

    Carnival birthday party game - spin a prizeLollipop Tree

    A lollipop tree 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 🙂

    Circus Photos

    In addition to the games, we had a Carnival Photo Backdrop found {here}. 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 could include a copy of it with their thank-you cards.

    Carnival party photo backdrop

    Prize Table

    After the girls were done playing the games and posing for photos, we raffled off the grand prize, which was a large stuffed animal dog. Then we headed over to the prize table. Each of the prizes had a mini easel next to it that held a card showing the number of tickets needed to “buy” it .

    Prize table for carnival or circus birthday party

    They lined up and took turns picking out their prizes, which were all from the dollar bins of either Target or Michaels. The prizes also served as their party favors.

    Prizes for carnival or circus birthday party

    These punch balloons surprisingly ended up being the biggest hit:

    Punch balloons as prizes for carnival or circus birthday party

    Food & Treats

    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, and cotton candy in cones that I made from rolled sheets of red & white scrapbook paper.

    Treat table with candy peanuts and cotton candy at carnival birthday party

    They washed down all of the sugar with Izzie drinks covered with carnival drink bottle labels:

    Treats for carnival or circus birthday party

    You could use {these cute carnival themed wraps} on water bottles too.

    All of the girls (including the adorable circus dog) really enjoyed the party!

    Circus dog

    Good luck with your party planning!!

    KJ Signature

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    Comments

    1. Stacey {steward of design} says

      June 03, 2013 at 3:17 pm

      Another great party, Kris! All great ideas! I was sweating for you reading about the delay in shipment. So happy it all worked out. 🙂

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        June 03, 2013 at 10:37 pm

        Thanks 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 🙂

        Reply
    2. Kim says

      June 05, 2013 at 11:32 am

      What 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. 🙂

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        June 07, 2013 at 11:34 am

        She did love it which makes all the stress and work worthwhile! Have a great weekend!

        Reply
    3. Carla @ Inside Home Living says

      June 06, 2013 at 2:30 am

      Another 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!

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        June 07, 2013 at 11:36 am

        We 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!

        Reply
    4. Cheryl says

      August 13, 2013 at 5:26 pm

      looks 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

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        August 13, 2013 at 8:48 pm

        Yes, 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!

        Reply
    5. Guadalupe Fuentes says

      September 05, 2013 at 4:16 am

      Thank 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!!

      Reply
    6. Guadalupe Fuentes says

      September 05, 2013 at 4:18 am

      ohh 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??

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        September 05, 2013 at 2:20 pm

        Hi 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!!

        Reply
    7. Anonymous says

      July 30, 2014 at 6:29 pm

      Where did you buy the star tablecloth?

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        July 30, 2014 at 9:05 pm

        The star tablecloth was from Target – unfortunately I think it was just a seasonal item for the 4th of July.

        Reply
    8. Anonymous says

      August 10, 2014 at 11:35 pm

      Hi 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!

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Décor says

        August 11, 2014 at 1:25 am

        I 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.

        Reply
    9. kelsey says

      January 21, 2015 at 2:58 pm

      I am throwing my twins a big carnival party and am looking to order many of the same games, any interest in selling yours?

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Decor says

        January 21, 2015 at 11:26 pm

        Hi Kelsey,
        Sorry but I already gave them away! I hope you have a wonderful party – ours was so much fun!

        Reply
    10. Nicole says

      April 01, 2015 at 4:04 pm

      Thank 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!

      Reply
      • Kris @ Driven by Decor says

        April 01, 2015 at 9:55 pm

        Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment – I hope your daughter’s party is a big hit!

        Reply
    11. Alison says

      April 13, 2016 at 6:30 pm

      I 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.

      Reply
      • Kris Jarrett says

        April 15, 2016 at 10:34 pm

        So glad you found it helpful – hope it’s a great party!

        Reply
        • Arlene C. says

          January 12, 2018 at 7:54 pm

          I 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.

          Reply
    12. Carlee says

      January 30, 2018 at 5:37 am

      Great party! Where did you get the cotton candy from?

      Reply
      • Kris Jarrett says

        February 04, 2018 at 10:20 pm

        You can actually buy bagged cotton candy at most party stores or even online at Amazon!

        Reply
    13. Chris says

      October 08, 2018 at 8:57 pm

      Where did you get the red buckets and how did you do the labels?

      Reply
      • Kris Jarrett says

        November 04, 2018 at 9:13 pm

        I got the buckets from either Target or the Dollar Store and the names are just stick on letters.

        Reply
    14. Susie says

      September 15, 2020 at 8:12 pm

      I love your party ideas!! Where did you get the soda labels? The link doesn’t work 🙁

      Reply

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