Ideas for carnival parties
Plan a carnival party for your next event. Whether it’s a child’s birthday, a fundraiser for an organization you’re involved with, or a get-together with friends, a carnival party offers good food, good entertainment, and lots of fun.
Here are some ideas to help you along the way.
Games
The games make the party have a true carnival air. They provide laughter, friendly competition, and fun for all. Decide your game selections based on the type of guests. If you are entertaining young children, the games should be at their level. If you’re hosting a party for adults, make sure you have games that will challenge them. These can be rented or self-designed. Games must have ticket winnings that everyone can redeem at the end for a prize.
Ideas include:
- Swinging for Apples: Float apples on water, blindfold the contestant and make them sway so they can pick up with their mouths in a minute.
- Hoopla Game: Line up plastic or wooden bottles in a pattern and see how many wooden rings the contestants can encircle the bottles.
- Fish Game: Have a bunch of cardboard fish with a metal clip attached to them in a waterless baby pool. Blindfold the contestants and give them a small fishing rod with a magnet on the end. See how many fish you can catch in one minute.
- Tabletop Bowling: Line up the bowling pins at one end of a waist-high table. Have the contestants stand at the opposite end and bowl to see how many pins they knock over.
- Bean Bag Toss – Create a wooden box with a hole the size of a coffee can or use a Baggo board. Have the contestants stand at one end and see how many bean bags they can fit into the hole in a minute or two.
In addition to the games that have winning tickets, it’s nice to have some activities for those who don’t wish to compete. Have a face painting station, a costume area where you can have your picture taken in fun clothes, have a clown make balloon animals, or even rent a card reader for the party.
prizes/party favors
Prizes must reflect the age range of the guests. Stuffed animals and small toys like finger traps, match cars, bouncy balls, or a slinky are great for kids. Also give them all the details of the party like a balloon or a bag of carnival candy. For adults, prizes should be at their level, such as a restaurant gift card, scented candles, a bottle of wine or liquor, specialty coffee or coffee mugs, picture frames, a board game, or anything that find it useful but still fit their needs. budget. The dollar store is a great place to find prizes.
Food and drinks
Think of the delicious smells of food when you walk into a carnival. Helps create the mood. Now these aren’t going to be the healthiest party foods, but it’s your one night to kick the diet and join the fun!
Ideas include:
- Cotton Candy – Use store-bought cotton candy or rent a cotton candy machine
- Snow cones – rent a snow cone machine or replace the idea with popsicles or push up pops
- Popcorn – get a popcorn machine or buy bags of popcorn
- Hot Dogs – Use a grill or special hot dog equipment like a roller machine for the real flavor of carnival dog
- Soft Pretzels – Order a tray of mini pretzels from your local soft pretzel franchise
- Candy apples – buy ahead or ask them to be part of the activities so guests can make their own
- Fries – buy restaurant-style fries and keep them crisp under a warming tray
- Lemonade – buy cartons of lemonade or have a machine to make fresh-squeezed lemonade
- Iced Tea: Buy cartons of iced tea or use a large clear container with a spigot like you see at carnivals.
To add an extra carnival feel to your food and drinks, purchase carnival-style paper products such as red and white popcorn boxes, decorated frying pans, white hot dog mats, cotton candy sticks, cookie holders, etc. snow cones and plastic soda cups, lids and straws.
To create a true carnival feel, consider buying concession stand equipment and accessories. If your organization or family plans to host carnival parties in the future, the investment is well worth it.