Birthday

Birthday Party Carnival Fun

Have you ever worried about how you would manage to keep control of a group of excited party goers if you took them all to an outside attraction for a birthday party..? If the thought of this makes you shiver, why not look at bringing the excitement of local carnival to your own back garden. If your child wants is expecting a visit to a carnival or amusement park, bring it to them……
Using imagination and taking some time to prepare the details, it can be done a lot cheaper than taking a group out and consequently you can invite a bigger group and have an even better time!
If money is no object, stop reading now, grab your yellow pages and hire a complete funfair for the day, terrific fun and probably £3,000 for a couple of rides, assorted bouncy castles and side shows.
Ok, for the rest of us we'll need to take our time and plan this out properly. You will need to get your invitations out early, not just because it's a job you can tick off the list but more importantly to determine how many guests you are likely to have. From this number you can work out how many carnival games and attractions you will need.
If you are stuck for activities for the party, look to what you would see at a normal carnival. Games like Tic Tac Toe where you would throw four balls into the target to make a line across, down or diagonal, or Clown throw ball where the player has to throw sponge balls through different openings in the target – the balls can be replaced by bean bags but these would require a stiffer backboard as they create more impact. You could have a ring toss, simply made by standing the same sized bottles within a target box (24 arranged 6x4 would be minimum) and then the player would have to toss a ring clean over the neck. You will need to judge the size of the ring when you know what bottles you are going to use. As an alternative, you could fill the bottles with colored water (food dyes) and stand the separately. Small prizes, into their own party bag, for the winners.
If you can afford it, hire in a professional face painter. Alternatively, rope a willing helper in and 'do it yourself'. Face paints and supplies are readily available and there are a number of books and handouts available to get you started – who knows, it maybe the start of a whole new career.
As an extra treat you could either buy bags of popcorn and candy floss (cotton candy) or you could hire in the machines or go for a mix of both. Candy floss can be bought in bags quite readily, if you live by the coast look up rock suppliers in yellow pages, or alternatively ask your local supermarket. Popcorn is now readily available and most people have a hot air popcorn blower….all you need is to make it all look more carnival like. Readily available are popcorn boxes (or ask at your local cinema) and if you mount the machine high in a clear box with artwork around the outside, you can make it look quite attractive.
Toffee apples can be bought or made. To make your own toffee and make it extra special, use some rock pieces to add an extra flavor – again, rock ends can be bought cheaply from rock suppliers, or they probably stock toffee apples themselves.….Bet you all want to live by the coast now!
For decoration, use either bought or handmade bunting – triangles of colorful fabric 8" wide with the other two sides being 9" sewn onto to bias binding which can be stapled or tied as required. Add bunches of balloons to add to the color and feel of the carnival. If it's going to last into the evening, there is nothing more magical than some colored or plain light strings which will help the games, but also transform the party into a real carnival.
Lastly, as with a real carnival, you need plenty of clowns. You could either ask your helpers to wear clown fancy dress, or wear fancy dress showman's jackets or you could make it a fancy dress party and really complete the theme.
A few carnival games, some decoration, some carnival treats you could simply add hot dogs and drinks as the main food and some friends to help you and you've achieved the ultimate children's birthday party. This is not an idea only for clever or craft orientated people this is a theme that can actually be achieved by anyone providing you put a little planning in.
If you want more information on how to construct the carnival games mentioned above see our other article 'Outdoor Games – a boring title but strangely good games'. This also includes details of more games you can incorporate into your carnival birthday party.