-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Circus Parade: This can be a lot of fun. Put on circus music and have guests dress-up, decorate their bikes, scooters, wagons, etc. and have a circus parade around the house or in the neighborhood. You can also take a box, make a hole in the bottom and let the kids wear it on their waist as a wearable circus wagon (turn box over so that the hole is on the top). You can cover the box with bright colored vinyl adhesive or paint them with bright colors. The kids can paint or color pictures of animals, clowns, acrobats, etc. prior to the parade. You can staple on straps to wear on their shoulders (crisscrossing the strips on the shoulders will prevent the boxes from slipping off). Kids can also walk in a row as elephants, one after the other with their hands in front as trunks. Give out horns, whistles, and basically anything that makes sounds (of course if you have a smaller group of kids you can simply take them to a real carnival or circus and have a fun time there).
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Pin The Nose on the Clown: This is a variation of pin the tail on the donkey. You can create a clown face by cutting out a big circle out of cardboard. Add yarn for hair, a triangle hat, and paint on facial features (except for the nose). Then blindfold each kid, give them a red circle with tape or glue on the backside and let them put it where they think the clown's nose should be.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Peanut Relay: Divide the group into two teams and then divide each team in half. Have half of the first team on one side and half of the second team on the same side. Then about 15 feet away have the other half of the first team in front of the first half of their team and on the same side the other half of the second team in front of the their other half. Decide on a side that will start and once the whistle is blown the first person of each team needs to push a peanut with their nose from their side to the other side. Once they get to the other side the next person has to push the peanut back, and this goes on until the last person pushes the peanut. The first team to finish - wins!
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Cream Pies!: This is one of those classic kids party games that can be HILARIOUS! Kids will have so much fun throwing cream pies at an adult's face. Make sure the "victim" is wearing a large plastic bag to cover them from getting completely messy. Take pie tins, fill with lots of whip cream and let the kids throw them. A variation of this is to use wet sponges.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Balloon Squish: Divide everyone so that each kid has a partner (this is a race that needs to take place outside or in a spacious room). Line the partners up back to back at a starting line. Put a balloon between them (with no helium) and have them squish it so that it doesn't fall (and not too hard so as not to pop it). Once the whistle is blown they must take off in this exact position and shuffle their way to the designated finish line (if a balloon falls or pops they need to start again from the starting line). The first pair to get to the finish line wins.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Mystery Box: Take a large box and cut out one side of it. Then put a little sheet over the cut out side so that you can lift it when you need to and cover it when you need to. On the other side cut two armholes. Then take two sleeves from an old sweatshirt and duct-tape them to the holes so that no one peeks through the holes. Then let the kids stick in their arms and only by touch they need to guess what's in the box. Since the other side is open you can always change the objects. You can put ordinary things like a toothbrush, spatula, light bulb, or even wet and gross things like a squished ripe tomato :-). You can then paint the outside with bright colors and cover it with lots of big question marks.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Clown Relay: Divide the group into two teams. Position each at the starting line and about 15-20 feet away have a finish line. At the finish line have two similar clown outfits for each team - this can include huge shorts, oversized shirt, suspenders, a wig, a hat, huge pair of shoes, a clown nose, a bow tie, jumbo glasses, etc. Once the whistle is blown the first person on each team needs to run to the finish line, put on all the clown clothes, run back, strip and tag the next player who puts on the outfit, runs to the finish line and back, etc. The first team to complete the relay is the winning team.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Tightrope Walkers: Make a tightrope on the ground using a long piece of lumber. Elevate it just a bit by placing both edges on bricks on both sides. Then the kids get to walk the tightrope. To make it a bit more challenging let them hold an umbrella or have them balance a book on their head, etc. You can also take big hula hoops, attach red, orange and yellow streamers (as if fire) and let them walk the tightrope and jump through the hoop of fire.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Gypsy: It's always fun to get a palm reading, tarot cards or crystal ball experience. You can have one of your friends dress up as a psychic or gypsy and give them their own booth. Then when kids come they can look into a crystal ball (or even just an 8 ball) while the Gypsy says funny things about them (make sure that they don't get too serious with their readings.. Keep it light and funny, like: "Oooohhhh, I can see that you are a carrot eater", etc.).
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Water Balloon Throw: This fun game is great for outdoor summer parties. You'll need a big yard or have the party at a park. Fill up lots of water balloons prior to the party. Have each kid choose a partner and have them face each other from a short distance. They then need to throw the balloon to their partner (without it popping). Once they catch the balloon, each player takes a big step back and so forth until. Whichever team that throws the farthest distance without the balloon popping - wins.
-- Coolest Circus & Carnival Kids Party Games --
*Guess How Many: Have a jar full of colorful candies (skittles, M&M's, jelly beans, etc.) and have everyone guess the amount of candies they think is in the jar. Whoever comes closest wins the jar of candy!! (Make sure to count the candies while putting them in the jar.)
Looking for more kids party games?
Here's page full of ideas for circus and carnival game booths. And here's another page with carnival / circus party ideas. Enjoy them all!
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