Carnival 3yr - Mini Big Top

Theme- Carnival  We just had a fantastic party for my 3 year old.  It was the talk of the neighborhood and folks say that it was the best party they have ever attended. 

Invitation: I made homemade invitations.  On the front it was a popcorn bag and inside the popcorn it said, "You're invited to a Birthday Carnival."  The back stated information about the party (time, date, place (Fellows Fairgrounds), and what they could look forward to) 

Decorations: \*Ticket Booth made out of a Refridgerator Box (cut & painted) \*Mini Big Top made out of a Refridgerator box.  We put it on it's side cut  up a sheet and painted red stripes on it.  This was where all of the presents went when the children arrived. \*Clown with a cut out face made of a Refridgerator Box.  We glued a clown wig around the cut out face.  We blew the clown up by using an overhead projector.  We took each child's picture behind the face.  These were then used for thank you cards later. \*With the overhead projector we blew up pictures of animals, clowns, and a big top.  We painted them and posted them all over the party. \*For only twenty dollars we rented a helium tank and blew up dozens of ballons that were all over the place. \*With streamers we decorated the front yard to make it look like a big top. 

Games: When the children first arrived they each received 5 birthday bucks.  I made these by placing my daughter's picture in the middle of play money and photo copied it onto green paper.  They children had to take their birthday bucks over to the ticket booth to receive a baggie full of tickets.  Then they could play the games. Each game had a sign (made out of poster board and large 2 feet paint sticks that I received for free from The Home Depot to stick them into the ground.)  The prizes for the games were pieces of candy that I bought for dirt cheap at a after Halloween sale.  They put their candy right inside the ticket baggie.

1.  Face painting

2. Gopher Golf (a game that my daughter received at her last birthday)

3. Lucky Ducky- Bath time ducks that were floating in a very small baby pool.  Each duck had a number on the bottom and that was how many candies they got.

4. Jelly Bean Toss-  I made small bean bags out of jelly beans and tied curling ribbon around each.  On a piece of poster board I made big circles with numbers on them.  Whatever circle their jellybean landed on that was how many pieces of candy they got.

5. Somethings Fishy-  I made a fishing Pole out of a stick with a magnet on the end.  Then then had to catch a fish made out of paper with magnets on the back.  Whatever number was on they back then that's how many candies they got.

6.  Ring Toss-  I filled up Soda Bottles with colored water and placed sticky foam shapes on them.  Then using swimming rings they had to try to ring a soda bottle.  However many they were able to ring then that's how many candies they got.

7.  Bozo's Bow Ties-  This was a craft center.  I cut out big giant bow ties out of posterboard and tied yarn around them.  Using Sticky Foam Shapes they decorated their bow ties.  They all looked so cute all wearing them!  Food: We served the children and adults corn dogs and fries.  They ate while my daughter open her presents that were inside of the big top.  Out on the food table we had peanuts, popcorn and cotton candy.  The children all drank Capri Sun- Wild Cherry (it's clear incase of spills.) 

Prize Bags: I made the prize bags by using a white paper bag.  I drew red stripes and cut the top with fancy scissors to make it look like a popcorn bag.  Using skewers I made a small piece of white paper look like a piece of popcorn with each child's name on it. These were sticking up out of the bags.  Attached to each bag we put a helium balloon with the childs name on it also.  To fill the bags with prizes, we cashed in all of our Chuck-E-Cheese tickets and got tons on cute little prizes for the bags. I also put the birthday bucks inside the bags for the kids to play with at home.  I had my daughter's picture taken at Walmart using their carnival background.  For $3.88 I received tons of pictures.  I made a little card with her carnival picture on it and but it in the bags which said "Thank's for coming to my birthday carnival! 

Clown: We hired a clown to come to the party for an hour.  She put on a little magic show with a dove and rabbit and made balloon animals for all the children.  The kids went nuts!  Good bye: On the way out the door we gave each child 8 glow braclets (it was now getting dark.)  We purchased 200 of them off of E-Bay for only $4.00!  This was the best party I ever threw and I hope yo enjoyed reading about it!