Carnival/Circus Theme Birthday Party Ideas

My little guy wanted a Curious George Carnival Party for his 5th birthday.  I know, he doesn’t have high standards for me at all does he?  I think we pulled if off very well and I wanted to give you some ideas as well in case you also wanted to do Carnival or Circus themed party.  (The Curious George part of it is a post for another day).

First off, we picked our church gym because well, there’s plenty of room to play  I can’t stand parties for the under 6 crowd (or, really under 8) that don’t provide ample opportunity for them to RUN and play.  They’re kids after all.

For the PLAY part of the party we had:

  • a bounce castle
  • a ball pit (a plastic kiddie pool filled with ball pit balls)
  • bean bag toss
  • beach balls every where so they could just run wild with them
  • a coloring table which turned out to be a huge hit when everyone got tired!
  • face painting

Let me stop here and tell you about this CUTE sign template I found on Etsy.  I bought the template and was able to type in my own titles and print as many as I wanted!  LOVED this for labeling the stations.  Just search “circus printables” and you should find something similar.

For the Party Favors (PRIZES) I found red striped favor bags at Shindigz – which were really more like boxes because they were cardboard – and they looked like something you’d get popcorn in at the carnival. So that was fun. :)  And let me just say, Shindigz.com is the absolute best place to find circus/carnival themed party supplies.  Keep reading to see what else they had that made this party perfect! Including the Red & White Striped Table Covers I used for the food tables – very circus like!

For the FOOD we had:

  • Hot Dogs (easy and within the realm of the theme)Big Top Snack Servers Pkg/6
  • Popcorn (from a real popcorn machine borrowed from the church.  I thought I had a picture of it but I can’t find it.  I had it stationed between the two tables.  First table was hot dogs, buns and condiments.  Then the popcorn machine.  Then the second table that had drinks and the banana split station.
  • Banana Splits (this was more for the Curious George part of the theme and everyone LOVED it.  And I would recommend the Big Top Snack Servers Pkg/6 for serving banana splits in! They were perfect!Carnival Giant Decorating Kit

To top off the decorations I used the Carnival Giant Decorating Kit.  I didn’t get to hang all the things but I used some of the bunting around the tables.  I thought it added a nice touch.  And I used the fringe banner to decorate the present opening area.

I hope these ideas help you plan your carnival or circus party!

Looking for other birthday party themes?  How about TRAINS or PIRATES?  Like this post?  Don’t forget to like, tweet, stumble or pin!  Use the share bar at the top of the post!

Shindigz provided me with several of the items mentioned in the article in exchange for spreading the word about their great products.  All opinions are 100% my own.  I was not paid for this article.  This post contains affiliate links. 

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