carnival game ideas

Ideas for Carnival Games

Games form the most exciting part of a fun-filled neighborhood carnival. In this article, we will put forth some simple, yet exciting ideas for carnival games, which will make the event a memorable affair for you.

Not everything is fair!
Ever found it difficult to pop balloons with darts at a balloon dart throw stall? You need to consider the fact that the balloons could be purposely under-inflated and the dart tips kept dull to reduce your chances of winning.
Carnival games can be a good source of entertainment on occasions like school fundraisers and neighborhood fairs; all the more so when most participants are children. These games can lighten your child's mood and make him happy. While you do have the option of buying all these games from stores, doing them on your own can also be fun, especially because it will add your personal touch to it. So, without further ado, here are a few games that promise to make your neighborhood carnival eventful.
DIY Carnival Games Ideas
Tin Can Knockdown
In the form of tin can knockdown, you have the simplest game that you can add to your event. The participants of this game simply have to knockdown a pyramid of cans by throwing a ball at it from a considerable distance. You can make a pyramid of 6 or 10 empty tin cans and give participants a tennis ball or a ball made from cloth to knock the structure down. Each participant will get three chances to knock down the pyramid, and in the end, the participant who knocks down all the cans (or the most cans) can be awarded goodies.
Knock Over the Bottles
You don't necessarily need a sophisticated bowling alley for this carnival bowling game. You can create one of your own. What you will require is a level surface, six sand-filled plastic bottles, and a volleyball or a small football. You arrange the bottles like bowling pins in a 1-2-3 formation and ask participants to knock them down with the ball. Each participant can be given three chances and the one who knocks down the most bottles wins!
Board Racing With a Dice
In this game, you prepare a six-lane race track on wood or cardboard using a marker. Then divide each of these lanes into 8 to 12 equal parts. Six participants can play this game at a time; each of them will be assigned a lane and given a toy animal. Once they take their places, you can throw the dice. The participant whose lane number comes up will then move a step forward. In this way, the participant who makes it to the finishing line first wins the race.
Target Clown's Nose
If you intend to add archery to your event, you will require a plywood with a clown figure drawn on it and suction-tipped arrows. You can place the clown at an appropriate distance depending on the age of the participants and give each participant three attempts to hit its nose. You can also replace the clown with an actual bulls eye, but that will make it more of a serious business. Also, if you are planning a carnival for kids, the clown figure is your best bet.
Bean Bag Toss
A typical lawn game wherein two teams take on each other in a race to 21 points, the bean bag toss is perfect for your neighborhood carnival. You can modify it slightly to suit you. Instead of using a platform with a hole, you can use a cutout of a clown or monster with its mouth wide open and ask the participants to throw bean bags into its mouth from a distance. Those who can pull off the task can be then given goodies.
Ring Toss
For this game, you will need six glass bottles and rings made from old wire coat hangers. Make sure that these rings are large enough for the bottles to pass through. You can even color the bottles and rings. You simply have to arrange the bottles on the ground and ask the participants to ring the bottles from a considerable distance, which, if they do, earns them goodies. As a variant, you can also arrange goodies on the floor instead of bottles and give them away when participants put a ring around them.
Balloon Dart Throw
As the name suggests, in this game, the participants are supposed to use darts to pop the balloons from a considerable distance. You can attach the balloons to a thick cardboard or wooden board using a two-sided tape. Using different colored balloons will add to the appearance. You can assign specific points to each color and tally the score after three attempts, or you can write the prize on a chit of paper and insert it into the balloon.
Basketball Toss
Anyone who knows basketball knows what a free throw is, and that makes it easier to incorporate it as a carnival game. So you simply set up a hoop, draw a line at a distance, and ask participants to basket the ball. The distance to the hoop will determine the difficulty level. You can either declare the participant who sinks the ball once the winner, or raise the bar and stipulate that participants need to basket continuously thrice to win.
Bounce a Ball
Now this carnival game is a spin-off of the basketball toss. So, the participants are expected to sink the ball from a distance, however, instead of doing it directly, they are supposed to bounce it on the ground and sink it. In this case, it will be a little difficult to sink a basketball―especially if the participants are kids, so instead, you can use and an actual basket and a proportionately small ball. Depending on the age group of the participants, you can decide the difficulty level and the objective of the game.
Duck Pond
If most of your participants are small kids, then the duck pond is one game that you have to add to your list. You will need a baby pool and a dozen odd floating ducks. These floating ducks will have to be numbered and left in the pool, with some of these numbers having prizes corresponding to them. Then the kids can be asked to pick a duck. If a kid picks a duck with a number which has a prize corresponding it, he wins it. You can modify these games so that they suit the age group you are catering to. These games can be fun for kids and teenagers alike. You just have to raise or lower the difficulty levels according to the requirements. By including all these ideas in your carnival party, you can ensure that children have a great time out there. Just make sure that you have enough goodies to give away.

Похожие статьи