A Carnival Birthday Party Made Easy

Children's birthday parties can be a very intimidating. When my children were growing up we tried to give them memories rather than things and memorable birthday parties were their special day for great memories. One birthday party stands out as the very best, it was our daughter's 8th birthday party.

We were living in a house with a wonderful front yard and a few months before her birthday I was looking at it and thinking about what to do for her birthday and the idea of a carnival theme popped into my head and there was no turning back, the plan was set in motion.

The trick to any successful party is to plan, plan, plan and plan well in advance. First we needed to make a guest list. Not only did we need to know how many people we would be feeding etc. but on the list were listed our 'carnies' for the day. All the adults and older kids were going to be our 'carnies'. They would be in charge of the games, 'rides', one was going to be the gypsy fortune teller, someone to serve hot dogs and cotton candy.

After compiling the guest list it was time to decide on the entertainment. We had a wood fence around our property and there was a perfect place for ballons to be set up for a dart throwing game. We bought a small kids wading pool, wrapped small gifts, made fishing poles out of dowels. We strung a zip-line across the yard just high enough off the ground so the kids could skim across the yard. We had a jar full of jelly beans for guessing how many (winner got the jar and the jelly beans). We had the small older travel trailer parked in the corner of the yard and it was perfect for our fortune teller (who just happened to 'know' alot about our younger guest).

Very little extra decorating was needed. The games were colorful. A few extra helium balloons here and there and a few streamers. A big sign to welcome them to the carnival on the gate. There was so much action with the kids running around having such a good time, they added so much to the ambiance that alot of decorating just wasn't needed.

Food was the next consideration. We used an air popcorn machine for popcorn. Filled favor bags with peanuts in the shells, Rented a cotton candy machine. Drinks in pouches and cans. For a compliment of 'real food' we used a crockpot with water to heat hot dogs and pizza was delivered early during the party. Carnivals just aren't the place to expect a balanced meal.

As the guest arrived at the carnival they were given carnival tickets, a bag with their name on it for the goodies they would win and off they went. There was no need to try and organize them for games. They could go where they wanted when they wanted. No need to coral them to feed them when they got hungry they could eat. We did have the hot dogs, peanuts and chips handy before we fired up the cotton candy.

And what carnival is complete without a clown, ballon characters and face painting. We hired a clown well in advance after a little local research and got one that was really great. She made balloon characters while telling stories after she broke the ice with face painting.

To say that a good time was had by all would be an understatement. When it was all over we were surprised on how quickly the 3+ hours had flown by. Everything ran very smoothly as planned and there is that word again-plan.

Whatever type of party you plan to throw the sooner and the more you plan the better chance you have of creating a wonderful memory for you and for your kids.