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A few years back, my daughter wanted a carnival themed birthday party (this was for kids aged 2-6). I wanted it to be fun but also budget friendly. Let me share with you what I did, along with links to Amazon.

-Party favors. I put the favors in these circus boxes.

-Beanbag toss game.

–Face paint station. We drew ideas ahead of time so the children could pick what they wanted. The link above includes stencils, which would help, too!

-Rubber duck game. In a little pool with about 1-2″ of water, the rubber ducks were floating. On the bottom of each duck, I had written a prize in sharpie. For example, “necklace”. Then, the kid would go and get to pick out a necklace at the little prize table nearby.

-Basketball station. We used our Little Tikes basketball goal, and if the child made a certain number of throws, they won a prize!

-Photo booth. I took some foam boards and cut out a hole big enough for a child’s head to show through. (I tested this size on my own child). I’m no artist, but I drew a clown’s body and a monkey’s body in pencil around the hole, and then painted. I glued and taped stakes in the bottom of the foam board and stuck them into the ground so the boards would stand up.

-Cupcakes. In lieu of a cake, I made carnival cupcakes for each child. I baked the cupcakes like normal, using normal baking cups and white icing. I put mini-marshmallows into the white icing (like popcorn), and then used yellow decorative icing to put on top (like butter). I used striped popcorn cupcake holders (like these) to put around each cupcake. They were a hit!

Amazon has a ton of fun carnival/circus toys, games, accessories, etc.! This was a really fun party, and it was definitely budget friendly. You can use as much as you want from around your house, which helps a lot with the cost. Hope this helps you plan your next birthday party!