Is your little one a fan of circuses and carnivals? Then throw him or her an entertaining birthday bash worthy of the Big Top with our Circus Party Ideas! We offer suggestions for everything from circus-themed invitations to carnival party games. So read on and start planning!
Invitations
Decorations
Food
Party Favors
Games & Activities
Planning & Invitations
It's important to select a location for your child's Circus Party early in the planning process. You can throw a great party at home, full of decorations and activity stations that fit your theme. However, if you would rather not have the party at home, be creative when choosing a location - is there a community carnival going on around your child's birthday? Maybe you can rent an adjacent room (if inside) or picnic area (if outside)! For additional ideas, see our article on When & Where to Have the Party.
What Do I Need for the Party?
Once you've decided where to have your child's Circus Party, it's time to start thinking about what supplies you'll need. If you plan to use paper tableware and circus or carnival party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful while you're shopping. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it's intended only as a guide.
In addition to basic party supplies, like plates, cups, napkins, and decorations, you may also consider purchasing, borrowing or renting the following items:
- Red Clown Noses
- Popcorn Machine
- Bubble Machine
- Snow Cone or Cotton Candy Maker
- Prizes for the Party Games
- Disposable Cameras
Circus Party Invitations
Creative invitations build excitement and can increase attendance at your party. If you have time to make your own, here are some ideas to get you started:
- Design each invitation to resemble a circus ticket.
- Make clown faces out of paper bags and write the invitation information on the back. Add a few pieces of candy to the envelope before sending.
- Attach a card-style invitation to a bag of circus peanuts or a box of animal crackers and hand-deliver them to your guests.
- Attach a card-style invitation to a big red nose and ask your guests to wear the nose to the party.
- Send each invitation inside a flattened popcorn bag.
- Be creative with the party details! Here is an example:
[Child's Last Name] Entertainment Proudly Presents
[Birthday Child’s Name]'s Birthday Circus…
The Greatest Show on Earth!
Fun For All: Food ~ Games ~ Balloons
Appearing One Day Only: [Date of Party]
Show Time: [Time Party Begins]
Join Us Under the Big Top at [Location]!
Don't Clown Around; RSVP to the Ringmaster at [Your Phone Number].
If you would rather not make your own invitations, but would still like a personalized touch, consider our personalized invitations! We’ll include your child’s name and all the party details on a background that complements your circus theme.
Whichever invitation option you choose, seal the envelopes with circus stickers.
Decorating & Food Ideas
Circus Party Decorations - Creating the Atmosphere
- Circus Tent - Use brightly-colored streamers to form a canopy over the center of the table, simulating a circus tent. The streamers should cascade from a point in the middle (i.e. the center of the ceiling or a chandelier), down and out to the sides of the room. You can also hang red, blue, and yellow plastic table covers from the ceiling down over the walls of the party room to make it look like the inside of a circus tent.
- Circus Table Decorations - Decorate the party tables with red, blue and yellow table covers topped with centerpieces made from clusters of your child’s stuffed animals. You could also make centerpieces using tall popcorn boxes with balloons and streamers coming out of the center of each box.
- Trapezes - Create flying trapezes by stringing rope though empty paper towel tubes and hanging them throughout the party space. Then, set one of your own stuffed animals on each trapeze.
- Admission Tickets - As your guests arrive, hand each an admission ticket. You can purchase rolls of admission tickets, make your own, or print copies of our Carnival Tickets on cardstock and cut them out.
- Easy Clown Costumes - Provide each guest with a red clown nose and a Clown Hat as they arrive.
- Balloons - Balloons are always a hit with children, and they definitely add to a circus atmosphere! Tie groups of five helium balloons to balloon weights, and place them around the party space. For impact, use a mixture of our animal balloons with two or three solid color latex balloons. Tie a balloon to the back of each chair, and a group of five balloons to the chair where the birthday child will sit!
- Strongman's Barbell - Make a fake barbell by gluing a plastic ball to each end of a wooden dowel. Spray paint the whole thing black, and add the words "500 lbs." to each end with a white paint pen from a craft store.
- Circus Posters - Make easy circus posters using pages from any circus coloring book. Just enlarge the pages at an office supply store, and then color them yourself with craft paint or watercolor crayons, which cover large areas easily. Or, create circus signs with craft paint and poster board. Include wording such as: "Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth!", "Under the Big Top!", or "AMAZING!" Hang the posters on the walls throughout the party space.
- Circus Pinata - We offer a selection of traditional and pull-string pinatas, but any traditional pinata can be converted to a pull-string using our easy instructions.
- Ticket Booth - Set up a ticket booth at the front door or at the entrance to the party area. Have an adult wearing a top hat or clown outfit manage the ticket booth. He or she can distribute carnival tickets, which your guests can exchange for candy or prizes.
- Three-Ring Circus - Use three hula hoops to form a "three-ring circus" in the party area. Flip a small, cylindrical trashcan upside down to make a stand in one of the circles, and set a stuffed elephant, lion or other circus animal on top.
- Clowning Around - Ask an older child or adult to dress as a clown and make balloon animals for the children. Use our easy Balloon Animals Kit that includes an instruction book, balloons, and a balloon inflator. There’s no need to master the entire book! One or two basic shapes will delight your guests.
- Circus Music - Circus, carnival, or other peppy music will add to the atmosphere. Check the Internet, a local book or music store, or a library for CDs or tapes with appropriate songs like "Elephant's March."
Circus Style Snacks
When it comes to food, partygoers are usually perfectly content to eat pizza or hotdogs, which is certainly much easier on the hosts! However, if you have the time and would like to serve up some more interesting treats, consider these ideas:- Traditional Circus Fare - Offer food the kids might find at the circus, such as hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, cracker jacks, pretzels, peanuts in the shell, lemonade, and cola or root beer floats.
- Concession Stand - Make a poster for the food area that says “Concession Stand”, and include pictures of the snacks you’ll be serving. If desired, you can give the kids a few additional tickets that they can use to "buy" party food. For added fun, ask an older sibling or neighbor to dress as a clown and hand out the snacks.
- Fun Drinks - Add a shaped silly straw to each guest's drink.
- Fresh Popcorn - Consider renting a commercial popcorn machine to give your circus an authentic feel. Everyone loves freshly-popped popcorn! For added fun, serve the popcorn in red- and white-striped popcorn bags.
- Sweet Circus Treats - Make sweet circus treats for your guests using a borrowed, rented or purchased snow cone maker or cotton candy machine.
- Ice Cream Surprise - Ask a local ice cream truck to make a stop at the party.
- Funny Fruit - Display a fruit tray in the shape of a clown face. Try using apple slices to form the face, strawberries for the red hair and nose, red grapes for the eyes and the smile, and blueberries for a hat. (Tip: Soak the apple slices in lemon juice and water and they will be less likely to brown.)
- Animal Crackers - Serve animal crackers right out of the box!
- A Fun Bagged Lunch - Serve your guests their snacks in popcorn bags. Fill each bag with a hotdog wrapped in foil, ketchup and mustard packets, animal cracker cookies, and a juice box.
- Clown Cupcakes - Bake or purchase cupcakes with white frosting. Decorate each to look like a clown's face using a red gum drop nose, two star cereal eyes, a snip of red licorice string for a mouth, and a few puffs of cotton candy as the hair. If you like, add sugar cones turned upside down to form the clown's hat.
- Circus Cake - Bake or purchase a 9" x 13” cake, and cover it with white frosting. Pipe on lots of balloons in red, yellow and blue using tubes of colored icing available at the grocery store. Add the words “Happy Birthday”, and set a few toy circus animals around the edges.
- Clown Ice Cream - Make clown heads using scoops of bright orange or raspberry sherbet topped with sugar cone "hats" surrounded by rings of icing "ruffles." Make faces using round, red candy for the noses (try gumballs), M&Ms for the eyes, and red licorice strings for the mouths. Make these ahead of time, and freeze them until you're ready to serve them to your guests.
Party Favors
Thank your guests for attending your child's Circus Party by giving them fun party favors like silly straws, animal crackers, animal stickers, water squirt toys, kazoos, bubbles, and clown face paint. Or, to simplify your planning, check out our complete Clown Favor Sets that include a matching bag!
Also, don't forget to check out our Personalized Circus Party Favors like stickers and bag tags. They can be printed with your guests' names or a personal message from you!
Whichever favors you choose, your guests are sure to remember this party for a long time!
Carnival Party Games & Activities
We offer a wide selection of carnival party games for purchase that would be perfect for a circus themed party, like our Bean Bag Toss Game, Can Toss Game, and Duck Pond Game. For games you can create and set up yourself, see the Games and Activities section below.
For other party planning tips, check out our Party Planning 101 section that includes cake ideas, party etiquette tips, a printable guest list, and more.
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