We have one in February during the cold winter months. It really brings out the kids. We have a vendor that we rent carnival/boardwalk games from. We get about 15-18 games, a huge blowup obstacle course and have a checker tournament. (for little kids, you can play bingo) All of that is in the gym.
In the cafeteria that is connected, we have face painting, tatoos, cotten candy, spin art and we also have basket raffles for kids games, toys, crafts etc.
$12.00 gets you all the games, face paint, tatoos you want, plus one turn on the obstacle course, one cotten candy and one spin art. Little prizes are given at the games and the vendor also has lg prizes for when each child leaves (basketballs, footballs, wands/swords that light up, etc.)

For an extra turn on the obstacle course, cotten candy or spin art, there is a fee of $1.00 and we also run a refreshment stand that serves hotdogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, drinks and treats. (we even have a kids meal deal)

Since switching to this vendor and swapping out a couple of things, we've actually made money on this event - even though we are just trying to make sure we break even. The kids come for the whole 4 hr day rather than just the one hour or so they use to be there. So we feel really proud we were able to improve the plans to the delight of kids and parents!

We do a carnival every school year in May. We charge $5.00 per armband and the armbands let them play all of the games as much as they want. We also know that some families would like to attend but can not afford the $5.00 per armband so we put a limit on it...$5.00 an armband with a max of $20 per family for the presales and we charge $6.00 at the door with a max of $24. We do not have fancy games. We do a nail polish booth, fish pond, face painting, ring toss, we also have a company that donates some inflatables for the evening. We also sell food and drinks. We have a clown that does some magic and make balloon shapes for the children. We usually raise about $2500. to $3000.

Do a search for carnival. There are TONS of posts with great information on here.

We are trying a Spring carnival. I need all the help I can get. What do you charge for? what other things do we do? Thanks!