Balloon Dart Game
Setup: Balloons, thin sheet of plywood, tacks and darts
Find volunteers to blow up several large bags of balloons. Set up a board on which you will attach blown up balloons with tacks or stapler. You should consider having cardboard angled off for walls and cardboard on the floor on play area, to prevent wild throws from damaging the room. The throwing area should be about 10-12 feet from the board depending on the age and ability of participants. So different throwing areas are a good idea.
Bean Bag Toss
Setup: 5" Beanbags
Take a piece of plywood or foam board and cut a hole in it. You'll need one package of 5" beanbags that you can find on our site. Paint the cutout
Throw the bean bag threw one of the holes. 1 piece of candy for the big hole, 2 pieces of candy for the medium hole, 3 pieces of candy for the small hole.
- ** If the child makes the big or medium hole on the first try, give them the choice of keeping the candy, or giving it back for a chance at the small hole.
Bowling Game
Setup: Marked off area, Fun Gripper Bowling Set Mark off an area where players will be rolling the ball. Set up the pins about ten to twelve feet away. Using partly filled 2 liter soda bottles works well.
Players that get a strike are the winners.
Bucket Bonanza
Setup: Large coffee cans or small buckets (5-6), screws, 6-8ft board, ping-pong balls, and paint if desired
- Attach empty coffee cans about 8-10 inches evenly apart on narrow board. They can be attached by running a short screw through the can into the board. You can number and paint cans different colors prior to assembly. (Note: If you use cans be sure to take a hammer to around all the cut opened edges. Pounding down the sharp edges will prevent anyone from getting cut while reaching into take out a ball.) The object of this game is to toss a ping-pong ball in each can one at a time without missing. You can choose different locations for a player to toss from, depending on players’ ability.
Cake Walk
Setup: Donated bake goods, tape for floor, music and box of numbered tickets
Players: One for each square in the circle (usually 12 to 18)
- Mark off on the walk area a circle with numbered squares and have corresponding tickets numbered. Players are to start out standing on a square that is numbered, one person per square. Start playing music and when you it stops players should end up on a numbered square. Once everyone has a number to stand on, pull out a numbered ticket. The player standing on the corresponding number wins a baked goody.
Floating Duck or Boat
- Setup: Tub of water, and lots of
little ducks with numbers .1, 2, or 3 on the
bottom. Find a floating item that is cheap and small, possible at a dollar store and get about 15 -20 of them. Might even use pieces of foam. Mark on the bottom of a few of them your award system. Fill a small wading pool or washtub and place them in. They get one try to pull out an object that is marked. Give the kids a chance to pull a duck out of the water. If the duck has a one on the bottom, they get one prize. If the duck has a two on the bottom, they get two prizes, and so on.
Go To Jail
Setup: A room, jail made out of something, helpers and warrants
Have car area and trunk set up as a jail. You'll need a sheriff and maybe a deputy to mind the jail while the sheriff goes off to arrest someone. You can make the jail out of cardboard boxes, or wood with chicken wire, just something easy to take down and store if you wish. Carnival goers can pay to issue a warrant for someone's arrest. This may involve that person also going with the sheriff to point out the person that is suppose to be sent to jail. Once that person is put into the jail, they have to serve so many minutes in jail or you can give them the option of bailing themselves out. You can even issue them prison clothes to wear.
Finger Nail Painting
Setup: Nail polish, cotton swabs, nail polish remover
- Set up a table to paint fingernails. Purchase cotton swabs, nail polish and nail polish remover (maybe from the dollar store). Charge a fee for those that would like to have their fingernails done. Don't forget to pick up white nail polish for those that would like French tipped nails.
Ping Pong Target Game
Setup: Plastic pop bottles, water, water guns, and ping-pong balls
- You can play this game as teams or just individual competitions can be set up. Set up your teams; place all the same sized plastic bottles on an outdoor table and on top of each bottle place one ping-pong ball. Give each team a water gun full of water and hopefully they all look or work the same. Have the teams line up behind the first player. They should be about 5-8 feet away from the target depending on age group. When signaled, the first team member will try to knock the ping-pong ball off the bottle. Once they have completed that task they will hand the gun to next player and then replace the ball back onto the bottle. The next player will do the same and the first team done is the winner.
Sucker Tree
Setup: Place suckers down into a piece of foam like the top of a tree. Random suckers have a mark on the bottom of the stick that indicates a prize. When they pull out a sucker that is marked on the bottom of the stick, they are a winner, and you win the sucker.
Tic Tac Toss
Setup: The play area is very easy to make and set up. Lay down tape on carpet or hard floor for the squares. Give players only 4 bags to try to complete three in a row. Tape down a throwing line for younger players about 5 feet away and for older players about 6 feet away. Fun-Attic carries Fun Gripper 5 inch Bean Bags to complete the game.
Treasure Chest
Setup: Fill a small square or rectangle container with birdseed and place 10-15 pennies within the seed.
-Allow the participants 1 minute (60 seconds) to find as many pennies within the time frame. Award players based on the total amount of pennies they have found. You can have them close their eyes to complicate the game if need be. You may also reduce the amount of time for older players.
Water Push Balloon Race Setup: Tie balloons to a string between two poles and allow the children to squirt the balloons with spray bottles.
Knock Down Arcade Game
Setup: 2 saw horses, one 2X4 piece of lumber, hinges, Fun Gripper Bean Bags or Fun Gripper Baseballs, paint and blocks of wood
- Once you make this you’ll have a really cool game. Design 6 to 8 blocks of wood cut outs that will be mounted on one side of the narrow end of the 2X4 with light weight hinges. Use light weight wood that knocks over easily and you can shorten the length of the 2X4 if desired. Make them in different shapes, colors or design. Find a willing artist in your group that will make it look attractive. You can even have the 2X4 painted with a theme that goes with the blocks. Idea like serpent with animal knock downs. Mount the blocks with hinges at 45 degrees so that they stay on top of the board and can fall backward once hit with a ball or bean bag. Give participants three balls to knock down the blocks from a designated distance
Sling shot or rock throw Setup: 2 liter bottles with some sand inside and faces of Goliath. Child is give three balls to knock down as many Goliaths’ as they can. The more knocked down the bigger the prize. Smaller children should stand closer than older ones.
Can Wham Setup: 2 bean bags, 6 cans (filled with sand.)
Stack the cans one on top of the other, then using the two bean bags, try to knock all of the cans over.
Go Fish Setup: Create a fishing pole using a stick and a piece of string or yarn with a large plastic hook on the end.
- Create some kind of wall that the child can toss the fishing line over. Person working behind the wall puts prize on the line and yanks like a fish biting. A cloths pin or potato chip click works well as the “hook†Guests cast the fishing pole into the booth, and a helper on the other side attaches a prize for them to reel in. Jesus as the fisherman of men
Ring Toss Setup: 3 rings, ? bottles.
- Set up the bottles. Make one of the rings a special color for a double prize. Give the kids three chances to ring one of the bottles.
Football/Frisbee Toss
Setup: 1 football (a nurf football will cause less chance of damage), 1 old tire/Hula Hoop/Ring.
- Hang rings from the open trunk lid by ropes and have players throw small footballs or flying discs threw the hula hoops. You can mark off throwing levels for various ages. For the older participants you can even have the hula hoop swing back and forth as a moving target.
Target Shoot Setup: 1 plastic dart gun, ? targets. (Empty pop cans works well.)
- Set up the targets, and give the kids two chances to hit the targets.
Basketball Setup: 1 basketball, 1 hoop (you can buy various sized nurf basketball sets – even have them at the Dollar Tree)
- Give the kids two chances to make a basket.
Putt Putt Setup: 1 putter, 2 golf balls, 1 hole (a plastic cup, or practice putting hole.) *** If your room floor is not carpeted, it is best to get a long piece of carpet for this game. Give the kids two chances to putt the ball into the hole. For added difficulty and fun, build a ramp for the ball to go over.
Coin Toss Setup:? dimes, ? cups and bowls.
- Give the kids 3 or 4 chances to throw a dime into one of the cups or bowls.
Ball Toss Setup: 2 softballs, 1 bucket.
- Give the kids two chances to throw the softball into the bucket.
