Last year I had to come up with games to entertain kids in only 3 days.
One teacher had a large wooden board with large holes to throw bean bags in - if the kids got a bean bag in 4 of the 5 holes they got a prize.
Remembering the Bozo the Clown Show - I grabbed 5 bucket sized containers and in order to win a prize the child had to throw a soft spongy ball in each of the buckets..........they were spread out about a foot or so apart.
From my childhood I remembered the clothespins in the bottle. Which 99% of the kids today have never seen so it was a big draw.
This year I hard boiled dozens of eggs and had egg races. An egg in a spoon and 2 teams of 5 or more kids each. The child walks as fast as possible to a designated spot, turns around and walks back to the next person on his team and hands over the egg in the spoon. If they drop the egg they simply pick it up and put in back in the spoon and keep on walking. The team that drops the egg the least times wins. The kids nearly wore me out playing this game. They had a ball. I have a variation of the cake walk. Since I'm dealing with kids I get Little Debbie Snacks donated and the winners of the cupcake walk get his choice of one of the many LD snacks. The same with the winners of the egg race.
I loved the plinko idea - may look up pictures - don't know why since I watch Price Is Right every morning!! But maybe some will have instructions because I will have to build it myself.
For a Fall Carnival our PTO was lucky enough to have a pumpkin farm donate lots of small pumpkins (the size a grade school age kid could carry). Everyone wanted to set up a Paint Your Pumpkin area and all I could see was a huge mess - cleaning paint brushes and more and more paper for the tables. I said I would be in charge of the pumpkins and I purchased markers. The kids could decorate their pumpkins and there was no waiting for the paint to dry - they could take the pumpkin with them right then. Everyone agreed with my marker idea versus paint.
We have a sandbox table in the pre-school class that is usally filled with rice or sand. We borrow that and bury little plastic dinosaurs in it. We call the game "dinosaur dig". They then get to take three scoops and depending on how many dinosaurs they uncover they are awarded points that are later redeemed for prizes.
Our Pop-a-shot basketball game, cake walk and Pop ring toss games are yearly staples that everyone seems to enjoy.
Cake walk and cupcake walk (a cake walk for kids, costs less and they only earn a cupcake, also less spaces for a greater chance to win), hair painting, tattoos, bounce house, and claw maching (we bought a mini one from US Toy Company).
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
Hi. Something we have found that goes over fairly well is "Pet Rock" painting. Kids pay a buck or a ticket and get to pick a rock and paint it however they choose. We have a local quarry that donates them. They also sand/polish them in some way to take the jagged edges off. Give it a try!
We had our 1st carnival day last Thursday and it was a huge success.
We rented inflatable obstacle courses for the older grades and a moon bounce and caterpillar for the younger grades.
Inside we had games, Cow Milking (kids LOVED it) basketball, Milk can toss, bowling (huge ball and pins) and tire ball toss.
Each class also received shirts with Carnival Day 5/24/07 and our school name on the back. Each grade wore a different color so the teachers could keep an eye on their students, and all the parent volunteers wore another color. Worked very well. We also provided them lunch, soft pretzels, popsicles and water ice and beverages.
The kids loved it all. I'm glad it's over because it was a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.
