FESTIVAL GAMES

 

I have compiled a fairly extensive list of games, but if you have ideas for any others, feel free to throw ideas my way.  I am trying to include some classic games like ring toss and bean bag toss, and some more unique games for a wide variety.  But my main focus when choosing games is trying to find games that will have little cost to build but still be fun to play.  The more games there are for the kids to play, with the least amount of cost to the troop, the more profit we make.  I'm trying to keep in mind though, that a lot of kids will play each of these games throughout the night, so they have to be made sturdy enough to hold up.  I don't intend to have really sturdy, permanent, wood structures like some places do that have carnivals annually - we may never have another carnival, and if we do, surely no one has room to store a bunch of stuff for a year.  So the goal is "just sturdy enough"!    And I would like it to look semi professional, but again, just enough.

 

I've helped out with our school carnival in Ohio in the past, and also I threw Laken a stellar carnival birthday party one year.  So I'm trying to draw on what worked and what didn't work so well.  But again, I'm more than open to any suggestions.

 

Instead of just a simple list, I'm going to include basically how the game is made or played.  And I am not all that creative - just resourceful - so I'm woman enough to admit that the vast majority of game ideas I've just "stolen" from somewhere else.  The internet is a great thing.  So when I can I'll include links so you can see pictures of the games.  

 

I came up with this festival idea (which is insane or brilliant depending on your point of view!!)  so I'm willing to persuade (or force) my family members to help me build and create all of these games if everyone is willing to just check the wish list page and see if you have items that you can donate for our cause.  I am WILLING to do this because I don't feel right asking everyone to donate stuff, buy tickets, help run the booths, and on top of that make games.  That being said if you WANT to help with any of this, I will not turn down any offers!!

 

Ok, to the actual list of games.  As with the "Activities" page, I'm first going to list those that I'm planning on most likely including.  After this I'll list other games that we can include if we are able to inexpensively obtain the items to make them, and if we have the volunteers to man enough booths.  I'm open to ideas on any games you'd like to see added to the list or if you think any of mine are not good ideas.

 

I refer to "tickets" in more than one manner.  It costs tickets to play games so we are going to buy cheap tickets to sell and cash them in as you play games.  Games that are easier to win or you have a chance to win more could cost more than one ticket to play.  But then as you win games you need to have some kind of "ticket" that you win.  Obviously you have to have different kinds of tickets.  Or coins. Or tokens.  Whatever.  So what you use to play games and what you win and cash in for prizes will be different.  Still working on that part.  Hopefully this doesn't make my descriptions confusing.  In some of them I started referring to earning "points" rather than tickets after I realized it may be confusing.

 

I listed only a few so far that I really think should be included.  Beyond that I found a lot of game ideas but I'd like to include everyone's opinions on what they think should and shouldn't be included or any other game ideas someone may suggest.  I'm very happy to take suggestions!!  I know this is really long and a lot to read but I'd love it if some of you took the time to read these ideas, look at the pictures, and give me ideas on what games we should make.

 

 

CARNIVAL GAMES TO BE INCLUDED:
 

Ring toss.  Have to have a ring toss.  For simplicity I plan to get 1 or 2 cartons of soda in the glass bottles.  Cover the cardboard cartons with red & white stripe paper, and just leave the bottles standing in the cartons on the ground.  And then buy some cheap rings.  You get a ticket for each ring you get on a bottle, and because we're nice, one ticket even if you don't get any.  Younger kids will stand closer.  Click HERE for a picture.

 

Penny Toss.  You use a twister game board.  And different circles can be worth different points.  I like this for the simplicity.  We don't have to do anything to actually make it.  Just get an older twister board and some pennies.  Younger kids stand closer.  Toss the pennies and get tickets for any that land on colored circles.

 

Knock down cans.  Just toss baseball size balls (I'll look for something just a bit softer for safety) and get points for the # of stacked cans you knock down.  I'd like to paint the cans with animals or something fall related - or just with fall patterns.  Anyone artistic is more than welcome to take on this task.  Click HERE for a link to a Halloween version of this game - I'd tweak this slightly since our carnival is after Halloween.

 

Duck pond.  Another classic we need to have.  I'm contemplating having a toddler section with easier games for the younger kids, and if so I'd put this there. - found some cute Sesame Street games you'll read about later.  For this I found a set of circus rubber ducks I'll purchase and put a number on the bottom of each that corresponds to the prize you win.   Just need a kiddy pool or even a decent size rubbermade tub for them to float in.

 

 

Bean bag toss.  There are a lot of different options.  I've made various different games before but I'd like to have it with some sort of fall theme.  You can just attach posterboard to the front of a cardboard box with holes cut in appropriate places but with the number of kids playing, if anyone has old plywood lying around they aren't going to use, I'd prefer to make this a bit sturdier.

 

Lollipop tree.  If you've never seen one you can make them really fancy but for our simple version we'll just get a cone shaped piece of styrofoam.  Take suckers and push them into it so they stick out.  Some of the suckers will be painted with a black dot - maybe every 1 in every 5 or 6.  You pick a sucker and if it has a black dot, you win a prize (or a ticket), if not, you still get to keep the sucker so you aren't out!  We can use small dum dum pops or toosie roll pops depending on how many tickets we charge.  You just keep refilling the tree as it gets low.

 

Tip a troll.  This is on the planned vs maybe list because I like it.  lol. I have no idea why my easily amused self finds this so humorous but I love it.  If I can find a pile of trolls in one cheap group on Ebay I'm making this.  And playing it!!  Click HERE - it's pretty self explanatory.  You throw balls or bean bags at them.  

 

 

Fish bowl toss.  My kids' school carnival had this and they gave away LIVE goldfish.  My kids found this great fun and played it over and over and came home with 6 or 7 fish - floating close to death after a night of being drug aound a carnival.  Much to my dismay, I ended up having to run to the store and spend $30 on an aquarium set up for fish I never wanted in the first place.  My friends assured me they were cheap feeder goldfish - they wouldn't live more than a few months and then I could at least get "pretty" fish for the aquarium.  They lived for almost 2 years!!  I opted NOT to give out live fish although I was tempted!!  I was just going to give out plastic goldfish but found a link where you make clear soap with the fish embedded in it and as they wash they get closer to their toy.  If it's not too costly that's so much cuter.  To play you use clear fish bowls with water in them and toss a small ball or coin.  If it lands in a bowl you win.  Click HERE to see the cute fishy soaps that could be adorable prizes.  Maybe have some fish bowls empty and some with a fake goldfish in them and only the goldfish bowls win prizes - the others you just get 1 ticket.  Since the prizes may be more costly - just don't give them out too easily, then kids keep coming back and playing trying to win the bigger prize!

 

Kissing Booth.  (not what it sounds like).  This would have been in the "maybe" pile but my 17 year old was asking if they really have kissing booths at carnivals and isn't it unsanitary, etc.. I told her about this idea I saw and she thought it was great and assured me we NEEDED to have it, and she wanted to run it.  You make a booth that says "kissing booth" and have my willing daughter sit there with the implication that she's gonna give out smooches.  But when they get closer they find a jar filled with Hershey's kisses - and it's a guessing game.  Pay a ticket, guess the # of kisses in the jar, and at the end whoever's closest wins the jar of candy.

 

 

 

POSSIBLE CARNIVAL GAMES:

 

Circus tiger toss.  I did this for Laken's birthday party.  Took a stuffed tiger.  Hung a hula hoop from a tree.  Cut a red plastic tablecloth with jagged triangler spikes to look like flames and put it around the hula hoop.  You stand back and toss the tiger through the flaming hoop like a circus performer.  Get a ticket if you get it through.  I like it just because it goes with the carnival theme.

 

Pumpkin toss.  Like the ring toss.  But you set pumpkins on the ground.  Need to have a stem.  Toss the ring onto the stem of the pumpkin.  I like this because it's supposed to be a fall festival so it adds to the fall theme.  But it's very similar to the ring toss.  And pumkins aren't all that cheap.  If anyone knows someone to donate a few pumpkins (3-5 is good) then this would be a good addition.

 

Balloon busting game.  This is a classic but it's on my maybe list due to my uncertainty about the idea of handing a bunch of wild kids darts.  But it's a pretty common fair game and you rarely read about anyone dying because they were impaled by a dart at the county fair so maybe I'm over reacting.  Opinions??  I saw another option that included hanging them on a special rack with tacks behind the balloons and if you hit the balloon with a bean bag it was pushed against the tack and popped.  Maybe safer.  But then seems like just another bean bag toss and there's lots of ideas for those.

 

Target practice.  I like this but am not as creative as I'd like to pretend to be - or computer editing program skilled.  If someone can make these ducks with targets on them, this game is a go.  Get cheap dollar store guns that shoot foam balls and shoot at the duck targets on some sort of stand.  Knock them over to win.  Click HERE to see a picture of what I need someone to create!!

 

 

 

Ball squirt.  This is very simple to make.  Click HERE for a picture.  Just a piece of wood with a few golf tees attached and ping pong balls set on the golf tees.  Or you can stuck the tees in a piece of craft foam.  I think a cheap piece of wood would work better - drill a small hole and glue them in.  You squirt the balls off with a water gun and win tickets for each ball you knock down.

 

Bucket toss.  It's very similar to the ring toss and bean bag toss, so it's not high on the list because if we have limited games I want some variety.  But if we end up with enough volunteers and supplies for more games this is easy to implement and could have some fall items set on the ground in front or pumpkins and leaves painted on the board.  The picture is pretty self explanatory - click HERE to check it out. 

 

Bullseye Target.  Nothing really wrong with this game, just nothing unique about it either so it's on my list of "filler games" that if we need more games it'd be cheap and easy to make.  You use felt or something similar and make a bullseye pattern - red fabric in the middle followed by a ring of some other color - a couple of times.  You attach velcro to ping pong balls so they'll stick and throw them at the target.  Different point values for each colored ring or the center circle.

 

Giant tic tac toe.  I like this idea but open to suggestions.  It is easy to make.  You use a decent size piece of cardboard painted one solid color.  Paint lines or use electrical tape or masking tape to make lines of a tic tac toe board.  Then throw bean bags and if you get them in a line you win tickets.

 

Clothespin drop.  Nothing fancy about it but also it is very inexpensive so an easy way to add one more game.  Just a jar on the ground, stand above it and drop the clothespins, if they go in, you get a point.

 

Jail.  Some places make really fancy enclosed quarters of plywood or pvc pipe with fabric, etc... you can use a large appliance box to create something or even just have a set room wherever the carnival is at.  But you assign "something" to be the jail.  Kids pay tickets to have their friends put in jail for maybe 15 minutes.  The kids take the police officer (parent volunteer) to find the friend they are arresting. Use dollar store hand cuffs and escort the to the jail.  Multiple kids can be in jail - someone just stays at the jail to keep them from leaving although you don't really force them. Most go and stay willingly.  My husband volunteered for this our first year at the kids' new school in Ohio.  He was a bit overzealous.  He picked the kids up over his shoulders and carried them off to jail.  The kids had a blast  - the parents looked at him like he was nuts.  Strangely he was never asked to run this booth again and the next years' sheriff was very mild mannered and timid. Oh well, we're a fun loving troop, I gladly nominate my husband to run this booth if we include it.  Click HERE and scroll to the very bottom for one simply made jail.

 

Treasure box.  You take an old tool box and repaint it and cover it with jewels or whatever fancy.  You need a lock and key plus extra keys that are similar enough in size they could fit the lock so the correct key isn't obvious.  And see the key isn't unique enough kids can recognize it in the pile and then keep coming back when they know which one it is.  Anyways you put a prize in the box and lock it up. Kids pay a ticket to pick 1 key and try it.  If it opens the box they get the prize.

 

Penny drop.  This game is contingent on getting a donation of an aquarium or it's not cost effective.  Preferably a small but tall aquarium - taller than the average 10 gallon is better.  You put a glass or several in the bottom and fill it with water - (so we need a junk aqurium but not so junky it won't hold water).  You drop a coin in and if it lands in one of the glasses you win. It is fun for the kids to realize how the coin doesn't fall straight down - give them a few coins so as they watch the path they can adjust where they hold the coin next time.  

 

Skeeball (sort of) - click HERE for a picture of the game.  This is similar to a bean bag or ring toss so I don't want to have too many games of that type.  But it's slightly different and bright and colorful.  Won't cost too much to make so it's easy to add on if we have enough volunteers to run it.  Just toss small balls and whichever ring it lands behind is that # of points.

 

Cornhole.  There are ways to make cheaper versions of cardboard and you only stand on the ground and toss bean bags and try to get them in the holes that are worth varying numbers of points.

 

Bowling.  Can use a cheap bowling set and get points for the # of pins knocked down.  Or click HERE to see how to cover toilet paper rolls and it's cute.  Could cover in fall colors.

 

Plinko.  I love plinko games and think it's a great addition but I don't know there is a really cheap way to make one.  I'm looking into it.  My husband is limited on tools, most of his are still stuck in Ohio, so if anyone is capable of making one inexpensively, we would welcome that!

 

Chuck a duck.  This amuses my feeble mind almost as much as the tip a troll.  Except I saw a suggestion to use rubber chickens and throw them!  Or you could use rubber duckies but I think rubber chicken throwing would amuse some of the older kids.  Click HERE for a picture sans the rubber chickens. 

 

Soccer kick.  decorate some 2 liter bottles in any fall like manner.  Kick a soccer ball and knock down as many as possible.  Just a different game because most involve some sort of throwing and you get to use your feet.  and an always positive factor is the limited cost if someone has a soccer ball to donate to our cause.

 

Car race.  Click HERE for a picture.  Make a board with room for several kids. Have a number of spaces and you have each car a different color and have a die with red on one side blue on another, etc.. Roll the die and whatever color lands up moves one space.  Continue til someone crosses the finish line first.

 

Potato sack races &/or Limbo.  Most of the games here are ones kids can play individually, and these are more group games.  And take longer to play.  Not sure if we want to include one or both for some variety or not?  Open to suggestions

 

Slam dunk basketball.  Make some kind of net and toss basketballs - probably dollar store small & soft balls that look like basketballs so the game doesn't have to be so sturdy.  May be nice to include some "boyish" games.  Girl Scouts think of everyone's needs!!  Shouldn't be too difficult to construct.  Click HERE for a picture of the game board.

 

Ladder toss.  Use a ladder and hang papers with different point values.  Toss a ball or bean bags and whichever rung it goes under you get that # of points.  Click HERE for a picture.  If someone donates a ladder for our use it would be an easily constructed game and we could put some fall items around it for decoration.

 

Frog jump.  Easy to make lilly pads out of green bowls and construction paper.  Toss toy frogs instead of bean bags or balls.  It's similar to some of the other games but most carnival games are pretty similar in construction.  I'd like to make a "flinger" for this where you can put the frog on a platform and hit it and the frogs go flying.  Then it would be a much different game than the others and I would probably move it up in the priority list.  Still working on finding an easily and cheaply constructed "flinger" pattern!  Click HERE for a picture.

 

Toilet paper toss.  This is another toss game but has a bit of ewww factor without being too much.  Make a toilet out of cardboard boxes but attach a real toilet seat. The pic I attach uses a toddler snap on seat but I've seen it done with a regular toilet seat.  There is a hole beneath the seat and you toss rolls of TP into the toilet.  I think it's cool and different but I imagine the tp rolls all coming undone and unraveling and us having to have $50 of toilet paper rolls on hand to make it through the night.  Maybe could use clear packing tape and tape around the outside several times to "seal" it.  Also as long as someone has an old toilet seat lying around this would be inexpensive but if we had to buy one new just for 1 game it may not be practical.  Click HERE to see a picture.  

 

Popcorn toss.  I had a picture but it went AWOL so I'll have to find it again.  Another toss game but it goes well with the circus-y / carnival-y theme we are going for so I like it, if it works.  You attach several popcorn boxes to the back of the table.  Make homemade popcorn balls but then apply MANY layers of varnish to super seal them into sturdy balls.  Then you toss them into the boxes to win points. Could be cute if the balls really hold up. 

 

The last optional idea but one I'd like to include if possible is to have a separate toddler area.  I'd put an age or height limit because the point is to have easier to win games so the kids that may not be successful at the larger games can still win prizes.  I found this link with cute Sesame Street games that I love.  Thought of having these, a duck pond, and then a few games similar to the ones going in the "big kid" area, scaled down - a ring toss, bean bag toss, etc...  some of the easy and cheap to make games that wouldn't be a huge issue to duplicate.  Click HERE for a link to the Sesame Street games that I think are precious.  It's from a birthday party so you'll have to scroll through decorations and such to find the games - they are toward the bottom of the page.