Host Your Own DIY Carnival

Over the past year, we’ve learned that our homes can be transformed into anything: offices, classrooms, gyms, movie theaters, and even haunted houses. If you can imagine it, your home can become it. And now that summer vacation is in full swing, there’s no time like the present to keep the troops entertained by hosting a backyard DIY carnival. Step right up!

Tickets, Please

At carnivals, tickets are the name of the game. Have two colored rolls of tickets at your DIY carnival:

• Pink: These tickets can be “paid” to play games. Give these out to guests at the beginning of the day.
• Green: These tickets are rewards for playing games. Guests can exchange them for goodies at the prize booth.

Games

Rubber Ducky Pond: Every carnival needs a rubber ducky game. This homemade version will be a hit among your younger attendees. Buy a bulk assortment of rubber ducks with matching outfits or colors. Fill a plastic kiddie pool or large metal bucket with water and set the ducks afloat. See how many matching ducks your kids can find in 30 seconds!

Soda Bottle Ring Toss: Set up glass soda bottles on the lawn and challenge your kids to try ringing them from a distance. Use plastic diving rings or wide-mouth Mason jar rings so the bottles won’t topple when hit. If they can get a ring around a bottle, they can keep the soda.

Balloon Darts: If you’re a regular Annie Oakley, try your hand (and eye) at a game of balloon darts. Blow up enough small balloons to cover the surface of a large corkboard or recycled wood panel. Pin the tails of the balloon to the surface and hang the board on a fence or other secure surface. For the small price of one ticket, kids can toss a dart at the balloons. Pop one and win a prize!

Let’s Go Fishing: This carnival standby can be recreated at home using plastic fish. Set up 15 to 20 clear plastic cups on a table and fill them with water. Submerge a toy fish in five of them. The challenge is to toss a ping pong ball into a cup with a fish in it. Bonus points if they can bounce it in!

Cornhole Tournament: Stir up a little friendly competition between guests with this Texas-classic backyard game. Arrange teams of two at the beginning of the day and have matches going on throughout the carnival. Whether you set up the tournament to be round robin or knock out, the last team standing wins the grand prize. Follow our guide to making your own cornhole set.

Activities

Face Painting: The face painting booth is the first stop for many carnival goers. Access your artistic side by purchasing washable, nontoxic face paint and giving happy faces their own set of tiger stripes or butterfly wings.

Watermelon-Eating Contest: Give each participant a large watermelon slice or wedge. When the referee says “Go!”, everyone starts eating with their hands held behind their backs. (It’s messy, but that’s half the fun.) Whoever eats down to the rind first wins!

Guessing Booth: We’re not sure if this one is more skill or chance, but kids and adults alike will love this game. Fill a Mason jar with jelly beans, circus peanuts, or pixie sticks. Everyone gets one guess as to how many are inside. When you reveal the answer at the end of the day, the person who guessed closest wins the jar!

Fortune-Teller: Bring back this carnival classic and deck out a spooky booth with a crystal ball, a palm-reading guide, a tarot deck, and a handmade origami fortune teller. Kids will line up to hear you read about their future. Share the magic by showing them how to fold their own.

Outdoor Movie Theater: As the sky grows darker, the carnival lights glow brighter. Turn on a movie projector to cast an evening film on the side of the house. Finish off your concessions to a carnival classic like “Dumbo,” “Water for Elephants,” or “The Greatest Showman.”

Polaroid Photo Booth: Capture the memories of the day by setting up a photo booth with zany costumes and photo props. Use a Polaroid camera so everyone can keep their photos as souvenirs.

Prize Booth

The fun goes beyond the games at carnivals. Cash in tickets for a prize!

• Stuffed Animals: Giant stuffed teddy bears, monkeys, and unicorns are everyone’s favorite rewards. They’re perfect as grand prizes.
• Bubble Bottle Monsters: Glue googly eyes on bottles of bubble solution and let the bubble battles begin.
• Mini Prizes: They may be small, but cheap prizes like rubber erasers, bouncy balls, and finger traps are fun consolation prizes.

Concession Stand

A summer DIY carnival isn’t complete without the classic concessions.

• Pick ’n’ Mix Candy: Offer an assortment of wrapped candies, lollipops, and taffies and let kids assemble their own goody bag.
• Popcorn: A carnival must-have, popcorn is the perfect snack for kids between games. Don’t forget the butter!
• Snow Cones: All it takes is a scoop of shaved ice, a paper cone, and a drizzle of your favorite flavors.
• Cotton Candy: You might need to rent a cotton candy machine, but nothing says “carnival” like these sticky-sweet sugar clouds.
• Soft Pretzels: Kids will love decorating warm soft pretzels with salt, cinnamon sugar, and sprinkles galore.
• Soda Bar: An assortment of sodas is essential refreshment for a hot summer day!

If you’re too full of concessions, try challenging guests to a watermelon-carving contest.