Putting on a Circus Themed Birthday Party

So your child wants a circus themed birthday party? Or maybe that's the theme you picked for your daughter or son. For whatever reason you are reading this, be assured that you are in the right place. This article contains ideas for hosting the perfect circus birthday party.

Invitations

Follow these steps to hand out birthday party invitations that you can be proud of:

1. Buy a pre-made birthday announcement card from your local card shop (many grocery stores have a card section as well) or print one off of your computer. The invitation should include answers to the questions Who? What? Where? and Why?.

2. Now buy a roll of tickets that say something like "Admit One" on them. Tape one of these tickets to the inside of the birthday announcement card.

3. When a child comes to the birthday location on the day of the party, ask for his or her ticket, just like what is done at a real circus.

Entertainment

Party Games:

Try changing popular birthday games to fit the circus theme. Pin the tail on the donkey could become pin the nose on the clown, musical chairs could be played to circus music, and so on and so forth. Alternatively you could set up carnival booths (made from cardboard boxes or using your own idea), each booth having a different carnival game, which kids could play to win prizes. Every child could win a prize, and that would be their guest favor.

Have the kids at the birthday party do "circus stunts", which could be

anything from diving through hula hoops to attempting to juggle. Two other ideas for this are handstands and walking on a rope that is laid across the ground (tightrope walking).

Other Entertainment:

* Rent a circus movie or DVD which you can play at the party. A recent circus video which has recently come out to DVD is Cirque du Soliel's Solstrom.

* Hire a professional clown, keeping in mind that many small children are afraid of clowns. Can't find a clown? Check out www.ClownsForHire.com, a large database of professional clowns that you can search by location. * Have everyone come dressed as clowns or circus animals. You could give a prize for the wackiest costume.

* Buy some long and skinny balloons for balloon twisting and try to teach party guests how to make balloon animals (you get easily get some books on this subject).

Decoration

Decoration sets the whole mood for the birthday party. So, when you're decorating your house for you child's birthday party, keep in mind that it's the circus you are trying to imitate. This means that there should be balloons, banners, and streamers everywhere. You could use masking tape or rope to make a circus ring on your floor, and if you are really ambitious, you could even set up a huge circus tent (made from tarps) outside or even in your house. Lastly, don't forget to play some circus music.

Food * Serve common

carnival foods like corn dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy.

* As a healthier choice, let guests snack on "circus monkey treats", or in other words, sliced bananas.

* You could bake a cake or buy one. If you choose to bake your own, a good recipe for the occasion can be found at http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/CakesPiesCheesecakes/CakesOthe r/BirthdayClownCake.html

* If not, it will not be very difficult for you to find a cake with a clown on it.

Guest Favors/Goodie Bags

Goodie bags are a great way of thanking guests for coming to celebrating your daughter or son's birthday. In my opinion, no party is complete without them. If you are planning on using the prizes from your carnival games, you should give away things that you would win at a carnival. These are things like stuffed animals, blow up hammers, and other dollar store type items. However, if you're not going to have carnival games at your party, put whatever you want in the goodie bags; it really doesn't matter. Just don't forget to give each child a balloon on his or her way out.

Whether you use just one of these ideas or all of them, I hope this article gave you some ideas to make your child's birthday the best birthday ever. Good luck!

About the author:

Quinn Spicker is the webmaster of www.Circus-Street.com, an online community for circus artists and their fans...

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