Ideas for Circus Games

Tossing Games

• Make several tossing games for your guests to play. Place a picture of a circus animal on the bottom of a cardboard box and cut a hole in its mouth. Lean the box up against a wall or a pole. Have guests try to toss beanbags into the mouth of the circus animal. For another tossing game, hang Hula Hoops from a clothesline or tree and have guests try to toss footballs through the hoops. Award prizes for a certain number of goals made. You can also use baseballs or soccer balls to toss through the hoops.

Balloon Games

• For smaller children, place prizes such as stickers inside very small inflated balloons. Allow each child, under close supervision, to select one balloon to sit on and pop. He can keep the prize that is inside the balloon. Make sure the prize is tiny and soft to prevent injury. Try a more difficult balloon game for adults by placing several inflated balloons on the ground. Two adults can compete at a time to try to pick up as many balloons as they can. The player holding the most balloons at the end of one minute wins the game. If a balloon pops, it does not count.

Circle Games

• Create a classic game of "prize walk" by printing several pictures of circus animals and writing a number on each picture. Write the same numbers on slips of paper and put the slips in a cup. Place all the pictures on the ground in a circle. Have the guests walk on the pictures in a circle while music plays. When the music stops, draw a number. The player standing on the picture with that number wins a prize. For added fun, the player who wins the prize must make the sound of the circus animal before claiming her prize.

Luck Games

• Younger children will enjoy a game of lucky ducks. Mark a heart or star on the bottom of four out of every nine rubber ducks. Place the rubber ducks in a small plastic swimming pool. Each player must select one duck. If the duck is marked with a heart or a star, he wins a prize. For another lucky game, try the key game. Place a master lock on a table and fill a bowl with random keys that fit the master lock but will not open it. Put the master key in the bowl of keys too. If you have several keys, add two or three "real" keys for the players to have better odds at winning. The player must draw two keys from the bowl and try the master lock with the keys. If it opens, the player wins a prize.