Hobbies And Interests
Pop the Balloon
Spend a little of time preparing before the carnival. First, write on small slips of paper the names of prizes you have to offer, such as "stuffed animal" or "candy." If you like, you can write on the papers, "sorry, try again," especially if you do not have many prizes to give away. Fit each slip of paper inside a balloon and blow the balloon up. Attach the balloons to a large piece of cardboard or poster board, with each balloon separated by a few inches. When a player comes to your booth, hand him a dart. From a starting point, the player aims for one balloon and throws the dart at it. If the dart hits the balloon and pops it, read the paper that was inside the balloon and give the player the prize listed on the paper.
Bucket Toss
Grab five buckets and five differently sized balls. Line the buckets up near your booth in a straight, single-file line with roughly 6 inches between every bucket. Hand your player the biggest ball and tell her to throw it into the closest bucket. If she completes this, give her the second-largest ball and tell her to throw it into the second-closest ball. Keep handing her smaller balls, prompting her to throw them into farther buckets every time she scores a basket. If she can throw the smallest ball into the farthest bucket, she wins the game--and a prize.
Mystery Box
Find a cardboard box and decorate it with bright colors, painting question marks on it. Cut out one whole side of the box. On the opposite side, cut out two holes--large enough to fit two arm inside. Attach two long shirt sleeves to the cut holes inside the box. To play the game, gather a variety of objects, anything from a remote control to a garden shovel works. The player slides his arms through the shirt sleeves and the carnival barker puts one object at a time in the player's hands. If the player correctly guesses all of the objects, he gets a prize.