Circus Games for Children

Toss Games

• Print or draw a large picture of a tiger and tape it on the bottom of a cardboard box. Cut a hole in the tiger's mouth, large enough to fit beanbags, and lean the box against a wall or fence. Mark a line and have the children toss beanbags into the tiger's mouth. A variation is to make an elephant toss game. Use a picture of an elephant, and toss small bags of peanuts into the elephant's mouth.

Circus Animal Guessing Game

• Cut pictures of circus animals from a magazine, or print pictures of different circus animals, such as an elephant, tiger, monkey or horse. Tape a picture of a circus animal on the back of each player. The player is not told which animal he represents --- but has to ask questions to others to get clues. Each participant must go around the room asking others "yes or no" questions about his circus animal. For example, a player can ask questions such as, "Am I a large animal?" or "Do I have four legs?" The player who guesses his animal first wins the game.

Circus Animal Charades

• Use the same pictures from the Guessing Game to play a game of charades. Have one child at a time draw an animal picture from a bowl. He must act out the animal to the rest of the children. The child who guesses the animal first wins a small prize and gets to go next.

Egg Relay Race

• Create a relay race by dividing the children into two even teams. Give each child a plastic spoon. Mark a starting line and run-to line 15 feet away. Hand the first player in line a raw egg. When you say "Go," the first player in line must place the egg in his spoon and race to the run-to line and back; then the next player begins. If a player drops his egg, give him a new one and he must start over. The first team to finish the race wins the game. To reduce mess, use hard-boiled eggs. For a less messy egg game, tape an egg carton to a table. Have the children try to toss ping-pong balls into the egg carton. Award a prize to each player who lands these "eggs" into the carton.

Tightrope Games

• For young children, simply lay a rope on the ground for them to walk across. For an older group, lay a couple of wooden boards on top of one another for the children to walk across. Give the children a chance to walk across the "tightrope" normally and then assign them harder tricks, such as walking backwards, hopping on one foot or walking blindfolded. Award a prize to each child who makes it across the "tightrope."