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Ideas for Carnival Games for a Church Social

Carnival games can add excitement to any church social. These engaging activities keep young parishioners excited and allow them the opportunity to test their skills. Creating carnival games is a simple way to jazz up your event and ensures that all participants have a festive and enjoyable time at the planned gathering.

Pin the Nose on the Clown
- Translate the standard party classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey into carnival fare by crafting a Pin the Nose on the Clown game. To create this game, draw a large clown head on a sheet of poster board. Cut a red clown nose out of cardstock. Allow carnival goers to take turns trying to place the nose on the clown's face while blindfolded. Either reward all players for their attempt, or reward individuals who get within a certain vicinity of the correct nose placement.
Candy Jar
- Keep carnival goers guessing with a candy jar. This easy to implement game is a popular carnival favorite. To create this game, purchase or borrow a large jar and buy enough candies to fill the container. Before placing the candies into the container, count them and record the number that it takes to fill the jar on a slip of paper. Place the filled candy jar in a prominent location at your fair and encourage carnival goers to submit a guess as to how many candies rest in the jar. At the conclusion of the fair, announce the pre-counted number, and present the closest guesser with a prize.
Bucket Free Throw
- Basketball lovers will eagerly take aim at a free throw bucket. To create your free throw game, locate a large bucket and borrow or buy a basketball. Place the bucket on an elevated surface behind a table. Allow carnival goers to attempt to toss the ball into the bucket to earn themselves a prize. To add more excitement to the game, create several lines at increasingly further distances from the basket, and allow throwers to select the line that they feel best represents their skill level. Give shot makers better prizes if they make a shot from one of the more distant lines.
Putt Putt
- Create a putting green for your church carnival goers with some simple supplies. To craft your green, purchase green indoor-outdoor carpet, commonly available at fabric stores. Cut rectangles of this carpet to use for your putting green surfaces. Next place plastic cups on their sides on each putting green. Using hot glue, glue each cup in place. Lay out your hand crafted putt putt holes and allow carnival goers to try their best to get an impressive hole-in-one.

Party Games