Circus Circus Birthday Party for Kids

My Girlfriend wanted to put her rambunctious little boy in the Center Ring for his 5th birthday circus party. Being a big fan of all this Center Ring, I had a blast creating this themed Circus Bear party just for her little cub! And he had a wild time!

The best thing is there is tons of great decorating items, favors, inflatables, decorations, party ware and gifts that fits the theme. We had a blast pulling it all together... and hope others can benefit from our finds. Thought you might want to enjoy it too?

Bring the Carnival to Town

Send out the invitations with matching stamps to summon your audience. Add on some thank you cards for good measure.

Circus Bear Birthday Invitations on Zazzle

and matching postage!

Circus Bear Stamps on Zazzle

and Thank you Cards!

Circus Bear Thank You Card on Zazzle

You know if it was up to your toddler, they'd invite every kid in the daycare... so where do you draw the line between Circus party and total circus?

Make the day festive with coordinated circus themed decorations to get the whole big top look. Come one, come all...come circus fans! Go crazy!

Welcome your guests into the Big Top with real circus recordings. Peanuts, popcorn, hawkers, elephants & clowns... you'll almost taste the peanuts!

Step right up for high-flying fun

Depending on the child's age, you can adapt these games to different skill levels.

-In the Ring- If you have a child's plastic pool, fill it with play sand and hide a bunch of plastic circus animals or toys and coins in it. Give each child a bag for "Rounding up their Act."

-Simon, the Clown, Says! --A circus version of Simon Says where, for added hilarity, the child who is Simon wears a clown wig or nose and gets the kids to do some really silly moves.

-The Fairway -There are lots of fun games you can adapt from the Carnival Fairway such as ring toss, bean bag toss, have a series of bowls of water with prizes in them (coins or for even more realism, goldfish!) and have the kids try to throw a ping pong ball in.

-Side Show Bubble Baby -- Fill a kiddie pool with bubble liquid, have the child stand in it while an adult lowers a hula hoop over them and into the liquid and back up making an enormous bubble with the kiddie inside. Ok, this is really messy and best down in grass to avoid slippery floors but... funny.

-Pass the Silliness -- A version of Hot Potato where the kids stand in a circle and pass around something silly as quickly as possible such as a slinky, a really large ball, some silly slime - anything difficult or funny until the music turns off. The one holding the snake when the music is off has been "bitten" and has to sit out. The last standing wins! Try some fun music like "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & The Gang, "Jungle Love" from Steve Miller band..

-Duckie Pull- Get a bunch of Rubber Duckies (the clown kind if possible - see the amazon link below). Write a number on the bottom of each one and float them in a tub or plastic pool. Hand each child a net to catch a duckie and win the prize that bears the same number.

-Wet & Wild Balloon Toss- Break the kids into teams of two. Each team gets a long balloon (the animal-making kind) filled with water. Position each team a set distance apart (say 10 feet) and have them throw it back and forth to some music. The winning team is the last one whose balloon hasn't popped.

Here are some of the props to help you set up your Fairway games.

Circus Birthday Bear Shirts on Zazzle

Circus Elephant Shirt by Zazzle

Circus Cake Decorations

If you're an acrobat with a cake mixer, you might want to make something show-stopping yourself?

If you're like me, you'll print out this photo from pinkcakebox.com and bring it to the best baker in town. Or, make some easy box cakes or cupcakes and decorate them with the circus theme cake decorations below...

Whatever swings your trapeze...

Come one, Come All!

There are so many obvious choices for your Circus Party fare; Hot dogs, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Rocket Pops... If you want to go healthy... well, perhaps have them bob for apples?

There are great props out there too for your event; rent or buy an old fashioned style popcorn cotton candy machine (see below) and then set up stands for each of the Fairway foods at your party. Go crazy!

Bring the Top Down with matching Thanks Cards

A great way to wind up the event and teach your child the importance of saying thank you and come again!

Circus Bear Thank You Cards on Zazzle

Circus Elephant Thank You Card