Award prizes to winners.
When planning a carnival for a birthday party or for an exciting event, be sure to plan several games to play. Some carnival games are easy to create and exciting to play. Create several games for everyone to play and allow players to win prizes for doing well. Awarding prizes to game winners such as plush toys, real goldfish and candy will keep players interested in playing more games.
Balloon Pop
Blow up several balloons and stick a prize slip in each balloon. Write "you won a plush animal," "you won a piece of candy" or "sorry, no winner this time" on the slips of paper. Place the balloons in a large bucket. Let each player select a balloon from the bucket. The player receives what the prize slip says.
Ping-Pong Game
Place several glass jars side by side on a table and leave spaces between the jars. Give each player five ping-pong balls and let them try to toss the balls into the glass jars. If a player gets a ball in the jar, he wins a prize. You can also let the players try to bounce the ping-pong balls into the jars.
Ball Toss
Attach six buckets to a board, spacing the buckets about 6 inches apart. Label the last three buckets "S", "M" and "L." Each player starts with three ping-pong balls and must stand behind a line, which is about 3 feet from the first bucket. The player tosses the ping-pong ball into the first bucket; if he makes it, he gets the ball back. He then tries to toss the ball into the next bucket. If a player misses the bucket, he does not get that ball back. A player must get the ball in the first three buckets before trying to shoot for the "S", "M" and "L" buckets. The "S", "M" and "L" buckets represent small, medium and large prizes. For instance, if a player lands her ping-pong ball in the "M" bucket, she wins a medium prize.
Ring the Bottle
Cover a table with empty 2-liter bottles, leaving small spaces between the bottles. Fill the bottles halfway with water to keep them sturdy. Purchase plastic or wood craft rings from a local craft store that are slightly larger than the necks of the bottles. Give each player a bucket of rings to toss on the bottles. If a player rings a bottle, he wins a prize.
Penny Toss
Paint different colored polka dots on a bed sheet and spread the sheet out on the ground. Assign a prize for each color dot, such as a small prize for red, a medium prize for yellow and a large prize for blue. Mark a line about 10 feet from the sheet and give each player five pennies. Players must toss the pennies onto the sheet and try to land on a dot. If the player lands on a colored dot, she wins a prize.
Tags: bucket player, each player, ping-pong balls, wins prize, about feet, about feet from, ball back