Top DIY Carnival Games for a Perfect Carnival Party

Are you looking for interesting summer party ideas? If yes, then a carnival party is the perfect pick for you. With the right theme and DIY carnival games you can bring the circular elements and country fair to your backyard and create your own carnival for a perfect get together. 

It is one of the best summer party ideas including carnival-friendly foods, games, and colorful decorations. Games are the soul of a carnival party. Here is an article with some best carnival games to make your party more fun and keep the guests entertained.

Exciting DIY Carnival Games

Are you bored of the conventional party themes? Then you should try these awesome do-it-yourself carnival games for a weekend get-together. 

Pick a duck

Quack Quack! Oh no! You don’t have to make duck noises here. This homemade carnival game basically requires a medium-sized plastic container, some rubber duck toys, and few markers. Don’t forget to include markers of different colors. Now, just make a dot at the bottom of some ducks with a unique colored marker. When the marked symbol is completely dry, immerse the rubber ducks in a plastic pool full of water. 

Finally, ask the participants to pick a duck and turn it upside down. If there’s a dot on the duck, that participant will win a prize. However, if there’s no dot, then, well, the player will get just a duck; that is nothing. You can make the game interesting by linking the color with different prizes. For instance, whosoever picks the one with the red dot gets a candy, while the one with a green dot ends up with a giant teddy bear. 

Water Coin Drop

Here’s an exciting carnival game idea! Well, just find a transparent container, a glass, few coins, and some water. Now fill the glass with some water and a few coins in it and place it in the small aquarium. The next step would be to fill the aquarium with water and ask the participants to throw the coin in the glass one by one. 

Oh boy! Yeah, it is an awesome carnival game for kids as well as adults. Those who succeed in aiming inside the glass are eligible for the next round. However, those who couldn’t will be eliminated. To avoid any bias, make sure you give the same type of coin to every participant. Also, keep enough coins so that they last till the end of the carnival game.

Pro Tip: To hike up the difficulty levels of a game, you can use shorter glass, whereas you can use the larger glass if you want to make the game easier.

Balloon Pop

Do you love dart games? Then you will love this DIY carnival game for kids. To set up the game, you will need some balloons, pins, darts, and a few index cards. First, write different prize values on index cards and pin them such that their prize written side faces the wall. Now inflate the balloons and attach them with the index cards using a base between the two. 

To make the game interesting, you can arrange the balloons in the form of a specific cartoon or something which depicts an image. Now ask the kids to throw darts at the balloons and find their prize behind the index cards. Ooh, this is super fun! Surely, kids will find this homemade carnival games amusing. On the occasion of festivals for kids’ birthday parties, Balloon Pop is a great carnival game idea to try.

Find The Ball

The classic DIY carnival game for kids has not lost its charm yet! From adults to children, everyone lives this game. All you need is just three cups, one or two balls, and cardboard. Now, if your audience is a group of small children, you will have to use cardboard. 

Just place two balls in two of the three cups with cardboard blocking the vision. Nextly, remove the cardboard and ask the kids to guess the cup under which the ball is placed. You can spice up the game by only putting one ball under one of the three cups and ask the participant to guess for the ball. If the kid taps on the right cup, he will win a prize, otherwise just no prize.

Moreover, you can bring a new twist to this homemade carnival game by switching the cups. Firstly, show the ball to the player, place it under a cup. Now, start switching the cups as quickly as you can. While you switch the cups, the player will follow the original one and tap it at the end to guess it for the one with the ball. Lift the cup, and if the ball is there, the player is a winner. 

Lollipop Pull

For this game, you just need some lollipops, colorful markers, and hay. Oh yes! Your kids will definitely enjoy this one of the best DIY carnival games. Put all the lollipops with some of them marked end side down in the hay. Kids will come one by one and pick a lollipop. Those who get the one with a colored mark will win a prize according to the color tier. 

To make the game easier, color the bottoms of every lollipop to reward every participant with a prize. Yippy! You can easily set up these half-price carnival games at home and have a great weekend party for the kids.

Moreover, you can make this DIY carnival games for kids more entertaining by adding some fake lollipops into the hay. Oh boy, funny and deceptive at the same time. Lollipop Pull is a great carnival game ideas for your parties. 

Polka Dot Game

To test your aiming skills, the Polka Dot Game is the perfect choice for setting carnival games at home. All you need is a colored sheet and a dark-colored marker, whichever you like the most. Now draw some polka dots on the sheet and place them over a large table. Then, give coins of exactly the same shape and size to every kid so that game is not biased. That being done, ask the kids to throw the coin on the spot of polka dot. Those who get the coins completely on the dot are the winners.

Moreover, you can also play the game using the twister board. Place candies on the dots of the Twister board. Now ask the participants to throw coins such that it slides the candy off the circle and takes the candy’s position. The test of precision in throwing coins at the exact spot is what makes it the best DIY carnival games for kids.

Apple Bobbing

Well, when it comes to the best carnival games at home, Apple Bobbing is the most amusing game ever. Just find a large plastic container and fill three-fourth of it with water. Now, immerse a few apples in the container and ask the participants to pick the apple. Oh no, not from hands. You should tell them to pick the apples using their mouth. 

There’s a next step associated with the game of Apple Bobbing. That is, participants have to put the apples in a bucket placed 2 meters from the container. Yeah, I know this is exciting and will surely strengthen your mouth muscles. Moreover, you can make the DIY carnival games more interesting by setting the time limit. Therefore, whoever collects more apples in the basket, is the winner.

Final Words

If you like to host parties for friends and family, it might be challenging to find unique ideas and keep the guests entertained. A carnival party is the best choice for this summer. While hosting carnival games for kids, always keep in mind to reward kids for their victories. 

That is so because not only this kind of external motivation brings about the best of their skills but also develops mutual coordination among them. Therefore, try these new ideas for DIY carnival games for kids, and feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below.