Fabulously Fun Inside this eBook:
School Carnival Ideas for how to
organize a carnival for
Schools, Churches and
Ideas Community groups
Suggestions for games,
activities, food, and
fundraisers
Tips for making the
carnival fun for all ages!
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Carnivals are FUN!
Many schools and congregations hold
carnivals every year because they are
fun, involve the community, and can
be a profitable fundraiser.
We’ve collected ideas from carnival
veterans to help you plan your event.
Whether it is your first or 50th, we
hope you will find some ideas to make
your carnival a fresh success!
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Carnival Basics
Share the work and have more fun! Create More stuff means more money. Offer a variety of
subcommittees with a chair responsible for booths and activities attractive for all ages. Once you
key teams. Use VolunteerSpot for simple have a theme, let it guide your booth and
volunteer scheduling and parent signups! entertainment choices.
Ticket Sales
Concessions
Good publicity and signage drives attendance. Start
Rentals
spreading the word 4‐6 weeks before your event. At
Sponsorships
the carnival, hang brightly colored signs identifying
Publicity
Booths booths and concessions stands. (Kids can help make
Raffle or Auction them.) Prominently recognize sponsors on banners
Music and Entertainment and signs.
Setup/Cleanup
Choose a theme to tie the carnival together.
Your carnival can be planned around any
theme, for example:
The Circus
Beach Party
Future/Outer Space
Hollywood
Mardi Gras
Sports
Fiesta
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Save time, Plan your Carnival
Online with VolunteerSpot
Example: 4th Grade Balloon Pop Booth Signup
Example: General Carnival Committee Signup
VolunteerSpot’s simple online signup tool Once volunteers have picked a shift,
makes it easy to get the help you need. VolunteerSpot sends automated
confirmations and reminders to help
everyone keep their commitments.

Where should we hold our
carnival?
You can hold your carnival anywhere Our school holds a carnival every year.
that is safe and has enough room. The kids, teachers, and parents, all look
forward to it. It’s such a fun way for our
Either indoors or outdoors families to spend time together while
raising money.
Any area that's safe for kids
In a space that is big enough to -- Parent, Campbell, CA
fit all your booths and activities
A backyard
A big garage
A church or school
A playground
Need Permission? Need Permits?
Plan ahead!!
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

How can we turn our carnival
into a fundraiser?
Don’t forget to give recognition
and send a “Thank You” note to
• Sell Tickets! Offer tickets for sale in the weeks
those businesses that helped!
before the carnival at a discount. This builds interest
in your event while earning a base of funds. Avoid
cash handling at all the activity booths and
concessions stands by having a few designated ticket
booths. Set a ticket price (# tickets) for each booth
or food item.
• Sell student designed t‐shirts, community
recipe/cookbooks, arts and crafts, etc.
• Keep costs down. Ask local businesses to donate
food or supplies. Purchase inexpensive prizes for the
games at party stores.
• Add a bake sale or cake decorating contest.
• Hold a silent auction or raffle. Include themed
baskets where each class parent donates one small
item for a collectively generous basket. Possible
themes:
Family Games, Backyard Fun, Cook’s Delight,
Gardener Goodies, Puzzles, Arts & Crafts,
Pampering, Slumber Party, Water Fun
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

What else can we do
besides games?
A carnival isn't complete without at
least a few good shows. Feature
your community talent and charge
tickets for admission. Some ideas:
Magic Show
Puppet Show
Ask teachers and staff to support
Talent Contest the talent show by allowing
students to practice during lunch
Skateboard Freestyle Demo
period or after school.
Dance Performances
Short Play
Choral Groups
Local Bands
Art Show
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Activities for Little Kids
Learn a cheer with a High School Cheer Football throw or soccer kick (with a
• •
leader (in uniform) uniformed HS player helping)
Diva Center – paint nails, glitter hair, Basketball toss
• •
face painting, etc. Tackle the quarterback (with a uniformed HS
•
Dress‐up corner player as the tackle target)
•
Face painting Water balloon toss
• •
Decorate a flower pot and plant a seed Knock stacked cans with a ball
• •
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just g

Activities for Older Kids
American Idol –like Karaoke Stage (charge per song)
•
I love going to my church carnival. It
Who Wants to be a Millionaire – like Trivia Stage
•
reminds me of when I was a kid!
Hot dog or pie eating contest
• -- Grandparent
Freehold, NJ
Chalk mural, Group Graffiti Canvas or Trash Sculpture – group art
•
project where everyone contributes
Temporary hair coloring, hair braiding and tattoos
•
Dunk Tank
•
Balloon dartboard
•
Corn Hole Toss
•
Cake Walk
•
Basketball Shoot (Miniature for indoors)
•
Silly Photos (Create painted character panels with head slots cut
•
out. Have a digital camera and printer on site.)
Guess how many pennies in the jar – closest number wins the jar!
•
Chicken Drop (Create a numbered checkerboard in a 5’ x 5’ space.
•
Sell tickets for each number. The number the bird ‘drops’ on wins.)
Cow Drop (same as chicken drop, but section the football field into
•
a numbered checkerboard.)
Carnival Ideas/ VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Activities for kids of all ages!
Silly string corral (sell small cans of Silly String and rope off a fun zone)
• Please visit our blog for more
volunteering suggestions and
Shaving cream/bubble corral
• to share your carnival ideas and
stories.
Cascarones (confetti eggs, kids smash them on each other)
•
Box maze (made out of refrigerator boxes from a retail warehouse and
•
lots of tape)
Hula Hoop/Jump Rope contests
•
Pick‐a‐pop
•
Fishing booth
•
Duck race
•
Ring toss
•
Dime toss
•
Water gun targets
•
Balloon Pop Relay
•
Fun fortune‐teller or palm reader
•
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Creative Carnival Game Ideas
Potty Toss End of the Rainbow
Players try to toss toilet tissue rolls through Draw a rainbow in chalk on an outdoor
toilet seats hung from the ceiling. Each seat is surface. At the end of rainbow place a
marked with a different point value. miniature pot (or fake cauldron). Players try
to flip pennies into the pot from a designated
Human Slot Machine
point. Prizes increase depending on the
Setup three large refrigerator boxes in a row &
number of pennies the player tosses into the
cut out a large window in the front of each.
pot.
When a player pulls an imaginary lever, a
Quack Shack
volunteer standing in each box tosses possible
A costumed volunteer pretends to be a mad
wax fruits (orange, banana, apple) up and
scientist and decorates the kids with fake
down, finally picking one. Three in a row
scars and wounds.
wins!
Dinosaur Dig/ Treasure Dig
Players dig in shallow boxes of sand for plastic
“dino” eggs. Each egg contains a slip of paper
with a number. Players can redeem the prize
assigned to the number found on their paper.
Pirate variation: hide chocolate gold coins &
trinkets and players dig for buried treasure.
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Fun for Rent!
Carnivals are a good
way to teach kids how to
work in teams, make
decisions, and get
organized! You don’t need a big budget to have a successful
carnival; however, adding a few well‐selected rentals can
increase ticket sales and expand the fun.
Organizing a carnival is a
fun way to use math, art, Bounce castle
music, science, and Giant slide/ Water slide
language arts skills. Photo booth
Pony rides
With a few simple clicks, Petting zoo
VolunteerSpot can help Dunking Booth
you organize your next Video game trailer
carnival – and it’s free! Lazer tag
Go carts
Just log on to Test your strength – hammer game
www.Volunteerspot.com Sumo wrestling
to get started! Jousting
Transportable Carnival Rides
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Spreading the Word
Having a big turnout is key for your Carnival
fun‐raiser! Getting people to show up takes
planning and effort.
Fliers. Hand out information about your carnival
at school or congregation and to everyone you
know. Include the date, time, location, what
kinds of things you’ll have at your carnival, and a
list of sponsors.
Newspapers, newsletters and local websites.
Ask your local newspaper, congregation, or
school newsletter to run a free announcement
about your carnival.
Posters and Banners. Make colorful signs that
tell people about your carnival. Tell the date,
time, location and all the things you’ll have:
“Games! Prizes! Food! Entertainment! Silent
Auction! etc.” The more posters you put up on
telephone poles, at school and at nearby
businesses, the better.
Word of mouth. Tell all your friends and their
parents.
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Food and Drinks
Many local restaurants and businesses will donate food in
exchange for sponsored publicity.
Popcorn
•
Snow‐cones / snow balls
•
Hot dogs/hamburgers
•
Cotton candy
•
Soft Drinks & Italian Soda
•
Peanuts
•
Cookies
•
Candies
•
Pretzels
•
Churros or Doughnuts
•
Trail mix
•
Fruit
•
Caramel or candy apples
•
Ice cream/ Italian Ice
•
Carnival Ideas/ VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Tips for a Successful Carnival
• Give out prizes right away at each game
Print maps of your carnival space.
•
booth, or kids can collect ‘point tickets’
Share the fun! Give each class or group the
• redeemable at a prize booth.
responsibility of planning and staffing a
• Ask yourself, “Can everybody play this
specific booth. That team should consider
decorations, setup, cleanup, and prizes. game?” You may have people come to your
carnival who use crutches , wheelchairs. or
Have plenty of lined garbage cans and a trash
•
have less strength in their arms and hands.
team to keep them ready. Set the trash cans
back away from your serving area to avoid • Set aside a safe, shaded area for babies and
flies or odors.
toddlers to crawl and play without having big
kids around. A few gym mats, some baby toys,
Price your tickets so a typical family can have
•
a lot of fun and enjoy multiple activities. Give a fence of some kind, and chairs for parents
discounts to people who buy 20 tickets at could be all that you need.
once, or pre‐order. Consider selling fixed‐
• Cash Sense. Keep cash‐handling locations to a
priced wristbands if your carnival is more of a
community‐builder than a fundraiser. minimum and staffed with two or more
Wristbands are simpler than tickets, but people. Have locked cash boxes on hand, and
typically not as profitable for the carnival. a process for moving and storing large sums of
money. Many banks and supermarkets
Offer both substantial food and treats.
•
provide an auction and carnival service and
Hungry carnival goers appreciate something
can help with your cash process.
filling like pizza or hot dogs in addition to
candy and popcorn.
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

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© 2008 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 2.5.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/