Fabulously Fun
School Carnival
Ideas
A FREE VolunteerSpot eBook
Ideas for how to
organize a carnival for
Schools, Churches and
Community groups
Suggestions for games,
activities, food, and
fundraisers
Tips for making the
carnival fun for all ages!
© 2011 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 2.5.
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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 Basics
More stuff means more money. Offer a variety of
booths and activities attractive for all ages. Once you
have a theme, let it guide your booth and
entertainment choices.
Good publicity and signage drives attendance. Start
spreading the word 4‐6 weeks before your event. At
the carnival, hang brightly colored signs identifying
booths and concessions stands. (Kids can help make
them.) Prominently recognize sponsors on banners
and signs.
Share the work and have more fun! Create
subcommitteeswith a chair responsible for
key teams. Use VolunteerSpot for simple
volunteer scheduling and parent signups! Ticket Sales Concessions Rentals Sponsorships Publicity Booths Raffle or Auction
Music and Entertainment 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
Example: 4th Grade Balloon Pop Booth Signup
Once volunteers have picked a shift,
VolunteerSpot sends automated
confirmations and reminders to help
everyone keep their commitments.
Save time, Plan your Carnival
Online with VolunteerSpot
Example: General Carnival Committee Signup
VolunteerSpot’s simple online signup tool
makes it easy to get the help you need.
Volunteers
signup
on
‐
the
‐
go,
from
their
smartphones!
Where should we hold our
carnival?
You
can
hold
your
carnival
anywhere
that
is
safe
and
has
enough
room.
Either
indoors
or
outdoors
Any
area
that's
safe
for
kids
In
a
space
that
is
big
enough
to
fit
all
your
booths
and
activities
A
backyard
A
big
garage
A
church
or
school
A
playground
Need
Permission?
Need
Permits?
Plan
ahead!!
Our school holds a carnival every year. The kids, teachers, and parents, all look forward to it. It’s such a fun way for our families to spend time together while
raising money. -- Parent, Campbell, CA
How can we turn our carnival
into a fundraiser?
• Sell Tickets! Offer tickets for sale in the weeks
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!
Don’t forget to give recognition and send a “Thank You” note to those businesses that helped!
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
Talent
Contest
Skateboard
Freestyle
Demo
Dance
Performances
Short
Play
Choral
Groups
Local
Bands
Art
Show
Ask teachers and staff to support the talent show by allowing students to practice during lunch
Activities for Little Kids
•
Learn
a
cheer
with
a
High
School
Cheer
leader
(in
uniform)
•
Diva
Center
– paint
nails,
glitter
hair,
face
painting,
etc.
•
Dress
‐
up
corner
•
Face
painting
•
Decorate
a
flower
pot
and
plant
a
seed
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just g
•
Football
throw
or
soccer
kick
(with
a
uniformed
HS
player
helping)
•
Basketball
toss
•
Tackle
the
quarterback
(with
a
uniformed
HS
player
as
the
tackle
target)
•
Water
balloon
toss
Activities for Older Kids
• American Idol –like Karaoke Stage (charge per song)
• Who Wants to be a Millionaire – likeTrivia Stage • Hot dog or pie eating contest
• 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.)
I love going to my church carnival. It reminds me of when I was a kid!
-- Grandparent Freehold, NJ
Activities for kids of all ages!
•
Silly
string
corral
(sell small cans of Silly String and rope off a fun zone)
•
Shaving
cream/bubble
corral
•
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
Please visit our blog for more volunteering suggestions and to share your carnival ideas and
stories.
Creative Carnival Game Ideas
Potty
Toss
Players try to toss toilet tissue rolls through toilet seats hung from the ceiling. Each seat is marked with a different point value.
Human
Slot
Machine
Setup three large refrigerator boxes in a row & cut out a large window in the front of each. When a player pulls an imaginary lever, a volunteer standing in each box tosses possible wax fruits (orange, banana, apple) up and down, finally picking one. Three in a row 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.
End
of
the
Rainbow
Draw a rainbow in chalk on an outdoor surface. At the end of rainbow place a miniature pot (or fake cauldron). Players try to flip pennies into the pot from a designated point. Prizes increase depending on the number of pennies the player tosses into the pot.
Quack
Shack
A costumed volunteer pretends to be a mad scientist and decorates the kids with fake scars and wounds.Fun for Rent!
Carnivals are a good
way to teach kids how to
work in teams, make
decisions, and get
organized!
Organizing a carnival is a
fun way to use math, art,
music, science, and
language arts skills.
With a few simple clicks,
VolunteerSpot can help
you organize your next
carnival – and it’s free!
Just log on to
www.Volunteerspot.com
to get started!
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. Bounce castle
Giant slide/ Water slide Photo booth
Pony rides Petting zoo Dunking Booth Video game trailer
Lazer tag Go carts
Test your strength – hammer game Sumo wrestling
Jousting
Transportable Carnival Rides
Spreading the Word
Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!
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.
Food and Drinks
Carnival Ideas/ VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!
•
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
Many local restaurants and businesses will donate food in exchange for sponsored publicity.
Tips for a Successful Carnival
• Print mapsof your carnival space.
• Share the fun! Give each class or group the responsibility of planning and staffing a
specific booth. That team should consider decorations, setup, cleanup, and prizes.
• Have plenty of lined garbage cans and a trash team to keep them ready. Set the trash cans back away from your serving area to avoid flies or odors.
• Price your ticketsso a typical family can have a lot of fun and enjoy multiple activities. Give discounts to people who buy 20 tickets at once, or pre‐order. Consider selling fixed‐ priced wristbandsif your carnival is more of a community‐builder than a fundraiser.
Wristbands are simpler than tickets, but typically not as profitable for the carnival.
• Offer both substantial food and treats. Hungry carnival goers appreciate something filling like pizza or hot dogs in addition to candy and popcorn.
• Give out prizesright away at each game booth, or kids can collect ‘point tickets’ redeemable at a prize booth.
• Ask yourself, “Can everybody play this
game?” You may have people come to your carnival who use crutches , wheelchairs. or have less strength in their arms and hands. • Set aside a safe, shaded area for babies and
toddlers to crawl and play without having big kids around. A few gym mats, some baby toys, a fence of some kind, and chairs for parents could be all that you need.
• Cash Sense. Keep cash‐handling locations to a minimum and staffed with two or more
people. Have locked cash boxes on hand, and a process for moving and storing large sums of money. Many banks and supermarkets
provide an auction and carnival service and can help with your cash process.
Helping
parents,
teachers
and
volunteer
leaders
coordinate
activities
and
events
simply
and
easily
all
year
round!
•
Soccer
Snacks
•
Scout
Campouts
•
Walk
‐
a
‐
Thons
&
Fun
Runs
•
Swim
Meets
•
Sports
Tournaments
•
Vacation
Bible
School
•
Girl
Scout
Cookie
Booths
•
Neighborhood
Clean
ups
•
Coat,
food
and
toy
drives
and
more
.
.
.
Simplify
ALL
Parent
Volunteering
Click
here
for
Sample
Class
Parent
Letters
:
www.budurl.com/BTSSampleLetters
See
our
other
free
eBooks
with
ideas
and
best
‐
practices
for:
•
School
Carnivals
•
Teacher
Gifts
•
Family
‐
Friendly
Volunteering
•
Fundraising
with
Kids
•
Bake
Sales
•
Talent
Shows
and
more
.
.
.
www.VolunteerSpot.com/ebooks
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You!
Thank you for downloading this
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eBook from
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.
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© 2011 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/
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