20 Fun Carnival Games And Activities For Kids (2023)

Kids love going to carnivals, playing games, and participating in activities to win fancy and exciting prizes. In this post, we give you some mind-blowing ideas for carnival activities for kids. These incredibly interesting activities will add a little more fun to the carnival and bring out the most creative and excited version of your child. Read through his post to learn more about the preparation material required to ace this carnival for your kids.

1. Duck Pond:

You Will Need:

• A large tub or kid’s pool
• Sharpie
• Small, rubber ducks
• Water
• Numbered buckets
• Small prizes like small toys or stickers

How To:

1. Fill the tub with water.

2. Write the number 1 to 4 under the ducks. The numbers depend on how many prize buckets you have.

3. Now make each prize bucket with a number conforming to the one on the duck.

4. Now let each kid take turns at picking a duck and selecting a prize from the prize bucket.

5. Return the duck to the tub for the next child’s turn.

2. Panko:

You Will Need:

• Round disks
• Number buckets with prizes
• Panko game board

How To:

1. Give each child a disc.

2. Now tell the kids to take turns in dropping the disc from the top. The number slot the disk lands in will be the bucket the kid can select the prize from.

Tip:

If you are inviting young children for the carnival, make a small planko board and use the coasters to play the game.

3. Cola Ring Toss:

You Will Need:

• Cola bottles (We would suggest you buy plastic cola bottles to avoid the risk of wastage)
• Cane Rack Rings for tossing
• 2-liter bottles of soda and colas
• A table

How To:

1. Set a 2 to 4 dozen of cola bottles on the booth or table.

2. Give each player five rings to try their hands tossing on one of the soda bottles.

3. If the player successfully tosses a bottle, he will get a 2-liter soda bottle as the prize.

4. If he rings more than one, then he has to choose between the two bottles.

5. You can also offer consolation prizes if the players are unable to ring a bottle.

4. Little Squirts Shooting Gallery:

You Will Need:

• Ping-pong balls or plastic golf balls
• Crowns of different sized drinking bottles
• Rope
• Water guns
• Buckets of water

How To:

1. Line Ping-Pong balls on the crowns of the bottles.

2. Fill the water guns with water and keep a hose or a bucket of water handy for re-filling them.

3. On the playing area, mark a line with a rope for the kids to behind. Mark the line farther back for the older kids.

4. Now let each kid take turns at shooting the balls of the bottles.

5. Reward the child who shoots down the balls off the bottle crown. This game is loads of fun and is best played with a large group of kids.

5. Cold Potato:

You Will Need:

• Ice cubes
• Balloons

How To:

1. Take a bunch of ice cubes and place it inside the balloon.

2. Now put the balloon back in the freezer. Leave it for a few days.

3. Burst the balloon and peel it away from the ice. The ice will take the shape of a potato.

4. Now divide the kids into teams of five.

5. Give each team an ice cube. The players have to rub the ice cube on their and then pass to another teammate.

6. The team that manages to melt the ice cube first will be the winner.

6. Polka Dot Game:

You Will Need:

• A large sheet of paper or twister board
• Marker or watercolors
• Coins
• Table

How To:

1. Take a large sheet and draw some polka dots on it. Cover the table with the sheet.

2. Now tell the kids to throw the coins on the sheet. They have to get the coin completely on the dot.

Variation:

1. You can even play this game on a twister board.

2. Put candies in the dots on the twister board and tell the kids to throw the coins and slide the candy off the circle and place the coin instead.

7. Dart Throw:

You Will Need:

• A thick board or a piece of wood
• Tape or thumbtacks
• Balloons

How To:

1. Attach the balloons to the cardboard or wood and affix on a playing area.

2. Give each player, three darts to throw at the balloons. You can use large balloons to make the game easier and small balloons if you want to make the game challenging.

3. Reward the child who manages burst 2 or more balloons with the dart.

Variation:

1. Fill the balloons with beans along with small slips of folded pieces of paper inside it. The slip will contain the prize name.

2. Let the kids throw darts at the balloon. Children will receive the prize that is written on their slips of paper.

8. Bean Game:

You Will Need:

• Straws
• Paper plates
• Beans

How To:

1. Gather the kids in the play area.

2. Give each player one straw and two paper plates, one empty and one filled with beans.

3. Set the timer for one minute.

4. As you call out go, the players have to start sucking a bean through the beans and put on another plate.

5. The kid who has the most beans will be the winner.

Note:

Make sure you use beans that are bigger than the hole of the straw for this game. The small sized beans can stick inside the straw.

9. Penny Toss:

You Will Need:

• Board
• Wrapping paper in different colors
• Metal cans
• Masking take
• Table

How To:

1. Take a board and cover with a wrapping paper.

2. Take metal cans and cover with a different colored wrapping paper.

3. Put masking tape at the bottom of each can and arrange on the cardboard.

4. Now put the board on the table. Place a line of masking tape on the floor as a starting line.

5. Give each child a few pennies and let them try throwing into the cans.

6. Give prizes to kids who manage to toss the pennies into the cans.

10. At The Races:

You Will Need:

• A chalk, marker, or paint
• A toy horse or a toy vehicle
• A large piece of wood or a bulletin board
• Dice

How To:

1. Make a racetrack on the wooden piece with six lanes. You can even use the bulletin board for the race track and make the lines with a marking pen.

2. Divide the lane of the racetrack into 10 to 12 spaces.

3. Assign each player a number from one to six.

4. Now tell the player to place their horse or vehicle in their lane.

5. Throw a dice on the board and the player whose lane number comes up will move forward one space.

6. The player who finishes his line first will be the winner.

11. Mystery Fishing:

You Will Need:

• Small gifts for the winners. It will act as the ‘fish’.
• An appliance box or large furniture for the water
• String
• Clothespin
• Stick

How To:

1. Make a kid sit in the box or furniture along with the ‘fish’.

2. Tie a string to the stick and a clothespin at the other end of the string. It will be your fishing line.

3. Let the players take turns at casting the liner into the water.

4. The kid in the ‘water’ has to put small gifts, candies or favor and then tug the string to signal to the player that the fish is on the line.

5. The player can pull up the line and retrieve the prize.

12. Super Tic Tac Toe:

You Will Need:

• A cardboard
• Marker or duct tape
• Small bean bags

How To:

1. Create a large tic tac toe sheet using the cardboard. Use the marker or duct tape for making the lines.

2. Give each player three bean bags.

3. The player has the make a tic tac toe diagonally, down or in a row across to win the game.

13. Guess How Many:

You Will Need:

• Colorful candies like jelly beans, M&M’s, rings, beaded necklace and so on
• A clear plastic jar
• Colorful paper
• Pen
• A decorated container

How To:

1. Fill the container with the candies, rings, jelly beans and beaded necklace. Count the content while filling the jar and write down the number.

2. Give each player slips of colored paper and pen to write down their guesses. Tell them to write their names on the side of the slip.

3. Now tell the players to guess how many items are there in the jar.

4. Tell the kids to fold and place their slips of paper in the bowl.

5. When all the kids have submitted their guesses, check the answers and announce the guest.

6. The player who answers correctly will be the winner. Let the winner take home the contents of the jar.

14. Cupcake Walk:

You Will Need:

• Three sheets of poster board
• Black marker
• Paper
• Hat
• Music player

How To:

1. Cut the sheets of poster board into four sheets. You will get 12 sheets.

2. Mark each poster board from one to 12.

3. On slips of paper, write the numbers 1 to 12 along with the prizes and put in the hat.

4. Now tell the kids to walk around in the circle as the music plays.

5. The kids have to stop on a board when the music stops. Call out the number.

6. The winning player will get a candy or cupcake, whatever you have written on the slip of paper.

15. Stilt Race:

You Will Need:

• Large coffee cans
• Stopwatch
• String or twine

How To:

1. Take some large coffee cans and poke two holes in it. It should be one on each side.

2. Now thread a twine, string to the holes, and tie the ends together to create a handle. The handle should be long enough for the child to stand and crab without hunching.

3. Mark a start and finish line on the playing area.

4. You can make a group of kids race at a time or individually if you do not want the game to be competitive.

5. The child who reaches the end line fastest will be the winner.

16. Bean Bag Toss:

You Will Need:

• Bean bags
• Game board
• Tape to mark the start line

How To:

1. You can either purchase the bean bag toss board or make one yourself.

2. Give each child 4 to 5 bean bags to toss into the board.

3. The kid who can throw the maximum bags will be the dinner.

17. Toy Swap:

You Will Need:

• Toys
• A large appliance box

How To:

1. Ask the kids to get a toy for the carnival. Tell them to drop it off upon entering.

2. Give the kids, one swap ticket for each toy they brought.

3. Collect all the toys and place in a large appliance box.

4. At the designated time, open the appliance box for every kid who has brought something.

5. The kids are free to swap their toys with any other toy they like.

18. Milk Bottle Pyramid:

You Will Need:

• Milk bottles
• Softballs

How To:

1. Fill the bottles with milk, so that each bottle is at least a few pounds heavier.

2. Give a kid three chances to toss the softball at the bottles.

3. The kid who manages to knock down all the bottles will be the winner.

19. Basketball:

You Will Need:

• Hoop
• Basketball

How To:

1. Set up a hoop and round up the basketballs. If older kids are playing, then place the hoop further back.

2. Give each kid three chances to toss the ball in the basket.

3. Reward the child who manages to make at least one basket.

20. Penny Drop:

You Will Need:

• Water
• A small glass jar
• Aquarium
• Pennies

How To:

1. Fill the tank with water. Now place the jar in the tank

2. Have the kids drop the pennies into the aquarium.

3. If the pennies fall into the jar, then he will be the winner.

Panko, little squirts shotting gallery, cold potato, bean game, guess how many, toy swap, basketball, and other carnival games for kids mentioned above are all affordable and simple to set up. While some are these games are do-it-yourself and need a little imagination and effort on your part, others are as simple as selecting and clicking to buy. So, the next time you arrange a backyard carnival, look through this list and do not forget to include fancy and interesting prizes for each game to keep the excitement high among kids.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Author

Debolina Raja came into the writing world while she was playing around with words and participating in various literary events. In the professional world, she found her writing interest in various genres such as health, wellness, parenting, relationship, and brand management.Having done a Masters degree in English literature from Delhi University, she loves reading, heading out on road trips, hibernating... more