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Step 1
Recruit volunteers to help set up the party, run the contests and clean up.
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Step 2
Mail invitations two to four weeks prior to the party. Include all the pertinent information, such as date, time and cost if you are charging for tickets.
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Step 3
Make a ticket booth. Ask for a donation of say, $1 per person to cover inexpensive prizes or donate to a charity.
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Step 4
Organize food donations. Ask volunteers to each bring a dish for a pot luck dinner to kick off the carnival party.
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Step 1
Set up a scale, and have an adult volunteer dress up like a wacky professor. He or she can try to guess each child's weight. If the professor misses the weight by more than five pounds, then the child gets a prize.
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Step 2
Set up a face painting booth. Recruit an artistic friend or relative to paint simple designs on partygoers cheeks. Ladybugs, butterflies, hearts, stars, and paw prints are all fun and easy designs.
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Step 3
Set up a ring toss. Each guest tries to throw a plastic or wood ring over the neck of a bottle, for a prize.
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Step 4
Pop balloons with darts. Set up a board of balloons and give children three darts each. For every balloon they pop they win a small prize.
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Step 1
Organize an obstacle course with tires, hula-hoops, potato sacks and hay bales. The person or team with the best time gets a prize.
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Step 2
Eat some pie at a pie-eating contest. Make small, kid-friendly pies for younger partygoers.
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Step 3
Plan a clothes relay race. Divide kids into teams of three, four or five. Each team has a set of clothes to put on, over their own. Once the first person on the team has completely dressed and undressed, the next person goes, until each person on the team has had a turn. The first team to completely dress and undress wins a prize. Have official judges watch each team to ensure all the members participate.
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Step 4
Organize a kid's talent show. Select a panel of judges (preferably not parents) to award a grand prize to the winner.
