Moms, I’m sharing my secret to the one and only theme that fits any kids birthday party that you might need to plan!  Dying to know what it is?  You have come to the right place.  There is just one and only theme that can be customized to fit absolutely ANY birthday party you want to throw and, I promise your child will love it!

Drum roll please….it’s the carnival theme!  Ta daaaaa! Are you seeing my vision?!  Not yet?  That’s ok – let me explain! 

In this post, I’ll give you a quick overview of what the carnival theme is, and how it can be the theme that fits any birthday party you throw for your kids in the future! I’ll show you how you can customize it to fit any birthday party theme your child wants. 

Wondering what games to play? Look no further, I’m sharing all the games you need, and how you can fit them to your specific party theme.  Lucky for you, I’ve also put together a frugal list of birthday supplies that you can use year after year! I’ll also include some savings tips as well!

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Customize The Perfect Birthday Party Theme

You see, the carnival theme can be customized to fit any type of birthday party you are planning for your child and I promise, it’s not nearly as hard as you might think! 

Moms, I'm sharing my secret to the one and only theme that fits any kids birthday party that you might need to plan! Share on X

Let’s say your child would like to have a pirate themed party and you have no idea what games or activities you should do at the party to keep all the kids entertained.  No problem!  The pirate theme fits perfect with the carnival idea, as well as just about any other theme your child might desire. 

First, let’s start with the basics, I’d suggest having your birthday party at home, but you don’t have to.  I like to throw at-home parties to save money – it’s as simple as that! I think if money grew on the trees in my backyard, I’d most likely have the party elsewhere so I didn’t have to worry about all the clean up – but that’s not the case for me! 

Pick A Birthday Party Theme

The best part about a carnival is the games – am I right?! Take what you love most about a carnival and transfer it to your birthday party and you will easily see how the carnival theme can be the perfect theme that fits any birthday party.

Start by picking the theme for your birthday party. Some great themes you might consider are:

• Pirate Party
• Hot Wheels Party (read all about a fun Hot Wheels Party I did for my son a few years ago – plus, I’ve included a free printable party pack with complete party planning details.
• Cupcake Party
• Camping Party
• Science Party
• Art Party
• Cheerleading Party (read all about a fun Cheerleading Party I did for my daughter.

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Because I know you love to save money and want to throw a really fun birthday party for your child, you might also want to read a few other posts on my blog about how to save money and host an awesome birthday party! Read both of these posts: How To Throw 2 Birthday Parties On The Same Day, and Best Boy Birthday Party Themes.

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5 Customizable Birthday Party Games:

Below are my favorite carnival games that you can easily customize for any kids birthday party theme!

1. Donut Eating Contest 

What child doesn’t love a donut eating contest? I like to use the small chocolate or powdered sugar donuts, but you could also use full size donuts.  Hang them from a string somewhere around your house or outside in your yard from a tree branch (my preferred method). 

The kids all stand near a donut and with their hands behind their backs as they try to eat the donut.  The donuts make a mess and it’s so fun!  First one to eat their whole donut, without using their hands, is the winner! 

How To Customize The Donut Eating Contest

The customization of each game station doesn’t have to be complicated – you just want to make it fun and fit your theme.  I like to customize each game station by making a simple sign in Canva.  I pick the name of the station based off the theme. 

Customizable Names For Donut Eating Contest

Below are a few names I would use for the donut eating contest based off of a couple popular themes:

• Pirate Party – Pirate Booty Eating Contest 
• Hot Wheels Party – Tire Eating Contest 
• Soccer Party – Ball Eating Contest

2. Cake Walk Game

The Cake Walk was always my favorite carnival game! I just loved it.  Super simple game, all you need to do is tape numbers to the ground in a circle – usually 1-10. 

Next, each child will stand on a number. When the music plays, you start walking around the circle on the numbers.  When the music stops, each child needs to be standing on a number. 

Finally, a number is pulled from a hat and if your number gets called, you win a piece of candy or a small prize (the typical Cake Walk game would have you winning a baked good – like a cake). 

Kids love this game – I know I sure did when I was a kid – I mean what could be better than winning a whole cake?!

Customizable Names For The Cake Walk

• Cupcake Party- Cake Walk
• Hot Wheels Party – Car Walk 
• Soccer Party – Soccer Strut

3. Ring Toss Game

Ring toss is another carnival themed game that fits any kids birthday party!  For this game, all you need are some rings and cones. 

You can get really creative for the rings and use all sorts of things like, glow necklaces, hula hoops, pool noodles, etc.  When I hosted my son’s Hot Wheels Birthday Party, we called this station Tire Toss.  The glow necklaces were the tires and the object was to toss the tires onto the cones which were staggered a few feet apart from each other in a line. 

If your ring landed on a cone, you won a prize!  Again, you can use rings in different ways to fit your theme.  If you were doing a pirate party, you could glue a bunch of pirate hooks to a large poster board and toss glow necklaces onto the hooks and call it Captain Hook Toss!

Customizable Names For Ring Toss:

• Pirate Party – Captain Hook Toss
• Hot Wheels Party – Tire Toss 
• Soccer Party – Ball Toss

4. Fishing Game

The Fishing game is another delightfully easy carnival themed game that fits any kids birthday party!  For this game, you need a big sheet to hide behind with a stash of candy or small prizes. 

I set up two of our bar height chairs and draped a sheet over them. You could also use a big cardboard box or a big piece of plywood. Anything you can think of that you can drap a sheet over and hide behind.

Next you need to supply some sort of fishing pole with some type of bucket or cup on the end.  I used a stick I found outside and tied a ribbon to it. I then hooked a disposable cup to the end of the string. Nothing too fancy, but it worked great!

The child will fish for a prize by throwing their line over the sheet where someone will be hiding and will fill the cup with a prize or a piece of candy.  Simple and so fun!  For a car themed party the children can fish for small Matchbox cars.  For a pirate themed party, they can fish for chocolate coins and pirate eye patches. 

Customizable Names For Fishing Game:

• Pirate Party – Pirate Fishing
• Hot Wheels Party – Car Fishing
• Soccer Party – Ball Fishing

4. Pin The Tail On The Donkey Game

Who doesn’t love Pin The Tail On the Donkey?!  Although I’ve always loved this game, I’ve never actually played the version where you pin a tail on a donkey!  This is another great customizable carnival themed game that fits any kids birthday party.  

If you had a baking birthday party you could could use a picture of a big cupcake and try to pin candles on the cupcake.  For a car themed party, you could call it Pin Wheel and you could use a big picture of a car and try to pin tires on the car in the correct spot. 

Or for a soccer party, you could use soccer balls and try to get them in the goals of a big picture of a soccer field!  For a pirate party you could have a big picture of a treasure map and they have to pin an “x” on the correct spot of the map! Again, you can see just how easy it would be to customize this game to fit any theme. 

Customizable Names For Pin The Tail On The Donkey Game:

• Pirate Party – Pirate Treasure Marks The Spot
• Hot Wheels Party – Pin Wheel
• Soccer Party – Pin Ball
• Cupcake Party – Pin The Candle On the Cupcake

Now, do you see just how easy it is to customize the carnival theme to fit any party, and why this is the one and only theme that fits any kids birthday party?!  You can use these carnival games every year and your kids will love it, and the best part, each party will look and feel different! 

I’ve used these games for birthday parties for my kids the last few years and I sure wish I would’ve thought of this idea sooner – I could have saved myself a lot of hours of work trying to plan games to keep all the kids busy.   

Below are a few of my favorite frugal party tips to keep your costs to a minimum, so that you can host an awesome party for a low price!

Frugal Birthday Party Tip – host your party at home! Share on X

Frugal Party Tips:

• Host your party at home.
• Pick the timing of party so that you don’t have to feed your guests a meal, like mid-morning or early afternoon.
• Plan your whole party from start to finish with a simple party agenda.  In order to keep the chaos to a minimum, plan every moment of your party and keep the kids busy the whole time.
• Keep is SIMPLE!  None of these games have to be complicated!
• Don’t get caught up in the expensive details!  You don’t have to make the game exactly like I’ve described – you can use a cheaper alternative and it will still be just as a great. 
• Go with your gut!

I can’t wait to see how you use the carnival theme for your next birthday party!  Tell me all about it – what birthday party did you use the carnival theme for?  What games did you play?  What was your favorite?

Free Party Supply List – Get It Now!

Before you go, don’t forget to snag your copy of my Kids Birthday Party Supply List to make sure you don’t buy stuff you don’t need. This list will help you pull off an awesome birthday party without breaking the bank. The best part, you can reuse so many of the supplies for your next party and save even more money! Get the list now and go plan an great party!

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