Circus birthday party (Ages 2 to 8): iVillage

Create a circus party (Ages 2 to 8)

Here's everything you'll need to turn your home or garden into a big top of celebration!

Invitation ideas
Make clown masks using thick craft paper, felt-tip pens, sequins and glitter. Use strong glue to attach a red rubber ball for a nose, then cut out eyeholes. Tie string to either side of each mask, write the party details on the inside of the masks and post them in large envelopes.

Costume ideas

Ask guests to come dressed as clowns. Suggest they dress in colourful, baggy clothes. Decorate their faces with face paint.
Ask guests to come as circus performers such as trapeze artists or jugglers.
Award costume prizes for funniest, most creative, scariest and so on. Make sure that every child gets a prize.
Make this easy clown costume

Decoration ideas

Make your own big top tents by hanging sheets and blankets or crepe paper streamers from the ceiling.
Create carnival game booths using large cardboard appliance boxes painted with poster paint.
Fill the party room with multi-coloured balloons for a festive atmosphere.
Place stuffed animals and clown dolls as an added attraction.
Distribute items used in a circus, such as hoops, nets, and juggling balls throughout the party room.

Games

Have the 'clowns' do circus stunts, taking turns being the ringmaster. The kids can jump through hoops, leap over skipping ropes, and duck under sticks.
Play carnival games using the cardboard box booths. Include such games as Hoopla with rings cut from cardboard; Gone Fishin' with sticks, string, and magnets for fishing poles; Penny Platter with pennies tossed on a plate; and Water Gun Shooting Gallery with water pistols to shoot small plastic bottles off a ledge.

Activities

Have each child draw a clown face on a large sheet of paper using felt-tip pens, crayons or paint. See who can come up with the funniest face.
If older children don't come with their faces already painted, have them use face paint to paint each other's faces to look like clowns.
Instead of having the kids wear costumes to the party, provide a variety of funny, second-hand clothes at the party, and have them mix and match to create their own crazy clown look.

Food ideas
Make Animalwiches:
Cut out slices of bread, cheese and meat using animal cutters. Place all animal shapes on a platter and let the kids assemble their animal sandwiches.

Bake a Buried Clown Cake:

Bake a sponge cake; cool.
Cover the cake with chocolate icing.
Make the Clown Cones: Scoop balls of ice cream into cones; turn the cones upside down onto a baking tray; pipe icing faces on the ice cream balls, using the cone as the clown's hat. Keep in the freezer until cake time.
To assemble, place Clown Cones on top of the cake, ice cream-side-down, evenly spaced, one for each child, so the clowns look as though they are buried beneath the cake and only their heads are sticking up.

Party bags

Make popcorn balls and give them to the children to take home.
Let the kids keep the small toys they win at the game booths.