For my daughter's first birthday we had a combination of kids coming that ranged in age from one year old to almost nine, and most of our friends' kids are actually boys and I wanted a theme that was suitable for a girl but still equally fun for boys so we went with a circus theme. It's a gender neutral idea and the activities can be tweaked for lots of ages.
I didn't find birthday cakes at the local grocery stores or bakeries that either quite fit the theme and/or the budget I had in mind so I decided to make my own. Other than a little fun with paper, scissors and a glue stick it was actually quite easy. The cake itself was just regular box cake, white frosting with sparkly white and red sprinkles, as well as larger red sprinkles. I picked up some patterned scrapbook paper at the local craft store in red and white stripe, yellow polka dot, and a few solid pages and crafted a circus tent from a cylinder and a cone (the cone just sits atop the cylinder) The flag banner was made with ribbon, handcut diamonds folded over the ribbon and glued along it to make flags which were then tied to two skewers. Plastic zoo animals (that you might find in a circus) were used to then decorate the cake.
Activities
- I used red and white striped tablecloth hung on the wall and purchased a set of circus themed prop sticks for a fun photo wall.
- We had a circus themed bean bag toss.
- The overall favorite though of all the kids was simple punch balloons (which can be bought online or at most dollar stores)
- I kept it simple since most of the kids were toddlers, but you can add other carnival style games like a ring toss, go fish, floating duck pond, etc.. You could even have kids win tickets for prizes or goody bags.
Food Ideas
There are lots of simple kid-friendly food ideas. Just think about your favorite carnival foods for inspiration.
- Popcorn (in carnival style bags and boxes)
- Hot Dogs (on carnival style trays)
- Cotton Candy
- Animal Crackers in circus theme boxes
- Nachos and cheese
- Peanuts in the shell (just watch out for allergies)
- Don't forget something healthy! You can arrange fruits or vegetables to look like circus animals, clowns or other circus themed things. Skewers are simple as well.
Shopping Guide:
I found many of the items for our part at the Local Target, Hobby Lobby, Ikea and Oriental Trading. You can also find a lot of circus themed party products online at Amazon.com. I've linked to a few ideas to get you started below. I searched a combination of terms like circus, carnival, jungle animals, and zoo to find relevant products. Note: the links to Amazon.com are affiliate links so I may receive payment if you make a purchase through those links. (See my amazon disclosure here)
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Truly a great birthday party!! All these photos are truly fascinating. I too want to host a huge dance party on my birthday. Have shortlisted couple of party venues in Atlanta as they are quite spacious and fits well in my budget.
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