Planning

Circuses are fun, exciting, exotic, vibrant, noisy, and above all, silly.  It can be as juvenile or as sophisticated as you want it to be - from Barnum and Bailey to Cirque de Soleil…  Above all, it should evoke the feeling of excitement you had in your youth when your parents showed you tickets to the circus!  You don't have to go to the Big Top to enjoy this party, but if you can pull off a "Field Trip", all the better!

What is your "Party Picture"? Circus Party Supplies

• Inspiration for a Circus-
• Bright, vibrant colors (typically primary, however, you can be flexible with this)
• A giant striped tent with a deep baritone voiced Ringmaster dressed in red tails!
• Clowns, acrobats and jugglers
• Balloons, balloons, balloons….  As many as you can buy, as many colors as you can find as many as you can blow up… 
• Popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy, hot dogs
• Elephants, lions, tigers, and other exotic animals

• Consider all five of your senses - the sights, the sounds, the tastes of the circus - capture the entire ambience that allows your guests to escape into your creation.
• If you haven't been to the circus recently, jump online and look up circus photos and websites that will help provide you with inspiration.
• Invite your guests to be a PART of the party - ask them to come in their craziest, silliest, most colorful clothing.  It allows your guests to get silly, get involved in the party itself, and builds interest and excitement.
• - A circus theme works indoors or out - just create the feeling of a tent inside or put up a tent outside and voila!
• However, the best venue for a circus theme is - THE CIRCUS!  If one is coming through your area at the time of your party, contact the venue to see if they have group rates or have suggestions on how to incorporate a private party into the event. 
• Perhaps a restaurant near the venue can host pizza and cake before or after the circus itself.

 

Invitations

Communicating with your Guests Circus Party Supplies

There are a lot of inspirations to draw from for your invitation that make it clear your party is Circus based - clowns, balloons, big top tents, circus animals…  Make sure it's vibrant and builds excitement right away! 

• Circus in a Box:  Attach your invitation to a box of animal crackers!  You don't even have to do any work for this on! 
• Clowning Around:  Send a clown invitation with a real red clown nose for your guest to wear.
• Tickets Please…  Create "Tickets" to the circus with your computer or some crafting materials - "Ladies and Gentlemen…. Children of all ages….. We would like to invite you to the Greatest Party on Earth…. "
• Circus Programs:  Create a "Program" for your circus to send to your guests.  Have a couple of pages with fun pictures of your guest of honor and a list of the activities you plan to have. 
• Party Preview:  Include a balloon with your invitation to create a little pre-party excitement about your event!  This is so simple and virtually no cost but it's that fun little extra that will get your guests excited about your party.
• PARTY REMINDER:  A circus party is a fun party to invite your guests for a little "dress up."  Ask them to come in their brightest clothes, and add any silly extras they want!  BUT, if you are looking for guest participation it's critical to send out a party reminder because other moms are just as busy (and absent minded because they have 30 other things they are juggling in their brain) as the rest of us.  One forgetful Mommy (and trust me, this has been ME in the past) will result in a sad little guest when they see everyone dressed up and they are just wearing jeans and a T-shirt!  So send everyone a reminder, and for good measure, have some extra silliness set aside in case someone does forget!

Thank You Notes Circus Party Supplies

• Clowns, Clowns, Clowns:  Consider a group picture of your guests acting like clowns as the cover of you Thank you note.  This doubles as fun memento for your guests of the party they attended.

Invitations	Thank You Notes
Title Name State	Title Name State

 

Dress It Up

This Circus Theme is all about COLOR - if you can create the illusion of a tent and make your party space a wonder in primary colors, you will have successfully achieved your goal.  There are so many ways to make this party a hit, try just a few and you are set!

Decorations Circus Party

• Colors:  This theme is a "No-Brainer" - primary colors!  Surround the room in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue!  However, you can also use other vibrant colors if you want to take your Circus down a nontraditional path (like a Cirque de Soleil environment). 
• Big Top:  Use fabric streamers, fabric, or ribbons to create the illusion of a Big Top tent in which your party occurs.  You can also attach primary color balloons to a long piece of twine or yarn and accomplish this.  Hang your material (balloons on a string, streamers, fabric, or a combination of all of them!) in a downward line from the center of your main party space.  The finished product should create the illusion of a tent with a pole in the middle for virtually no cost!  Note, if you want to do a little more, you can purchase red and white fabrics and accomplish the same thing by alternating panels to create the red and white striped tent of the Big Top.  A little more cost, but also more authentic.
• Balloon Happy:  Balloons are a critical component of this theme - the more you have the better!
• Picture Accents:  Pictures of clowns, acrobats and circus themes on walls everywhere.  If you have an old Circus program, have some pictures enlarged as accents in your party space.
• The Entrance:  Create an entrance that looks like the entrance to a tent with a banner across the top exclaiming "The Greatest Party on Earth…"
• Confetti Accents:  Multi-colored tissue confetti on the floor will create visual interest and movement that adds yet more color to your room (although be prepared to find confetti for weeks afterwards!)
• Balloons Make it Three Dimensional:  Anchor balloon bouquets around the room at differing heights, making guests feel as though they are in a Big Top filled with balloons and fun.

Tablescapes Circus Party

• Confetti Table:  Purchase a vibrant disposable tablecloth and spray adhesive onto it.  Cover with brightly colored tissue paper confetti!  Use mats that are cut out from construction paper in the shape of balloons and have balloon centerpieces hovering about 3' off the table.  Dishes and silverware can be any color in your scheme.
• Big Top Table:  Striped "Big Top" colored fabric for the linen and plates in every balloon color with coordinating balloon centerpieces.
• Popcorn Accents:  Popcorn in red and white striped popcorn containers (these can be purchased in plastic or cardboard varieties) line the center with plastic figures of circus animals and clowns.
• Flying Trapeze Focal Point:  Make a "Flying Trapeze" above your table - use twine/yarn and dowels with your child's favorite stuffed animals swinging above!
• Chair Accents:  Each chair can have art activities done by that child in the beginning of the party hanging from the back, such as "create your own clown" creations.
• Place Setting Fun:  Paper cups and plates come in animal prints now, which is fun and makes clean-up a breze.  Otherwise, consider acquiring paper concessionaire cups like "Coke" or "Pepsi" that look authentic to what you would get at the circus. 

Decorations	Tablescapes
Title Name State	Title Name State

 

Food/Drink

This theme is inspired by confections available at a circus.  You can do this yourself, or, you can even rent the concessions from a rental service!  Include all of the favorite foods you can find at the circus and add in a popcorn machine or hotdog stand in the corner of your space to really bring the feel of the circus to life!

Food Circus Party

• Popcorn (popcorn machines can be rented or even purchased)
• Peanuts
• Cotton Candy
• Hot Dogs and hamburgers (stands are also available for rent)
• Pizza
• Corn dogs
• Potato Chips
• Animal Crackers

Beverages Circus Party

• Sodas?  Well, yes, traditionally the icy cold cup of Coke is what you'd get at the Circus, but many parents try to keep soda drinking to a minimum.  So instead, have fruit punch in great, fun colors available.  The colors just continue your theme and it's a step up from soda!
• Slurpees (slurpee machines can be rented!)

Foods	Beverages
Title Name State	Title Name State

 

Cake

• Balloon Cake:  A double decker round cake shaped as a giant red balloon (If you are good with cakes, you can even round the top as well!)
• Clown Cake:  Create the face of a clown in a circle shaped cake.  You can use two cupcakes to create a bow tie at the bottom!
• I'm not that Creative:  So, jut have a brightly colored cake (perhaps yellow frosting?) and add some fun circus figures on top.  You can also add simple icing balloons (circles of primary colored decorator icing) with black strings made from black decorator icing and label it with _________'s Greatest Party on Earth!
• Circus Tent:  If you are handy with cake pans you can create a "Big Top" by stacking round cakes on top of each other in decreasing size.  Fill the "steps" with icing and frost with red and white stripes! 
• Decorate Your Own Cupcake Bar:  Consider a "decorate your own cupcake" center with brightly colored sprinkles and candies that can be used to dress up prefrosted cupcakes or cookies.

	Title			Name	State

 

Entertainment

A lot of the entertainment available for children's parties is straight from the Circus!  Jugglers, clowns, acrobats, face painting, etc.  This theme is open to a variety of do it yourself or professional entertainment!  This is also the perfect party for a bounce house or moonwalk rental - providing your guests with tons of fun and a safe, silly way to burn all that party energy and sugar off!

Entertainers Circus Party

• Clowns - they can give a show but also consider having "clown school" where the clown teaches your guests how to be clowns themselves!
• Balloon artists
• Face painting (note, if you have a little artistic talent, you can do this yourself!)
• Acrobats
• Jugglers
• Caricatures artists
• Trained dog with tricks
• Pony rides
• Magician
• Rent a bounce house or moonwalk!  This is the perfect, colorful entertainment to coordinate with a circus theme!

Music for a circus theme should be upbeat and light-hearted.  Consider CD's with children's selections that are campy and fun for smaller children.  

Entertainers	Music
Title Name State	Title Name State

 

Activities

• Make your own clown (A/C)  - have an outline of a face that the children can fill in with clown colors, clown hair, etc. to create their own clown.  Another version would be to have individual clown parts (legs, arms, body, head and hat) that can be decorated individually then attached with tape or stables.  Have all sorts of art supplies ready - puff paints, jewels, markers and crayons, glitter, embellishments - anything a young mind could imagine on a clown!  Gage the activity to the standard age of most of your guests.
• T-shirt coloring/painting (A/C)  - Have white T-shirts with each child's name already printed on the back.  Have fabric markers or fabric paints available so that they can make their own T-shirt in a circus theme.  If you want to take this up a notch, have iron on transfer designs ready to be selected and pressed into the T-shirts for each child to use.
• Create your own clown hat (A/C) - have clown hats made out of construction paper cones with a pom pom attached to the top and string stapled to the sides to hold the finished product on.  Have the children decorate them with as many embellishments as you can think of - this is a great party hat instead of the pre-bought ones because it's unique to each child.
• Face painting:  Designate a face painting area where each child can turn into the clown of their choice (or at least have a fun picture on their cheek or forehead!)
• Balloon pop - a race where children grab a balloon, race to a point (you can add an obstacle course to this) and then sit on their balloon to pop it. 
• Dress-up race - have brightly colored clothing that is too large for the guests ready (pants, T-shirt, over-shirt, socks, shoes, wig, hat and clown glasses) that the children have to put on and race to a finish line!  The pictures you will get will be priceless!
• Lion Tamer - have a Master of Ceremonies direct his "lions" in a derivative of "Simon Says".
• Charades "animal" version - have each child select an animal they want to pretend to be, and the other children have to guess what they are.

	Title			Name	State

 

Prizes / Favors

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