Make Your Own Carnival Games

To make the Bottle Toss game, you’ll need a few items you can stack and knock down and a few items you can throw. For example, you can use empty plastic bottles and small balls. To create the feeling of being at a carnival, you can decorate the bottles with markers or paint.

Place the items on a table, floor, or chair. You can put them in a row or stack them on top of each other. You can also fill your items with a little water or something else to make the game more challenging.

Invite your child to play the game by tossing a small ball in the direction of the items to knock them down. Challenge them to knock down a certain number of items, for example. Test out what you made by placing a piece of tape on the floor to make a line to throw from.

As you play, ask your child what you can do to improve the game or make it more challenging. For example, they may suggest moving the line where you throw from closer or farther from the bottles. Play again after you make changes. Ask your child if the changes you make makes it easier or harder to knock down the items.

To make the Rolly Ball game, you’ll need a long sturdy item to make a ramp, small balls, and a few bowls. You can use a piece of cardboard or an ironing board, for example. Put one end of the long sturdy item on a chair or table to make it slant.

Place three bowls on a table or other raised surface at the top of the ramp.

Have fun testing the rolly ball game! Roll balls up the ramp and try to get them into the scoring bowls. You can change how steep the ramp is or use different-sized bowls to improve the game. What else can your child add to improve the game and make it more challenging and fun?

To make a Prize Grabber game, you’ll need to create something to grab items and put items to grab in a small box. One way to create a grabber is by using two cups and a straw. Take a cup and cut six lines on the sides all the way down to the bottom. Now, the cup has six “arms.”

Place the cup on the table with the inside down. Cut off two “arms” on opposite sides. Fold the remaining four arms in half towards the middle of the cup. Now, you have your grabber!

Turn the cup so that the outside is facing down on your table. Cut two one-inch slits on one end of a straw. Separate the slits and glue that end to the inside bottom of the cup.

Now, take the other cup and poke a hole through the bottom. Put that cup over the first one, and now you have a prize grabber!

Fill a box with small prizes and see how many your child can grab. They can make it work better by changing the straw's length, the grabber arms' width, or by using a different cup. How heavy or light should the prize be for their grabber to work?

Challenge the family to design, test, and improve their own grabber game or other carnival game that they enjoy. For example, you could try tying a fridge magnet to a string and using it to pick up prizes that have paperclips stuck to them. What other ways can your family create these carnival games with what you have at home?