Who doesn't love going to the circus? Well, I was tasked with bringing the circus to my garden for my boys' 5th and 3rd shared birthday party. They absolutely loved dressing up as clowns, so the theme had been chosen. Time to get creative!
The base for the party was a simple white marquee, or a Big Top as I like to call it!! All treats and drinks were offered from here, and thankfully we were blessed with beautiful weather. The one thing you can't plan living in the UK is the weather, so an outdoor party always plays on your nerves up until the morning of the event, but we were lucky. The sun was thankfully out for our bright and cheerful circus day! Balloons were hung everywhere, in many different primary colours, to add as much vibrancy and carnival atmosphere as possible, and circus music was played around the garden.
Having a creative brother in law also helps - he was drafted in to design simple carnival characters using large pieces of cardboard, and painted again in bright colours. We added these all over the garden to bring the circus theme to life. He also insisted on coming as a clown himself....
Instead of organising an entertainer, we decided to get crafty and design all the carnival games ourselves, and we had so much fun! We knew we had lots of little guests coming along, so we all set to work to make a variety of games to keep them busy. As long as you have some cardboard and a few tins, its amazing what we can create. Tin can toss, hook a duck (using a paddling pool) ball toss, shoot the cups (using nerf darts) and spin a plate were some of the games we opted for.
Never is a child happier than on a bouncy castle! We were delighted to be able to hire a circus bouncy castle for their special day.
Step right up.. Face painting is open for business. It's become a great feature of all children's parties, and this one wasn't going to be any different. We set up a face painting stand underneath the giant oak tree, with picture frames hanging from the branches. I roped in another family member, my sister in law this time, to paint the faces of these excited little people, and they absolutely loved it....as did she! Butterflies, princesses, clowns and super heroes could be seen flying around the garden. By the end, the children were painting each others faces.
The highlight of the party for my children is always the cake. I am no master baker, but I made a simple chocolate cake covered in buttercream, surrounded by KitKats and ribbon, with cheerful circus cake decorations to complete the circus theme. I just had to add my old circus train to the party table. I love it and I remember how much fun I had with it as a child. Amazed it's still in one piece!
And was the party a success? Just take a look at my little clowns' faces and decide for yourself .....
