Carnival Game Names

Carnival games should be easy to construct and fun to play. While geared mostly toward young children, it's a good idea to also be aware of games for older kids and kids at heart. If you are organizing a carnival, a variety of classic carnival games can be easy to put together.

The bean bag toss involves tossing a small, bean-filled fabric bean bag into a target or set of targets. Most bean bag boards are constructed of wood and should have a hole large enough to allow a bean bag to go through.

A baseball toss involves throwing a rubber baseball or other small ball toward a set of objects. These objects could include plastic or aluminum bottles or tin cans. The object of the game is to knock over a designated number of the bottles--at least one or possibly all, according to the Carnival Savers website.

The ring toss is an often challenging game that involves throwing rings onto a target. The Coolest Kid Birthday Parties website recommends creating an elephant ring toss. Take a box and paint an elephant's face on the front of the box. Cut out a hole and run a vacuum hose through it to resemble an elephant's trunk. Use wire to stand the end of the hose upright. Find rings that are large enough to toss onto the hose--those who can get a prize.

The bucket toss helps young kids to develop math skills because the game requires throwing balls into buckets worth certain amounts of points. Accomplish this by lining up the buckets and assigning a points amount to each--the farthest bucket away being the one worth the most points. Participants are given a choice of throwing three to five balls in order to achieve a certain points total.

The duck pond carnival game is well-suited for young children because it does not require skill. To construct the game, fill a child's wading pool with water and write a number on each of several small floating rubber or plastic ducks. The player selects a duck from the pond and the number underneath corresponds to a certain prize.

The fishing pole game allows the player to "go fishing" for a prize. Players are given a pole with a string attached to it. The player throws the string over or through a screen and a volunteer on the other side attaches a prize on the string. The player then "reels" in the prize.

The counting game utilizes a player's estimation skills. Fill a jar or other receptacle with coins, jelly beans or some other countable item. Have players guess the amount in the jar. The closest to the true amount wins a prize--you also can offer prizes for the runners-up.