For my daughter's 4th birthday, I planned a carnival party.  We used our church's Family Life Center, which was perfect for the event.  When the guests arrived, they were greeted at the ticket table. My aunt distributed ticket necklaces to the children.  They were then to guess how many candies were in a jar. I later gave a prize to the child with the winning guess. The kids were each given a large bag and their 1st stop was the craft table. To keep it simple, I had plenty of washable markers and tons of stickers for the kids to decorate their bags. They used these bags to transport their prizes.  For prizes, I purchased many packages of small toys at several dollar stores (pencils, rings, parachute men, lip gloss, etc).  I went to our local Goodwill store and purchased tons of stuffed animals (I only purchased the ones that were new with tags). These made great prizes and I was able to purchase about 60 stuffed animals for around $15.00. I had also collected tons of new toys from Happy Meals at McDonald's. These made great prizes. To set the mood of the party, I had a CD with carnival music playing (purchased on Ebay). I had so many games set up and had recruited several family members and teenage friends to help. First was the clown bean bag toss. This game was purchased on Ebay for about $15.00 (including shipping) and was a very popular game with the kids. You throw bean bags thru the clown's mouth. Next was the duck pond.  I used my daughter's duck bathtub from when she was an infant, filled it with water and had ducks floating with numbers on the bottom that corresponded with the prize they won.  Next I had a penny toss. I used a plastic ornament holder from Christmas (it was made by Rubbermaid). I put colored stickers in the bottom of each holder, and the kids got to throw 4 pennies.  They received prizes that corresponded with the color where their penny landed.  I had a basketball toss, a clown ring toss, a Winnie the Pooh toss (I took a small red and yellow trash can and I hot glued a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal between the 2.  I took foam stickers and spelled out Hunny Pot" on the trash cans and then the kids got to throw Winnie the Pooh themed beanie babies into the pots (I purchased the large Pooh & the Pooh beanie's at the Goodwill store).  I also had a Strawberry Shortcake strawberry patch.  This is played similar to pick up a duck. I took a cardboard box and cut the top off. I covered the box with Strawberry Shortcake wrapping paper.   I then placed pink easter grass in the bottom along with a Strawberry Shortcake doll (I found it in my daughter's room!)in the corner.  I cut out red strawberries from construction paper and made stems for them and then glued/tapes them to toothpicks. I stuck the strawberries down in the Easter grass. There was a number on the back of each strawberry to correspond with the prize they received. Next was a Dora's Hula Hoopla game.  I took a large Dora doll and sat her in a chair. I gave the kids a hula hoop and they got to throw it around Dora.  What a hit! Next was a frog pond.  I actually found this game at the Goodwill store for $1.00. It included about 5 lily pads and 3 beanie baby frogs. I took a large sheet of paper (purchased from a school supply store) and cut out a pond.  I glued the lily pads to the paper and the kids got to throw the frog onto the lilly pads.  Next was a tattoo booth.  I ordered tons of tattoo's from Oriental Trading and had several teenagers put these on the kids. They loved it! Oh I also had a golf game which was borrowed from a friend. The last game was a "Feed the Monkeys" game. I took a large colorful plastic tub and filled it with stuffed animal monkeys. I made a sign and put it on a stick. The sign said "Please Feed Us."  I purchased 3 plastic bananas at Wal-Mart and the kids got to toss the bananas into the tub with the monkeys (the monkeys were purchased at the Goodwill store). For food I had a table set up with hotdogs chips etc. I had 2 huge colorful plastic tubs filled with kids drinks and soft drinks.  We had a carnival cake and I distributed small sacks of cotton candy (I purchased on-line from Rainbow Cotton Candy).  As each child left they received a balloon on a stick.  Each parent told me that it was the best party they had even been to. Each child was thrilled because they got to go home with a huge bag full of treats. The total cost of the party was less than $150.00 including the cake.  Wonder what I'll come up with next year???? "