For my daughters 9 th birthday we had a Carnival, complete with clown invitations and a clown cake that actually sit up like a teddy bear .it was done in bright colors complete with a top hat and bow tie. Every game had a theme. 1st game was the deep blue sea-which was a fish game .I made a huge boat that we hung on top of our Fence, complete with an anchor and all.  I even made stuffed fish and had blue plastic it looked like the sea.  We had a table set up under the boat with fish in bowls the kids could win by through balls in . 2nd we had Mardi Gras, were I painted huge mask on card board and we had one stuck in the ground with buckets in front for them to throw balls in. They won necklaces with this one 3rd we had a Wild West Town I painted and had a shooting gallery were I set up pop cans and gave the kids stopper guns to use to knock them over.  4th we had a basketball game which was the NBA ,I painted Bulls signs and spirit signs.  Who ever got the most points at the end won a basketball.    5th we had a balloon bust which was Flower Power, it was a 70's theme, with peace signs, flowers, and smiley faces.   6th we had china Town were I painted plates and gave the kids pennies to throw at it, if they got the penny on the plate they won a prize. The background for this was a china cabinet;  7th we had clown around which was a clown I painted and  I cut holes in his mouth and belly for them to throw balls in, if they made it in his mouth they won a prize. 8th we had a DJ booth, my oldest son was the DJ. he even painted his hair green. We had a treasure hunt, and a jelly bean guess, I painted faces, And my son' friends did all the games. We sectioned the yard off like a really carnival it was so beautifully. I ordered prizes from oriental trading, the kids were given a bag with there name on it so they wouldn't loose there prizes. There was 40 kids they had a blast.  They even took home all of my painted decorations. This party took me a month, even my husband helped me paint the decorations. It was like going to the prom ; it was stunning I don't know how I will ever top this one, but I Have two more kids that has birthdays coming up and I'm sure gonna have fun trying!