Fun Clown Party Ideas to Set the Mood

For clown parties, circus colors are perfect. They include red and white for the big top and bright primary and secondary colors like yellow, blue, green, and red for a clown’s outfit. Use brightly-colored streamers to form a canopy over the center of the table, simulating a circus tent. Streamers should cascade from a point in the middle (i.e. the center of the ceiling or a chandelier), down and out to the sides of the room. Tie colorful balloons in bunches of three, and attach the clusters to the backs of chairs.

Set up a ticket booth at the front door or the entrance to the party area. Have an adult wearing a top hat, clown outfit, or clown nose manage the ticket booth. He or she can distribute tickets which your guests can exchange for candy, prizes, and participation in activities. Make sure each guest gets enough tickets to be able to participate in most, if not all, activities.

Use three hula hoops to form a "three-ring circus" in the party area. Flip a small, cylindrical trashcan upside down to make a stand in one of the circles, and set a stuffed elephant, lion or other circus animal on it to complete the decoration. Additionally, you can buy ready made clown party decorations, such as balloons, pinatas, clown banners, and more.

Circus, carnival, or other peppy music will add to the atmosphere. Check the Internet, a local book or music store, or a library for CDs or tapes with appropriate songs like "Elephant's March".

Clown Party Food and Snacks

Serve animal crackers for a theme-appropriate snack. Use the boxes as decorations, or add name tags to the sides of the boxes to serve as place cards at the table.

Make upside-down ice cream cone clown heads using scoops of bright orange or raspberry sherbet topped with sugar cone "hats" surrounded by rings of icing "ruffles". Make faces on the ice cream scoops using round, red candy for the noses (try gumballs), M&Ms and frosting for the eyes, and red licorice strings for the mouths. Make these ahead of time, and freeze them until you're ready to serve them to your guests.

Serve roasted hot dogs, peanut-shaped peanut butter and jelly or cream cheese and jelly sandwiches, popcorn in small, brown paper lunch bags, and root beer floats.