You can't get too punchy when planning a party for the six- to nine-year-old crowd. At this blessedly uninhibited age, no trick is too silly, no joke too dumb. (Why don't cannibals eat clowns? Because they taste funny!) Our Clown School party is a mix of the finest circus games, events, and snacks--just the right atmosphere for a hilarious, if over the (big) top, birthday afternoon.
CLOWN SCHOOL INVITATIONS
What better herald of an arriving circus than bright balloons? To make your invitations, blow up one pair for each guest and write the relevant information on the outside with permanent markers. (Don't knot the balloon; instead, try closing the end in a fat book or a drawer for easy handling, or have someone hold the balloon neck closed.) Deflate each pair and place them in a bright envelope with a handful of confetti.
CLOWN SCHOOL FAVORS AND PRIZES
In honor of the legendary hobo clown, favors and prizes can go in a bandanna on a stick. Simply knot an inexpensive scarf on the end of a straight stick. Guests can then load it up with gag gifts, small joke books or jokes handwritten on slips of paper (a good project for the birthday child or an older brother or sister), clown and circus animal stickers, noisemakers, candy, and funny dress-up items, such as bulbous clown noses or fake eyelashes.
CLOWN SCHOOL DECORATIONS
When splashed with red, blue, and yellow balloons, streamers, and tablecloths, an ordinary room or outside porch takes on all the gaiety of the big top. A clown doll or a big stuffed monkey, sitting up in a chair, can hold a bouquet of helium balloons. If you have time, custom-made circus posters portraying each guest as a three-ring circus performer are a welcoming touch (and can be taken home later as favors). Using poster board or heavy white paper and markers or paints, draw a picture of each guest doing an act and add in large print his or her specialty. For example: "Ladies and Gentlemen ... we bring you Paul the Fire-eating Birthday Kid!" and "Come one, come all to see ... Kelly the Trick Rider!"
CLOWN SCHOOL COSTUMES YOU LOOK LIKE A CLOWN
When guests arrive, direct them to a dress-up area where they can undergo their transformations. You will want to have a big box of play clothes that kids can choose from --oversize shorts, shirts, and jackets, gloves, suspenders, bow ties, and any other clown-like items you can beg or borrow. A parent or teen can run a face-painting table, where each child receives the necessary red nose, arched brows, pink cheeks, and exaggerated smile or frown. (Tiny crescent moons, stars, and teardrops look wonderful on cheeks, too.)
A HAT-MAKING WORKSHOP
A hat-making workshop is another warm-up craft activity that keeps kids occupied while newcomers settle in. At a newspaper-covered table, set out precut, cone-shape paper hats. (To make the pattern for these hats, roll a large square or a rectangular piece of paper into a cone, hold down the seams, and trim the edges for an even brim.) The kids can then jazz up one side of the hats with glue, glitter, pom-poms, and markers. Be sure the creators write their names inside, as well. When a hat has dried, staple it on the bottom and seal the seam with tape. Staple on an elastic cord to slip under the chin.
CLOWN SCHOOL GAMES AND ACTIVITIES BALLOON SANDWICH
This race, a feat of cooperation, is best held outside or in a spacious room. Begin by choosing partners and lining them up back to back at a starting line. Place a balloon (not a helium one) between the partners so that they must squish it, keeping it off the ground (emphasize no hands!). At the sound of a whistle, the pairs must take off in this position, shuffling their way toward a finish line. If the balloon pops or drops, they must return to the starting line for a replacement. The first sandwich to cross the line wins.
WALKING THE TIGHTROPE
Even acts of derring-do are funny business when you are a clown. To set up this high-wire routine, place a 2 by 4 on the floor or ground and gather your materials: an umbrella and a large-format (but not too thick) hardcover book. In this elimination game, each contestant first crosses the high wire with an umbrella in hand. All who survive make it to round two: crossing with a book on their heads. All who live through that ordeal go to round three: crossing with the book on their heads and the umbrella in their hands. All masters of the high wire win a prize.
CLOWN CLASS RELAY
Another game for a spacious area. Ask all the kids to strip back down to their original (well-fitting) clothes and stocking feet, then divide them into two relay teams positioned at a starting line. Opposite, at the finish line, place two similar clown outfits that include giant shorts, suspenders, a jacket, a hat, and the biggest pairs of men's shoes you can find (clomp, clomp). At the sound of the whistle, the first person from each team runs and puts on the outfit (over his clothes), runs back, strips, and tags the next player, who puts on the outfit and runs and touches the finish line and so on. The team to complete the relay first is victorious.
HA! HA! HA!
Sometimes called gigglebelly, Ha! Ha! Ha! is an exercise in the ridiculous. On the floor or in the grass, have the kids lie down in any formation as long as every child has his or her head on another child's belly (the kids should form a chain, so that every child has another player's head resting on his or her belly, as well). At the whistle, the first child you point to should say "Ha!" The one whose head is on that child's belly should then say "Ha! Ha!" the third should say "Ha! Ha! Ha!" and so on. If you can make it all the way through the line before pandemonium results, you may indeed have a group of professional clowns in your midst.
HEADS UPThis game hardly even needs rules--the equipment is so irresistible, kids immediately devise their own variations. For each child, have ready a special hat you make ahead of time plus a small, soft object, such as a beanbag or Koosh ball. To make each hat, simply glue two plastic, cereal-size bowls bottom to bottom and fashion a chin strap by either stapling on an elastic band or looping one through tiny holes. The birthday child can decorate all the hats ahead of time, too. Let the guests take these hats and objects home so they can show them off to their families.
For one game, put kids in pairs about four feet apart. At the whistle, the first player to toss the soft object into his partner's hat, wins. For another variation, kids are on their own. The first child to toss the object into her own hat wins. (A photographic opportunity if there ever was one.)
CLOWN SCHOOL FOOD
Surprise your clowns with handwritten jokes at their place settings--that gives each guest a chance to get a laugh from the crowd (be sure to help those children who are just learning to read).
CLOWN SCHOOL INVITATIONS
Even acts of derring-do are funny business when you are a clown. To set up this high-wire routine, place a 2 by 4 on the floor or ground and gather your materials: an umbrella and a large-format (but not too thick) hardcover book. In this elimination game, each contestant first crosses the high wire with an umbrella in hand. All who survive make it to round two: crossing with a book on their heads. All who live through that ordeal go to round three: crossing with the book on their heads and the umbrella in their hands. All masters of the high wire win a prize.
This game hardly even needs rules--the equipment is so irresistible, kids immediately devise their own variations. For each child, have ready a special hat you make ahead of time plus a small, soft object, such as a beanbag or Koosh ball. To make each hat, simply glue two plastic, cereal-size bowls bottom to bottom and fashion a chin strap by either stapling on an elastic band or looping one through tiny holes. The birthday child can decorate all the hats ahead of time, too. Let the guests take these hats and objects home so they can show them off to their families.
