A Pokemon Carnival 6th Birthday Party

By the time he turned 6, my son and his elder sister, were both into Pokemon. Even I had had my fair share of playing ‘Pokemon Go’! Choosing a theme was not difficult at all. But I decided to give the Pokemon themed party a little twist and turned it into a Pokemon Carnival. Read on to see how I created a Pokemon themed carnival and what games and activities were included.

A Pokemon Carnival

My son’s 6th birthday party was a lot of fun because we combined his favorite cartoon characters Pokemon along with fun carnival games. The concept of the party was simple. We invited the guests to the Pokemon carnival where they played different games to win Pokemon figures as prizes. ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’ as the Pokemon tagline goes! As the guests arrived, I handed them an empty loot bag. They had to fill it up themselves by participating in the carnival style games.

Pokemon Figures to Collect

The main purchase for this party was a whole lot of Pokemon. They are available on Ebay India and you can also order from Aliexpress which is what I did. I ordered 144 pieces in all! These figures were the game prizes as well the return gifts along with candy and chocolate.

My kids help sort them into different categories. There were Grass Pokemon, Water Pokemon and 4-5 other types of Pokemon that I had no clue what to do with. I created specific games with the Grass and Water Pokemons and mixed the rest.

DIY Pokeball

The next major thing we needed to do was get some Pokeballs. Now pokeballs are very expensive and buying a dozen to hand out to all guests is not possible. So, I decided to make my own. I looked around in stores for surprise ball shaped candy (like Cadbury Gems Ball and Chocos Ball) and found this ‘Magic Boll’ (yes, that’s how it is spelt) in all white. You cannot imagine my delight! I bought an entire box, ripped off the plastic label and used a permanent marker to color the top half red.

I made plenty of these to give one each to every guest as well as more to be won in games. The ones given to the guests at the beginning of the party were stuffed with a pokemon, candy and sticker tattoos.

Carnival Decor

I hosted the party on my rooftop terrace. The decor was simple, but each game booth required some unifying color scheme. We chose red and yellow as those are the colors of the Pokeball and the most popular Pokemon – Pikachu!

There was a major glitch to be overcome this time, though! I had ordered a bunch of Pokemon themed decorations from my favorite online party store Pretty Ur Party well in advance. However, due to issues with the courier company, I did not receive my stuff at all (still haven’t!). They are usually very prompt with their deliveries but this ill-fated thing had to happen this time around. So, the table covers, the candles, the Pokemon posters, personalized banners and the bunting were all to be done without.

I waited until the last day for the package to turn up. But when it did not, I stayed up late the night before the party and printed out some Pokemon pictures from the internet and used some large stickers along with them to decorate.

Pokemon Carnival Games

I modified some of the popular carnival games to make them Pokemon themed. ‘Ring the Bottle’ became ‘Ring the Grass Pokemon’. ‘Ping Pong Toss’ became ‘Pokeball Toss’. I welcomed the guests to the ‘Pokemon Carnival’ and explained to them that this party was a little different. They had to win their own return gifts! I gave them one Pokeball (stuffed with one Pokemon figure, some candy, stickers and tattoos) to begin with. I also gave them a loot bag to store their prizes in.

Then, we begin playing each game systematically. I made it easy to win at least one Pokemon in every game with plenty of scope to win more than just one. I rarely do win-lose games because I do not like any of the kids to go back home disappointed. It is supposed to be a fun birthday party after all and not competitive sports.

All the kids enjoyed every single game. Here’s what we had 🙂

Pokeball Toss

For this game, the kids received another Pokeball (empty) to participate in the game. Just like tossing a ping pong ball in the paper cups, the kids tossed the pokeball into the cups. Kids got as many chances as they wanted to win at least one prize. The center cup won 3 pokemons and the others 2 and 1.

Ring the Grass Pokemon

My kids helped me sort out the ‘Grass Pokemon’ and I used some of these in this game. Since, the figures were very small, I used ‘bangles’ as rings. Every child got several chances until they won at least one pokemon.

Pokemon Toss

Just like ‘Penny Toss’, the kids took out there best pokemon (from the ones they had already won) and used it to hit the target. If their pokemon landed in the center circle, they won 3 more pokemons. In the larger circle, they won 2 and if it landed anywhere inside the yellow base paper, they still won a pokemon.

Ring Toss

This was a regular ring toss game. I had this inflatable Cupcake ring toss game from my son’s 1st birthday party and used it. The prizes were again, more Pokemon!

Spin the Candy Wheel

A win-win game! I made a wheel using a paper plate and divided it into 8 sections. I glued candy and chocolate wrappers on 7 sections and pokemon stickers on one of them.

The kids took turns spinning it and won whatever luck had in store for them! If the wheel stopped on the stickers, they won 3 figures.

We did this until all the candy was finished (and there was plenty of it!).

Pokemon Race

The kids then took out their favorite pokemon from their loot bags for a race. I made a racing game like a board game and used a large foam dice to play the game.

Some places on the board game were ‘Miss a Turn’. ‘Go back 2 places’, ‘Jump forward 2 places’ to add interest.

Hot Wheels Track ‘Car Stunt’ Carnival Game

For the next game, I simply used one of my son’s Hot Wheels racing tracks. Those who completed the stunt once got a Pokemon and I gave as many chances as they wanted in order to ensure every child earned at least one. For 2 consecutive perfect stunts, the children got 2 Pokemons and 3 for a hattrick.

Fish the Water Pokemon

This was the most loved game of the party and a spin-off of the popular carnival game -Duck Pond. My kids helped sort out the ‘Water Pokemon’. I prepared them for the game by tying a pipe cleaner or a chenille stick on to them and creating a loop on top. Each of these was placed in a disposable plastic bowl so they would float on water.

I then filled a tub with water and floated the pokemon in it. I tried using a submersible pump to make the water move in circles but it was going too fast. So, I simply stirred the water using a large stick at the beginning of the game. The kids tried to ‘fish’ out the pokemon using wooden ‘cocktail sticks’ as fishing rods.

Basket Ball

The final game of our Pokemon Carnival was a basket ball toss – a classic carnival game. I used my son’s indoor basket ball stand for this game. Every successful toss won the children a pokemon. More pokemons for more than one tosses in a row.

After all the games were over, the children went over each booth again until we exhausted all the pokemon figures. I served potato chips and fruit drinks while the kids played the games. The happy and hungry kids were then, ready for some food.

Pokemon/Pokeball Themed Party Food

The food saw some Pokemon influence too. The red and white Pokeball gave us the inspiration for the cake and the pizza.

The kids had a lot of fun and I did too! I hope my ideas inspire you for your own fun children’s parties. Do leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments below 🙂