Clown Bean Bag Toss Carnival/Circus Game

Are you looking to create your own bean bag toss game?

So glad you found your way here. I was looking to do the same for my son’s first birthday party that was a circus/carnival theme.

I was very hesitant about creating my own due to the fact that I am an awful drawer but I was determined to NOT spend money on something I did not have to.

I found this game idea on Pinterest but could not find a template or even think about how I would print all this out to trace. Again, I cannot draw to save my life … I draw stick figures as people! How would I ever draw a clown? And a HUGE one at that?

Well … I’m not going to lie and say this was easy because it wasn’t AND especially because I am SO picky, it took me 12 hours+ total to draw and paint this. Yup, you read that right … 12 hours+. Am I insane? Maybe … but I enjoy these types of things. I sat outside for a few hours, had my iPad with a clown photo and went to town. Ended up coming inside to finish because it got dark. I then painted it by hand and stayed up super late. I was and still am so proud of myself.

Now you ask, what happened to the clown game after the party? It got recycled and thrown away. My heart broke into little pieces … all my hard work for one day. But this one day was ALLLLLL worth it to me!

Let me walk you through the steps on what I used and how I created this game:

  • 4ft x 4ft Cardboard
  • Pencil with eraser (I needed extra 😂)
  • Scissors/Craft Knife
  • Paint
  • Paint Brush (variety of sizes)
  • Bean Bags

The cardboard we had picked up from a friend’s family business he works at. They are always receiving large products and have a ton of cardboard. We decided to cut the cardboard 4ft x 4ft. From here, I used Pinterest and Google to find a clown image I thought I liked best and I tried to draw as best as I could.

At first, I drew lightly on the cardboard because it’s easier to erase. After I drew out the clown, I went back to fix the shapes such as the nose, eyes, hat, etc. I used a variety of things I had around the house that could help me make circular shapes. Everything else I freehanded and I erased A LOT because I am super picky but I am so proud of how it came out.

After I was satisfied with how it looked, I started to paint the clown. I had cheap paint I purchased from the dollar store a while ago. Because it was more watered down than usual, I had to go over the same spots a few times on the clown but I didn’t go crazy. I knew it would be tossed after the party.

The bumps on the cardboard are from my elbows/knees trying to draw/paint comfortably haha – oops!

After everything dried, I then cut out the circles for the kids to toss the bean bags through. My husband added three wooden pieces behind the cardboard to help it stay up for support. If you look through the clown’s mouth and bottom left balloon you can see the wood pieces (On the very first image). The bean bags we already had because we play cornhole however you can purchase the bean bags anywhere. We had the standard bean bags, however, you can purchase smaller ones that may be easier for kids but these worked great.

*The sign taped to the game was to let the guests know the name of the game, the directions on “how to play” and how many tickets they would win. I quickly made the sign in photoshop but you can use Paint, MS Word, any type of program that allows you to type.

  • Name of Game: Clown Toss
  • Instructions: Throw 2 bean bags into any of the 3 holes to win 2 tickets
  • Tickets Won: 2

I hope this encourages you to create your own bean bag toss game, even if it isn’t a clown OR for a circus/carnival theme party. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself because you will be surprised by how well your project turns out. Just stay focused and be patient.

If you haven’t seen my original blog post about my son’s first birthday party, check it out here. You can find the details of his party and other fun projects/carnival games!

Thank you for checking out my blog post. Don’t forget to pin to view later! 💙 As always, feel free to comment with any questions and I will try my best to answer them.

Check out this blog post. I found my inspiration for the clown drawing on this site through Pinterest. They have amazing ideas!

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