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This Months Theme |
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THE CIRCUS |
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The circus is a magical place, offering excitement & wonder to children of all ages. Whilst television & films may have knocked it off the number one entertainment spot & children no longer wish to run away & join the circus, it is still something enjoyed by everyone. Nowadays you are less likely to see animals performing due to the public's awareness in their conditions, but our theme has used ideas from the circus memories of our childhood. |
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Send out invitations in the shape of a big top or clowns face with the details on the back. Alternatively, send out as a flyer advertising the circus coming to town & including the details of the party.
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A circus is always colourful, starting from the moment you see the big top & through to all the performers in their costumes.
Start by creating a big top. If you've got room in the garden for a marquee, great. If not, use lengths of material to transform an indoor room into a big top. Tie one of the short ends of a piece of material or sheet to a central point on the ceiling such as a light fitting (make sure it's not so close that it will heat up & burn when the light is on!). Fix the 2 corners of the other end to the wall about 2 foot down from the ceiling so that it makes a triangle. Fix another piece of material to the end of the first so that it covers the wall & hangs to the floor. If the first piece of material is long enough, this can be done in one. Repeat so that the whole of the room is covered.
Decorate the room with balloons, streamers & clown faces on the walls. Place hoops & juggling balls around the room for the children to play with. If you know someone that can juggle, get them to come & teach the children.
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Ask everyone to dress as a person or animal connected with the circus such as a ringmaster, clown, strong man, lion, elephant or acrobat.
For a clown, make elasticated baggy trousers in colourful material using a simple pattern. To make a large bow tie, fold a piece of material 24in x 10in in half so that it is 12in x 10in. Sew up 2 sides and almost to the end of the 3rd, leaving a gap of 2 inches. Turn inside out & handsew the hole. Scrunch the 2 long sides of the material together to make a bow & wrap a piece of material 2in x 4in around it & sew in place. Sew onto a t-shirt. Use a semi-circle of card to make a cone hat & decorate with pompoms. Use pompoms to decorate shoes as well. Use face paints or theatrical makeup to create a clown face.
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animal sandwiches (use animal - shaped cutters) |
cake in shape of clowns face or big top |
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individual clown face pizzas |
mini lion bars |
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large sawdust (bowls of crisps) |
red grapes on either end of cocktail stick as dumpbells |
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safety net attached to bottles full of sand, filled with mini babybel & cheddar |
Cadbury's animal bicuits (available from supermarkets) or make your own |
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horses nosebag (carrots, celery, peppers) |
Ice-cream |
Horses
& bareback riders - the children stand in a circle in pairs,
one as the horse & the other as the bareback rider, standing
behind the horse. If the person calling shouts horses, all the horses
run clockwise round the circle & back to their place where the
rider jumps on their back. The last pair to do this are out. If
riders are called, they run clock wise round the circle before
jumping on the horses back. Chaos reigns if horses & riders are
called at the same time!
Pin
the nose on the clown - draw the face of a clown on a large
piece of paper, including the nose. Put a piece of Blu-tack on a
small red plastic ball & get the children to attach in turn, blindfolded.
Hoop
the bottle - put some sand in some plastic bottles set at
different distances & with points written on them (ie 5 points if
near, 10 points if further away). The children throw 5 hoops each
& try to get them over the bottles & gain as many points as possible.
Clown
race
- split the children into 2 teams. Each team has a clowns outfit laid
out infront of them including large shoes or flippers. On the word
go, the first child in each team dresses in the outfit, runs to the
other end of the room & back, then takes off the outfit. The 2nd
child does exactly the same, until each child in the team has had a
go. The first team to finish wins.
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This Months Theme |
