Circus Birthday Party

Circus Party Food

Step right up! All the carnival classics (and a few new twists) are here and ready to go—no tickets required.

What’s more fitting for a circus party than Mini Corn Dogs on a Stick? Made with cocktail wieners and refrigerated flaky biscuits, they come together in just 30 minutes and are the perfect size for little ringmasters.

No circus is complete without lions, tigers and bears, so we’re serving up animal-shaped fruit on a stick. To make, cut one-inch slices of fruit (we used watermelon, muskmelon and cantaloupe) then use small-sized cookie cutters to create animal shapes. For finishing touches, skewer with colorful paper straws or wooden sticks.

For a clever dessert, we turned everyone’s favorite ice-cold treat into easy-to-make Snow Cone Cupcakes. All you need is Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting plus coarse decorator sugar crystals. Once baked and decorated, slide them into Styrofoam cups, add small plastic spoons, and presto!

Circus Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

For the main event, we can’t get enough of this super-simple Big Top Circus Cake, baked in a 13x9 pan. To decorate, just cut off the top two corners, pipe frosting using a pastry bag with a star tip and add a triangle flag.

We also made these adorable Animal Cupcakes—made easy with the help of Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting plus pretzels and candies—to accompany our big-top birthday cake.

Circus Party Invitations

Get the word out about your big bash while letting guests in on the theme with these circus celebration invitations. They fit perfectly into A7-sized envelopes and you can print two per 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock.

Birthday Party Photo Booth

Capture all the excitement and fun of your circus party with a DIY photo booth. For a colorful and inexpensive backdrop, we recommend using a roll of wrapping paper or a patterned tablecloth. And since the best part of any photo booth is the props, we created these cute circus animal masks you can download and print for free—simply print, cut and attach to wooden sticks or paper straws. To round out your choices, grab whatever else you have around the house, like hats, glasses and other fun dress-up accessories. Then let the picture taking begin!

Circus Party Favors

After a day under the big top, send little friends home with their very own bag of Circus Snack Mix. We scooped ours into clear bags, nestled them into cute red and white paper cups and attached a circus-themed thank-you tag.