All the State Fairs and Carnivals have been canceled this year. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy State Fair DIY fun at home. All the yummies and games that a State Fair brings can be easily made with just a few items and some creativeness. Why not create your own State Fair in your back yard. You can do it for about $100, maybe less if you have some of the items already.

 

Where To Get Items For Your State Fair DIY Fun At Home

Most of the items I got for these projects were bought at Amazon, Oriental Trading, and Lowe’s. But you could certainly look for things around your home, like the stuffed animals I used for prizes. They were bought at a sale a few years ago. I knew I would use them for something someday, now they will be donated.

Funnel Cake

It’s not a State Fair without all the good food. My favorite is the funnel cake. I seek it out as soon as I get there, and munch on it while I check out all the other attractions. The funnel cake kit that I got was so easy to use. I made 8 funnel cakes, and everyone of them was great. They were really easy to make, I was a little scared about the hot oil though. When I was little, I burnt my hand and caught our stove on fire trying to make donuts with hot oil. This was the first time since then that I have tried something like this.

 

More State Fair Food

Corn dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, oh my… There is always so much good food at a State Fair. Fried Oreos are another great one. It was so easy to create the State Fair DIY fun at home, I purchased the cotton candy at Amazon and put it in Ziploc bags that I cut the zipper off of. I placed a decorative straw inside of it and used a twist tie to seal it. I purchased the popcorn bags at Oriental Trading, they had a lot of State Fair products to choose from, like the table cloth and the little fish I used in one of the games.

 

State Fair Ring Toss Game

This is one of my favorite games to play at the State Fair. It is really easy to make, and very inexpensive. The ring toss game can be made with any size bottes and you can use almost anything that is round to toss at the bottles.

Items Needed

• 12 Bottles
• Deco Art paint – red and white
• Sponge brushes
• Card board box with dividers (you can make dividers out of cardboard too)
• Card stock to print sign
• Mason jar lids or anything round to use to toss on the bottle
• Red construction or scrapbook paper
• Scotch tape.

Directions

1. Paint 6 of the bottles red and 6 white.
2. You will need about 4 coats of paint on each bottle, be sure to let each coat dry for 10-20 minutes before applying the next coat.
3. I used construction paper on the box instead of painting it, but you could paint it red too.
4. Tape the paper to the box, completely cover it.
5. Paint the dividers, 1/2 of them red, and 1/2 of them white.
6. Place the bottles in rows and throw the rings around the tops, first 3 wins.

Fish In A Bowl

This game is another one of my favorite State Fair games. I never did win a fish, and I’m sure my parents were happy about that, but the fish I put in this game are just for fun. I purchased the fish at Oriental Trading, and you could use small fish bowls that you can purchase at the craft store, but I just used plastic cups.

Items Needed

• Big piece of wood, mine is 24″ x 24″
• Deco Art paint – blue
• Plastic cups or fish bowls
• Rubber fish
• Water
• Sponge brush
• Ping pong balls

Directions

1. Paint the wood blue, I only used one coat.
2. Place the cups on the wood.
3. Fill the cups 1/2 full with water.
4. Add the fish.
5. Throw the ping pong balls at the cups, 1st one in wins a fish.

 

The Dart Game

State Fairs are know for their games. And if you ask anyone what State Fair game do they remember the most, it’s always the dart game. Those darn balloons would never pop. This was a really fun game to create, and even more fun to play. I had the stuffed animals in my house from a sale I hit years ago, I think I bought them to donate and packed them away. But you could use items from the Dollar Store, or even things from around the house as prizes. I got the darts at Amazon, and the wood from Lowe’s.

Items Needed

• Big piece of plywood – I bought it at Lowes for around $10
• Deco Art paint – black, red, and white
• Painters tape
• Sponge brush
• Small round balloons
• Tacks
• Stuffed animals
• Card stock signs – I had them printed at Office Depot
• Glue Dots
• Darts

Directions

1. Paint the board black.
2. Measure and tape off the stripes to do the white then red paint.
3. You may need to do more then one coat of the red and white paint.
4. Be sure to let it dry for 10 – 20 minutes between coats.
5. Blow up the balloons and tack them to the board in rows.
6. Tack the stuffed animals around the board.
7. Place the signs at the top of the board using tape or glue dots.
8. Throw the darts to pop the balloons and win a prize.

 

Knock Em’ Down

For some reason the cups never got knocked down at the State Fair, but I promise these cups go down easily. You could use cans for this fun game too.

Items Needed

• Red solo cups
• Whiffle balls

Directions

1. Stack 6 cups in a triangle.
2. Knock the cups down with the ball.

Related – The Best Summer DIY Games