The school carnival planning guide

This guide is for the volunteers organizing a school carnival, including those running one for the first time.

Where a number appears it is a published price you can check. What your district requires is up to your district, so ask them directly.

Start with the paperwork and the date

It is tempting to start with the fun part and pick attractions. Do not. Start with these two, and neither is equipment.

• Your district's paperwork. Approval, facility use, and insurance requirements differ by district. Ask how long anything needing board sign-off takes.
• The date itself. Pick it early and hold the equipment once it is set.

Get both moving in week one.

An eight week timeline

Eight weeks is comfortable and six is workable. With more time, start at the top and spread the steps out.

Weeks 8 to 7: lock the frame

• Pick the date and a rain date, if your venue allows one.
• Submit whatever your district requires for facility use and event approval.
• Ask the district, in writing, what insurance documentation it needs from vendors, and in what form.
• Set a total budget and decide whether this is a fundraiser or a break-even community event. That decision shapes the budget.

Weeks 6 to 5: the site walk

• Walk the space with a custodian or facilities lead.
• Count working outdoor outlets and note where they are.
• Measure your usable footprint, then subtract the fire lanes, doors and walkways you cannot block.
• Get quotes. Ask for the certificate of insurance at quote stage, not after you pay.

Weeks 4 to 3: commit

• Book equipment and pay deposits. Ours are 50% of the total order, and a credit card is required for the deposit.
• Open volunteer signups. Work out your slots from your layout.
• Confirm the indoor fallback and which attractions can move into it.

Weeks 2 to 1: the details

• Publish the layout and the volunteer roster.
• Confirm delivery and pickup windows in writing, including who will be on site to receive.
• Brief booth volunteers on their game and on who to fetch if something goes wrong.

The day

• Someone with a phone and authority meets the delivery crew. Name that person in advance.
• Walk the site once everything is up, before the first family arrives.

What it costs

These are prices read from our own product pages, so you can check every one. They exclude delivery, which is charged separately and based on the miles to your event location. Setup and takedown are included in the rental price.

Carnival games. We currently list 38 of them, from $25 to $899. The most common price is $65, and 14 of the 38 sit at that price, which makes budgeting unusually easy: a row of six classic booth games is around $390.

• $65 each: Mini Cornhole, Outlaws Knockdown Game, Winter Ring Toss and eleven others at the same price.
• $125 to $150: Anti Gravity, Giant Yard Pong, Fore in a Row Golf.
• Headline attractions: 3 Hole LED Mini Golf $399, 6 Hole $599, 9 Hole $899.

Concessions. Reading the product pages in August 2026, the Cotton Candy Machine, Popcorn Popper and Snow Cone Machine are each from $115, and the Carnival Treat Shop is from $295.

Staffing. Our published rate for event attendants is $75 per hour, described on our FAQ as being to manage large events. If parent volunteers run the booth games, decide early which attractions need a paid attendant, because it moves both the budget and the volunteer count.

A worked example. Six $65 games, a cotton candy machine and a popcorn popper comes to $620 before delivery. That is arithmetic on the published prices above, not a package we sell, and your delivery fee depends on your address.

The power and layout checklist

Check power and space before you book.

Power

• Inflatables run a blower continuously the whole time they are up. Every unit lists its 110V outlet requirement on its own product page, and the larger ones list more than one.
• Concession machines draw power as well, so place them where both the line and the outlets work.
• Count the outlets that work. A custodian can tell you which ones are dead.
• If there are not enough, our FAQ says: "If a 110V outlet is not available, such as at a park, we can provide a power generator for an additional charge." Flag it when you book, because it changes your total.

Space

• Our published rule is a minimum of 2 ft of clearance on all sides of an inflatable, and most units publish their own space required figure. Measure against that figure where it is listed, not against the unit's own dimensions.
• Look up as well as down. Check for overhead lines, basketball hoops and low branches.
• Surfaces are flexible: we can set up on grass, pavement, or indoors.
• On grass, one thing to raise with your facilities lead before the day: our units are staked into the ground for stability and safety, and the renter is responsible for having all utilities located prior to the event. On a school field, that is a conversation with the district rather than something a PTO should decide alone.

The paperwork to ask for in writing

Requirements differ by district, so we will not tell you what yours needs. We can tell you what to ask both parties for.

From your district, ask: what documentation it requires from an outside vendor, whether the school or district must be named as an additional insured, what coverage limits it expects, and the deadline for having it on file.

From any vendor, ask: for a certificate of insurance showing general liability coverage, with a policy period that covers your event date, issued to the school or district as your district specifies. A company with real coverage can send it quickly.

On our side, every KidZone team member is trained in SIOTO Advanced Inflatable Safety Operations standards, and we carry full general liability coverage for every event we deliver, licensed and insured in the State of Indiana. Our certificate of insurance and our W9 are both downloadable from our schools and churches page, which is usually faster than waiting on an email.

Weather, and the fallback you should decide early

For inflatables the limits are not negotiable: bouncers cannot be used if there are winds of 20 mph or more, and cannot be used in the rain. Deposits are 50% of the total order and are non-refundable, but you will be able to apply your deposit to a future event.

Decide the indoor fallback in week seven rather than on the morning. Since we can set up on grass, pavement, or indoors, work out which of your gyms, cafeterias and covered walkways can take which units, so rain means a room change instead of a cancellation.

Small things that make the day easier

• Tickets or wristbands, decided early. The choice affects your volunteer count.
• Put concessions where the line has room. Keep that line clear of the game booths.
• Name a single point of contact for every delivery, so the crew knows who to ask.
• Brief volunteers on their specific game before the gates open.
• Return equipment clean. Our FAQ notes a cleaning fee of $25 and up for units returned excessively dirty, which on a field day of mud and snow cones is worth a word to the volunteers.

Where to look at the options

Our full range with prices on every unit is on the carnival game rentals page. As our own catalog puts it, carnival games are the perfect party rental item for a school carnival, company picnic, fundraiser, or church fair.

If you are pricing a whole event rather than a couple of items, our FAQ says: "For a custom quote covering multiple units, school events, or corporate events, call (317) 316-8465 or email info@bountifulentertainment.com."

Common questions