Carnival Game Idea – Fish Bowl Toss!

Blue and Green Food Coloring Can be added.

Keep it Simple - Organize Balls in Mini Pails for Game.

FISH BOWL TOSS GAME - SETUP & DIRECTIONS

Short Carnival Savers video/gif shows a group of fish bowls arranged close together on a table and a ping pong ball being tossed in.

Supplies for Fish Bowl Toss:

24 Mini Fish Bowls (plastic are best) - Note: We no longer sell this item - but See Our Top Pick on Amazon! #CommisionsEarned
8 -12 Squirt Fish
Pitcher or clean, rinsed out milk jug for water
Ping Pong or Table Tennis Balls (12 and more are best)
Mini pails to hold Ping Pong Balls to hand to carnival players to play the game (see above)
Table to hold Fish Bowls or Flat Ground
Blue material or tablecloth
Blue and/or green food coloring to color the water (optional)
Foot Traffic Cones to mark "stand behind" lines
Ticket Box and Game Sign
Carnival Prizes - consolation and top carnival prizes - fish prizes are great fun!

Game Setup:

First, we want to say that this carnival game is a traditional and very popular carnival game!

If you go to a professional carnival - this is one of the games you are sure to see! We have made this "fish friendly" and recommend only using pretend fish for the fish bowls!

Before the carnival, fill the fish bowls with water to the neck of the bowl. Next, choose about 8 colorful squirt fish to add to just 12 (or half) of the 24 bowls. (see image above.) In order for fish to sink to the bottom, immerse them into the water and squeeze them to release the air and replace them with water - your squirt fish should sit on the bottom for your game.

How to Play the Fish Bowl Toss Carnival Game:

Players are given 3 balls to try their chance at getting a ball into a fishbowl with a squirt fish in the bottom. If they get their ball into an empty fish bowl or no fish bowl at all, they receive a consolation prize.

How Players Win a Prize:

No Balls into Fish Bowl with Pretend Fish = Consolation Prize
One or more Balls into Fish Bowl with Pretend Fish = Top Prize

Like all carnival games, we recommend you set this one up and test it out. In our tests, giving players 3 chances, they have about a 1 in 12 - 15 chance of getting a ball into a fishbowl with a colorful squirt fish when standing about 3 - 5 feet from the game.

Older players did not do much better than younger players - this game looks much easier than it is!!

Additional Hints & Tips:

Note: The plastic fish bowls can be pricey so we came up with a similar carnival game that uses plastic cups. Click to see our Fish Cup Carnival Game idea from your friends at Carnival Savers!

Looking for a teen carnival game idea - try the Shark Tank Carnival Game which is very similar to this game but is perfect for older kids, teens & adults!!