Shark Bank Carnival Booth Idea

Excellent items to add to your sharks!

TIP: Use large cans and tape to add the fins to the table!

SHARK BANK Booth - SETUP & DIRECTIONS

Supplies for Shark Bank Booth:

Large Table or another way to display your sharks
Tablecloth and other decorations for tables - we added the water skirt beach decoration
Shark Treat Boxes - or Homemade Shark-themed Bags (SAVE for NEXT YEAR!)
Leftover assortment of small toys, small games or fun pencils & erasers to fill bags. (generally, you will add 2 - 3 small items per bag)
*IMPORTANT - You NEED SOME Top Prizes like CASH or Gift Cards for this booth to be fun!
A Top Prize Board advertising what some lucky players could win!
Gold Coins, Cash or "Top WINNER TICKETS" to designate top prize winners!!
Ticket Box for tickets

Booth Setup:

Before your carnival, ask volunteers to help you fill your "sharks" with an assortment of small toys or prizes.

For your "bank" for some of your winners - be sure to put in Gold Coins or cash or gift cards!

IMPORTANT - How do you make this game REALLY FUN - you must have some Top Prizes!!

The kids get excited, trying their chance at winning a fantastic top prize instead of just a bunch of small prizes in the bag.

Top prize ideas can include items that are worth at least 3 - 5 dollars or more. Be creative, you can use $5 gift cards to a local yogurt shop, a set of movie tickets, or other larger stuffed animals.

How to Play:

Kids pay tickets to choose the "shark" they want from your display, hoping they get lucky and "bank some cash" or a gift card to one of their favorite hangouts!

Be sure to let the kids know you are keeping the "SHARKS" for next year or you will need to increase the price of the tickets to cover the cost of the sharks too!

Additional Hints & Tips:

This booth is great for any summertime carnival, festival, or event with an underwater or sea adventure theme. It also gives you a great way to use up the "odds and ends" of small toys and prizes left over from the previous year.

Quick Tip: Ensure your volunteers understand that the value of the bags should be much less than the ticket cost for each try (except for the 5%-10% who are top winners!) This is especially important for a fundraising carnival or festival!

For example, if you are charging the equivalent of $1 per shark, make sure the goodies inside are worth about 25 - 40 cents each total to allow for the cost of the "bank" that some folks will win! The carnival players are really hoping to win one of the top prizes - like in a lottery! 

NOTE: if the small toys and prizes are leftover from another event and the odds and ends would not be used at another booth - then they are almost free - so have fun with this booth, and hopefully, you can have some local businesses donate the items for your top prizes so the booth is very low cost!! :) We do not recommend saving old candy for this booth. If you use candy, be sure it is fresh for this event! 

Remember, if a top prize does not fit into the bag, simply display the prize and put a colorful slip of paper in the bag to let the carnival player know they won!

Be sure your carnival players know what awesome top prizes they could win - so make a winner's board to get everyone excited about winning a top prize!

Don't forget that $5 gift cards to local ice cream shops, favorite kids' restaurants, and toy stores are a great item to add to the bags, too, and could be donated as well!

Also, if a small business donates something worth $10 - $20 for your non-profit and it is not a good fit for the silent auction - this SHARK BANK BOOTH is a great spot for smaller donated "kid-friendly" items!