All of the kids knew that I had once been a Circus Clown. I didn't actually put my clown make-up on for them, for a couple of reasons: a) I didn't want to scare any of the more clown-a-phobic kids, b) I didn't want to have to deal with the kids wanting make-up, and c) I just didn't feel like it. I did, however, use Circus Day as an opportunity to perform a little bit for the kids in the hopes of keeping their attention and inspiring them to participate.

I started the class by getting the kids in a circus-y mood. I put on some circus music: "Barnum & Bailey's Favorite," and we marched around the room like we were clowns in big floppy shoes. We pretended to jump on a trampoline. And we pretended that we were clowns squeezing into the clown car. And we finished by taking a big ol' clown fall.

We next moved on to juggling. I got the kids to sit down for a little bit, and I did some juggling for them and a little bit of clown shtick. Then I pulled out the juggling scarves. I demonstrated some juggling with the scarves, and then I gave each kid one scarf to try and work with. They were great at the throwing the scarf in the air part... not so great with the catching part. We played around with the scarves for awhile, played some catch between ourselves, and then it was time to move on to the next activity.

Tightrope walking! I stretched a piece of masking tape across the floor, and we took turns walking the "highwire." We walked forward. We walked backward. We walked sideways. And, most fun of all, we walked the wire... and fell off! The kids really enjoyed that part!

I've discovered that the kids enjoy pretending to be animals. So we played a circus animal guessing game. I put pictures of various circus animals into a top hat, and each kid pulled out a picture and had to act like that animal. The other kids had fun guessing what circus animal their classmate was portraying.

We finished up the session with some magic. I got the kids to sit down again and I did some simple little magic for them. And then I tried to teach them a cheesy clown magic trick: you hold a towel in front of your legs then lift it up to reveal two feet. Then you lower the towel and lift it up again, revealing only one foot! The kids were eager to try, but most of them lacked the coordination to balance on one leg. But they all had fun trying, which I guess is the important part.

Before the class finished and the kids departed, I had a parting gift for everyone: their very own clown nose! They were all very excited... although I think they would have been excited even if I had given them a wadded up ball of garbage of their very own to take home. Nonetheless, they all looked very cute heading home with their bright red clown noses. Circus Day was a success!