Read a popular picture book aloud to a group, pointing out specifics in the illustrations as you go along. After you finish, instruct the families to work together to write a different story using the book's illustrations. Put copies of the read-aloud book at tables for reference and encourage all members of the family to participate in the drawing as well as the writing. To quickly make a small book, fold a stack of three to six pieces of paper into quarters, then staple along the single seam. Finish by cutting the top edges off the remaining seams.
Encourage a new crop of paper bag puppeteers with a station where families make characters out of paper bags. Encourage families to go home and act out their own plays with the puppets, or to find their own scripts and have fun. Supplies for this activity include paper bags, fabric, markers, glue, glitter, feathers, foam and Reader's Theater scripts. Combine the family rewrite with the puppets by having a puppet show re-enactment of the story that is being read aloud, and show families how they can create their own puppet stages at home by performing behind a couch or a cloth-draped table.
Many kids love to see their favorite characters come to life, so having one as a guest at the carnival generates excitement for the evening. Ask a staff member or community member to dress up as a popular character with a homemade, purchased or rented costume. Make the visit more exciting by having the character host an activity relevant to the book from which he comes. Encourage students to pose for photos with the character. Costume rental companies sometimes lend out character costumes for low or no fees to schools.
Give each person a fill-in-the blank story, where specific words or phrases are replaced with underlines. Under the missing word's line, write the type of word or part of speech that goes there. For example, "After that the ______________ (noun from previous sentence) walked over to the _____________ (noun) and decided to _____________ (verb) it." Encourage creativity and silliness, and set up a wall where families post their finished stories for the amusement of the crowd. Consider picking some of the funnier stories to read out loud during announcements or a group address. Having students create the fill-in-the-blank stories during class gets them more involved in the carnival, and gives you a larger selection of stories.