Bored kids? Put on a circus

NEW YORK — The swimmers have swum and ball players have played — and the dog days of August are still left to come. What can children do to make the rest of their summer fun instead of dull?

Put on their own circus, of course.

Troy Wunderle, the creative director of Circus Smirkus, a traveling youth circus based in Greensboro, Vt., says creative kids can pull together their own show within a day or two.

The work to put on the circus is half the fun, he says, and the details — the costumes, props and makeup — are as important as the acts themselves.

An easy cardboard set can be built with duct tape and big boxes, such as a kitchen appliance boxes, that have been opened and flattened. Children can paint big murals that can later be attached to trees or the side of the house.

(Wunderle suggests using tempera paint because it won’t adhere to clothing like acrylic paint.)

One idea is to have future circus performers lay down on the cardboard and have a partner trace them in different poses, maybe juggling, dancing or performing acrobatic feats. Once hung, these cardboard panels will look like a circus midway, Wunderle says.

A clown costume is easy to put together, all that’s needed is a floppy hat or wig and colorful mismatched clothes. But Wunderle advises wearing shoes that fit instead of those oversized clown shoes sold in costume shops.

For makeup, less is more. Dab a little red makeup on the nose and cheeks, and maybe a colored shadow on eyelids or under the lashes. Wunderle warns, though, that too much makeup could be scary to young children in the audience.

Another familiar face at the circus is the “strong man,” who can get his muscles from cotton T-shirts strategically stuffed in the biceps of a long-sleeve shirt.

Now that the characters and sets are in place, Wunderle says one of the easiest ways to entertain the audience is with a magic trick. Here’s how a team of two children can “levitate” a ball:

Hang a blanket to create a curtain, making sure it’s tall enough to hide a child from the audience. Have the magician in front of the curtain hold a foam ball level with the top of the curtain. While that child is explaining that the ball will stay raised without the help of human hands, the child behind the curtain can stick the bottom rear of the ball — which should be hidden by the curtain — with a stick.

Once the magic words are spoken and the magician removes his hands from the ball, the behind-the-scenes child can begin to move the ball from left to right using the stick.

“Anyone can master this trick. If it’s done well, it can look very real,” says Wunderle.

Ambitious magicians can add balls — and kids behind the curtain, he adds.

Other acts can take advantage of the performers’ other talents; gymnastics, dance, singing, comedy and even cheerleading all have a place at the circus.

Circus Smirkus is a nonprofit organization created 17 years ago to expose children to the multicultural world of the circus. In addition to its traveling Big Top Tour, Circus Smirkus offers a summer cam to children 6-18 to learn and develop circus skills.