Wonderful school festival / cultural festival

Better than a theme park! Attractions perfect for school cultural festivals

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
Keyboard playerSAKI
I’ve been playing the Electone since I was six, mainly performing Disney music, anime songs, and music from dramas and films. I post performance videos on YouTube and social media, and I also give concerts. Building on my Electone experience, I took up synthesizer and piano during my student years and performed at school-sponsored events. As a writer, I’ve covered not only music-related topics but a wide range of genres, so I hope to draw on my experience to deliver articles that make readers think, “I want to try that!” or “I want to listen to that!”

Why not create theme-park-level fun together with your whole class? For your school festival attraction, you can actually build a full-fledged, hands-on experience right in your classroom.

From handmade whack-a-mole games and a carousel built with wood and pipes, to a VR-powered roller coaster…

You’ll feel the satisfaction of creating something with your classmates and the joy of seeing visitors’ smiles.

In this article, we’ll share everything from how to craft a Disney-like dream space to practical tips for building the attractions themselves.

Theme Park-style Attractions (1–10)

Virtual roller coaster

At the school festival, a homemade virtual roller coaster

Virtual roller coaster

You might want to try a roller coaster, but it can be difficult due to space or rules.

In such cases, we recommend trying a virtual roller coaster.

A virtual roller coaster is an attraction where you sit in a moving seat and watch point-of-view footage as if you were riding a real coaster.

You’re not actually moving, but you can experience the sensation of speeding along at high velocity.

Try adding touches that engage the senses—like setting up a fan for wind—to make it even more immersive.

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bouldering

NSG Summer Fest: Bouldering – Women’s Climbing

bouldering

Bouldering is gaining popularity, especially among women, as a new sport.

Because it’s popular with young people, it’s also a great option for a cultural festival or school festival attraction.

If you’re going to offer it as an attraction, how about building your own climbing wall? The preparation is quite demanding, but if you can pull it off, I think you can expect a large turnout.

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Viking

High school students hand-build the classic amusement park ride “Viking” for their school festival — smiles all around the class: “It’s so much fun!”

Viking

This is an impressive masterpiece.

They hand-built the amusement park attraction known as the “Viking” (pirate ship ride).

The rocking is powered manually by pulling on ropes.

It might seem dangerous, but it was designed in collaboration with a construction company, and they say it’s made to avoid breaking or collapsing.

Incidentally, more high schools have been building homemade roller coasters for their culture festivals, and when you see the serious look in the students’ eyes, you can’t help but think that projects like this might be a good thing.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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Theme Park-style Attractions (11–20)

water slide

I tried making a slider in the yard.

water slide

At large pools, the water slide is a headline attraction.

How about recreating one for your school festival? Of course, it’s not something you can throw together easily, but it seems some schools have actually built them for their festivals.

Work on the framework and the sliding surface under the guidance of professionals.

If you pull it off, it’s sure to become one of the event’s star attractions!

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Haunted Mansion

@144755421
Cultural Festival Translation Like-backWe recreated the Haunted Mansion for our school festival. It’s a ride-style attraction exclusively for single riders.
♬ Haunted Mansion – Tokyo Disneyland

One attraction you can practically always find at amusement parks and theme parks is the haunted house.

It’s also a staple for school festivals.

With that in mind, here’s an idea I recommend: use Disneyland’s attraction “The Haunted Mansion” as your motif.

The hallmark of The Haunted Mansion is that it’s a haunted house that isn’t too scary and even includes humorous elements.

Keeping that in mind, try creating a fun, lighthearted haunted house.

It could also be interesting to incorporate touches that evoke the original attraction.

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Authentic roller coaster “Space Travel”

We tried building a serious roller coaster at the 2024 school festival.

Authentic roller coaster “Space Travel”

If you’re going to build a roller coaster, why not aim for a full-fledged one? This time, we’re introducing an idea with the theme of “space travel.” The first important step is deciding the course.

Talk carefully with your teachers and make decisions while considering various factors: making the most of the limited classroom space, balancing fun and safety, and how much material you will use or can use.

Once the course is set, adding effects like lighting and smoke will bring it closer to a space-like atmosphere.

The work will be tough, but the memories of creating it together will surely be a lifelong treasure.

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VR Coaster

As a hands-on exhibit for a school or cultural festival, a VR roller coaster is highly recommended.

Recently, recreating a roller coaster in the classroom using desks and wood has become popular, and this attraction combines that setup with VR footage.

Because you can view stereoscopic visuals, the sense of fear is doubled, and it’s likely to become a very popular attraction!

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