Games that rival street festivals and variety shows!? Crowd-pleasers for school cultural festivals
Looking for games or events that will get everyone excited at your school festival? There are plenty of easy, classroom-friendly activities like the “10-in-a-row Kendama Challenge,” “Gachapon,” and “Thousand-String Pull,” and with a bit of creativity, they can be even more fun.
They’re simple yet adjustable in difficulty, and perfect for instantly boosting the atmosphere at your venue.
In this article, we’ll introduce mini-games for school festivals that are sure to put smiles on everyone’s faces.
They’re also easy to prepare, so be sure to use them as a reference!
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Large-group physical activity games (11–20)
airsoft
Survival games are matches where players shoot at each other with airsoft guns in forests or abandoned factories.
How about turning this into an indoor game perfect for a school festival? Convert a classroom into a maze using cardboard, and decorate it with items like plastic strings and balloons.
It’s best to theme the decorations to resemble an actual airsoft field, such as an urban area or a forest.
Let participants make their way through the maze-like field with pounding hearts and excitement.
Even soft toy guns sold at 100-yen shops are more than enough to have fun.
hula hoop
The hula hoop—something almost everyone has tried at least once.
Once you get the hang of it, it’s easy to keep it spinning, but when you try again after a while, it can be surprisingly tricky—that’s the fun of it! Start with several people at the same time and play an elimination game where anyone who drops the hoop is out; it’s bound to get exciting.
Precisely because it’s such a simple activity, competing with multiple people makes it even more lively.
All you need are hula hoops, so how about adding it to your list of performance ideas?
Festival Stall Classics: Games (1–10)
cutout
It’s a nostalgic old game, so many of today’s students might not know it.
It’s a game where you cut out a flat, board-like candy along the lines of a mold.
It looks easy, but it’s surprisingly difficult, so I think it really gets people excited.
I think not only students but teachers will enjoy it too.
Target shooting
Isn’t it cool to go bang and knock down prizes at a shooting gallery? Let’s make that classic festival game by hand and use it as a booth for your school or culture festival.
For the targets, you can place the actual prizes or substitute items like paper cups—either works! You can also use a points system and let people choose prizes based on the points they knock down.
The shooter can be easily and safely made from chopsticks and rubber bands.
Adjust the distance to the targets according to the shooter’s size and age so everyone can enjoy it fairly.
board game
As for games, by adding many more such as Daifugō, Hancho, poker, roulette, and mahjong, lots of people can enjoy them without getting bored.
You can’t play games like mahjong without knowing the rules, but with Concentration or Sevens, even children can have fun, so try choosing according to the age group.
Aquarium coin pusher game
The fish-tank coin drop game is a game where you place a dish inside a water-filled tank and drop coins from above; you score points when a coin lands in the dish.
In water, coins flutter down slowly, so they don’t sink exactly where you aim—this unpredictability is part of the fun.
It’s easy to set up with just a tank, a dish, coins, and water, which makes the prep super simple—a nice bonus! You can also adjust the difficulty by changing the amount of water, so try experimenting with different water levels.
Super Ball scooping
Super ball scooping, a staple at festivals, is easy for both the organizers and the players! All you need are lots of super balls and a large container to hold them, water to float the balls, plus scoops (poi) and small containers—that’s it for setup! To scoop up lots of super balls, the key is to hook them along the rim of the poi as you scoop.
Even if the paper tears a little, you can still keep scooping by shifting your grip so you use an intact area of the poi.
When someone is having trouble, or when small children come by, it’s nice to quietly share these tips with them!