Turn your culture festival classroom into a theme park! A collection of handmade mini-game ideas
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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Festival staples: Fairground games (11–20)
Goldfish scooping
Goldfish scooping is a classic game at cherry-blossom viewings and summer festivals that everyone knows.
You keep scooping up goldfish until your scooper (poi) breaks.
Give the goldfish you caught as a prize.
You’ll need to prepare the right environment—like oxygen and food—so the goldfish can swim actively, but it’s something people of all ages will enjoy.
Shooting game using paper cupsNEW!
@amaririsu_care 🌺 Paper Cup Activity 🌺 We crafted paper cups, put ping-pong balls in them, and played a target-shooting game ✨ Everyone—both the participants and the staff—was completely absorbed, like kids again ♡Shooting Gallery# Ping-pong ballpaper cupTranslationTranslationHandmadetranslationSmileFukuoka PrefectureKitakyushu CityYahatanishi Ward#WelfareCaregivingNursingElderlyTranslationRecreation#realmeซูมให้ได้ซีน
♬ bounce (i just wanna dance) – фрози & joyful
A shooting game that uses cute-looking paper cups and keeps preparation costs low.
The setup is simple, making it perfect for school festivals.
For the targets, stick tape around a hula hoop with the adhesive side facing outward.
For the air cannon base, cut out the bottom of a paper cup and attach a balloon over the opening to assemble it.
Once it’s ready, load a ping-pong ball and shoot it toward the target.
It’s also recommended to place tape on the floor at different distances from the target to create varying levels of difficulty.
Super Ball scoopingNEW!
This is a classic at festival stalls! Of course kids love it, but surprisingly, junior high and high school students really get into it too.
Prepare a container of whatever size you like to float the super balls.
Add dividers inside the box, pour in water, and float the super balls—that’s it.
If you want to create a flow of water, it’s a good idea to put in a motor with a propeller that runs underwater.
You can use store-bought scoops (poi) to catch the super balls, or make your own poi-like tool using wire—both are fine! It’s easy to customize the design, so try making it in whatever shape you like.
Mini Whack-a-MoleNEW!
The big, game-center-sized whack-a-mole is great, but this miniature version doesn’t require much strength, so anyone can enjoy it easily! Prepare some cardboard and make a box for the moles to go into.
Create levers so the moles can pop their heads up, and place the moles on top of the levers.
Make a top board with holes for the moles to pop out of, and place it over the box to finish! When you press the levers with your fingers, the moles will pop up, so the student acting as the staff member should press the levers at random.
Then have the players whack the popping moles with a hammer made of cardboard!
gachapon
Gachagacha machines, where you insert a coin and turn a lever to get a prize, can be found just about everywhere nowadays and are popular even with people from overseas.
Let’s set up one of these machines so people can enjoy the excitement of not knowing what will come out.
Making it completely random with the contents hidden is one option, but adding a window or using transparent capsules could let players enjoy aiming for a specific prize.
If the mechanism for how items come out is too simple, it becomes too easy to target them, so it might be better to make the path they travel and the structure before the exit more complex.
Ball Toss Game
The ball-toss game you often see at amusement parks and arcades.
Each player gets a set number of balls and competes to see whether they can land them in the targets and how many they can get in.
The ones you find at facilities where a roar sounds when a ball goes into the mouth-shaped target are pricey, but it might be fun to try making that part yourself.
It really amps things up if lights flash or flashy music plays when a ball goes in.
Try building it using cardboard and scrap materials!
Festival and fair classic games (21–30)
lottery game with many strings (Senbonbiki)
A senbonbiki booth where prizes are lined up, each attached to many strings.
You often see senbonbiki at festivals, temple fairs, and events.
You pick just one string from the tangle, and you get the prize attached to it.
Choose and pull a string with a flutter of excitement—wondering, “What prize will I get?” Because the prizes are visible, senbonbiki also sparks customers’ desire to “give it a try.” It’s sure to make cultural festivals and school festivals even more exciting.
