Wonderful school festival / cultural festival

Games that rival street festivals and variety shows!? Crowd-pleasers 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!”

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!

Festival Stall Classics: Games (1–10)

Aquarium coin pusher game

Underwater Coin Drop Game

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.

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Super Ball scooping

Tips for scooping super balls!

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!

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Yo-yo fishing

I tried doing yo-yo fishing at home!

Yo-yo fishing

How about setting up a Yo-yo Fishing game, a favorite at Japanese festival stalls? There are actually ready-made kits that let you recreate it easily.

Most of them cost around 2,000–3,000 yen.

You can also prepare your own pool and water balloons.

To excite visitors, try offering a variety of balloon designs.

Also, when setting it up, having multiple dedicated air pumps on hand will be convenient and help save time.

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Laputa Shooting Range

@kazuyo_dayo
One year ago, we made a Laputa-themed shooting gallery for our school’s cultural festival.#CardboardCrafts Cultural Festival #Laputa Kazuyo
♬ Original song – Kazuyo – Kazuyo!

Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece, Castle in the Sky.

Whether you grew up with it or not, you probably know it.

Here’s a recommended idea: create a shooting gallery that recreates its fantastical world.

You could also incorporate display elements—decorate the entire classroom with greenery, or recreate the memorable character, the robot soldier, using cardboard.

Of course, you could also use other Ghibli works as motifs.

Pick the titles that seem most compatible with a shooting gallery.

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Fortune-teller’s House

@sundai_kanko
I’m doing fortune-telling 🤣 You can choose from three fortune-tellers!Sundai College of Tourism and Foreign Languages & Business Sundai Tourism vocational school Railway Vocational School Fun school Technical college Vocational school student Department of Railway Service School Festival
♬ Egypt, arabic, ethnic song loop(241802) – Yuli Audio Craft

Japanese people love fortune-telling so much that big cities even have fortune-telling buildings and fortune-telling streets.

Horoscopes and zodiac fortunes appear in papers like the Yomiuri and the Asahi, so maybe fortune-telling and Japanese people are inseparable? A “House of Fortune-telling” popping up at a school festival would probably be a hit, too! It’d be nice to set up various booths—tarot cards, astrology, crystal gazing—and let visitors choose freely.

Getting the homeroom teacher to play the role of fortune-teller would likely liven things up as well.

Since it’s all amateur fortune-telling, the goal is just to keep it light and fun!

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In producing this article

Editorial Policy

With the theme of “Easy Fun for a School Festival,” we’ve selected games perfect for cultural festivals. Focusing on games that actually proved popular at festivals and referencing multiple websites, we introduce them with an emphasis on clarity and activities the whole class can enjoy.

Kepiko (10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminder)

SAKI (keyboard player)

[Evidence]

[About the order of publication]

Based on the editorial team’s research results, the final decision also takes into account the total number of your “Rank Up” and “Rank Down” button presses.

[Update History]

July 23, 2025: Added/updated one review.
July 18, 2025: Added and updated 5 reviews.
July 17, 2025: Added/updated six reviews.
July 16, 2025: Updated the entire article.
Apr 24, 2025: Added and updated two reviews.
April 21, 2025: Updated the entire article.
April 18, 2025: Added and updated seven reviews and refreshed the entire article.
April 17, 2025: Added/updated two reviews.
April 16, 2025: Added/updated one review.
June 11, 2024: Added and updated four reviews.
April 18, 2023: Added/updated 13 reviews.
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April 29, 2021: Added and updated four reviews.
Added/updated 6 reviews on 2020/8/17.
Added/updated 6 reviews on 2020/2/21.
2019/7/4: Added and updated two reviews.
Apr 19, 2019: Added/updated one review.
Added/updated 8 reviews on 2018/4/5.
Published the article on 2018/4/1.