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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Handmade Challenge Game (11–20)
Science Biri-Biri
The things you need are very familiar, so you can make the device right away.
The people there hold hands to form a chain, and it’s a device that makes everyone feel a tingling sensation.
There seem to be lots of fun variations too, so enjoy trying different arrangements!
Heart-Pounding Ball Drop Game
It’s a game where you control two rods set across the edge of a box to drop a ball toward a hole below.
The far ends of the rods are fixed, while the ends you hold can open sideways, so you time the opening to let the ball fall.
The angle of the rods changes how fast the ball rolls, so it’s a good idea to prepare various patterns.
The structure is simple, so decorating the surroundings to make it more fun to try is also important.
Paper cup lifting game
This is a game where you grab a stack of nested paper cups and lift them to see how many you can pick up at once.
It’s fun to enjoy that slightly frustrating feeling—how in everyday life extra cups always stick together, but when it’s a game they don’t come along as you expect.
It’s also interesting to find the method that suits each person, whether you rely on grip strength to lift them or figure out a technique to press them together just right.
Since your control of strength may differ between your left and right hands, it might be good to try once with each hand and compete on the total score.
tablecloth trick
It’s the classic tablecloth-pulling trick you often see in variety acts.
Anyone—young or old, male or female—can join in, so it’s perfect for events like school or cultural festivals! The difficulty changes depending on what you place on the table, so it’s fun to prepare a variety of items and challenge yourselves.
Curling game
Let’s turn curling, which became a hot topic during the Olympics, into an easy tabletop game where you flick bottle caps with your fingers! It’s simple to make and uses materials that are easy to find, so you can enjoy it right away.
It’s also great to include as a mini-game.
ball throwing
In this game, you throw a ball toward a bucket placed at a distance, aiming to land it inside without it bouncing out.
You can adjust various elements such as the balance between the ball and bucket sizes, the angle of the bucket, and the distance to the bucket.
The farther the bucket is, the more force you need to throw the ball, which makes it more likely to bounce out even if it goes in—this is what makes the game tricky.
If you set a fixed number of throws and base the prize quality on how many times the ball lands in the bucket, you can run the game with just a few buckets and balls.
Handmade Challenge Game (21–30)
Cardboard Corinth game
How about including the classic “Corinth Game,” a staple you’ll almost always find at game corners, as one of your attractions? Since you just launch a ball using a shooter, it’s fun for all ages.
If you prepare prizes based on the scores, people are sure to love it.
The Corinth Game can be easily made out of cardboard.
If you make several, many people can enjoy it at once.
If you’re making a larger version, be sure to reinforce it by layering multiple sheets of cardboard to increase its strength.
