Handmade Lottery Draws Kids Will Love! A Fun Collection of Ideas to Make and Play
Get excited with family and friends! How about creating special memories with a homemade lottery draw? We’ll show you how to make surprisingly simple raffles—like dropping-lot lotteries, garapon wheels, and gashapon-style draws—that kids and adults alike will love.
Using everyday materials like cardboard and origami, you can achieve a professional-looking finish.
Perfect for festivals and events, and great for doubling the fun during everyday playtime too! From working together to build it to the thrilling moment of drawing a ticket, you’ll enjoy wonderful, smile-filled moments.
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Handmade raffle that kids will love! A fun collection of ideas to make and play (31–40)
Easy omikuji with Koala’s March
The Koala’s March box is originally a hexagonal prism, so it’s perfect for repurposing into an omikuji fortune box! It’s very easy to make—just paste paper around the box.
Close the top that you opened to take out the contents and secure it with tape, then make a hole so you can pull out the fortunes.
Paste construction paper around the outside, and cover the top with paper too, making sure not to block the hole, and your omikuji container is ready! Wrap small strips of paper with messages like “Great Blessing” around the ends of straws and put them in the box, and you’ll have an omikuji setup to rival a shrine’s.
Surprise Omikuji Coin Bank
Be amazed by the roulette that pops out the instant you put in money! It’s a fortune-telling piggy bank with a fun mechanism.
Cut a milk carton and make a coin slot, then build the mechanism using items like thick paper, rubber bands, kite string, and pieces cut from a plastic bottle.
Set the roulette, made from a plastic wrap core and cardboard, inside, and finish it off with big eyes that make it look like it’s staring intently at the money going in.
Since the mechanism is a bit complex, if you’re making it with a child, it might be best to have them handle the exterior decorations around the box.
Senbon Lottery Made with Mesh Panels
Let’s make a senbon-kuji (a Japanese string lottery) using mesh panels, which are commonly used for DIY projects! Prepare mesh panels sized to your desired dimensions and assemble them into a basket-like shape with the front and back open.
Then simply thread strings through the holes of the mesh panel attached at the top and tie on the prizes—done! Depending on the size of the mesh panels, it can end up quite large, so be sure to consider the available space when making it.
A senbon-kuji made with mesh panels is easy to store after use by disassembling it into separate parts, and you can reuse it again next time!
Thousand-string Fishing (Senbon-tsuri)
The festival game Senbon Tsuri that everyone loves—I’ve heard some regions call it “Senbon Biki.” What about in your area? In Senbon Tsuri, you pull a string that’s connected to a prize, and you get whatever you hit.
It’s fun precisely because it’s so simple: you just pull a string.
I wonder if old-fashioned candy shops still have small lottery games modeled after Senbon Tsuri.
If the prizes are candy and snacks, it’s an activity everyone can enjoy, from little kids to slightly older boys and girls.
At a large venue, a jumbo Senbon Tsuri could even be the main attraction!
A Thousand-String Lottery made with a futon-drying rack and a pegboard
Here’s an idea using an X-shaped futon-drying rack and a perforated pegboard with lots of holes.
Thread string (like twine used for attaching prizes) through the holes in the pegboard.
Once you’ve threaded as many as you like, gather the ends together with something like a plastic wrap core.
Then just set it on the drying rack and attach the prizes—done! When tying strings to the prizes, it’s recommended to use clothespins.
Choose the location for the lottery game while considering the space needed to place the futon-drying rack.
Handmade Raffle That Kids Will Love! A Fun Collection of Ideas to Make and Play With (41–50)
Shake-Shake Fortune
There are also omikuji where you shake a box and draw a stick, right? I’ve heard that in recent years, more children have never tried that type.
So why not do a craft together and let them experience it? For the tube part, which seems the hardest to make, use the cardboard core from a roll of plastic wrap.
Then attach a bottom, put in the chopstick sticks, and it’s done.
Traditionally, you draw a fortune again from the box that matches the number written on the stick, but it’s also fine to write the result directly on the stick.
Since writing directly with a pen can bleed, the trick is to wrap the stick with paper first and then write on it.
A thousand-lottery you just line up in a box
This is a super easy Senbon-kuji (string lottery) you can make by simply arranging prizes in a box.
Prepare a box that can hold all the prizes.
Then just attach strings to the prizes and line them up inside the box—that’s it! You can make it with things you already have at home, so it’s perfect for hosting a little festival at home.
The larger the box, the more prizes you can fit inside, so adjust the size to match the scale of the festival or event where you’ll run the lottery.
It’s also easy for kids to help with, making it a great idea for children’s groups or fun get-togethers.
In conclusion
There are many types of handmade raffles that kids love, such as losing-draw lotteries, garapon (lottery drums), and scratch-off cards. The materials are all easy to find, and once you grasp the key points, they’re simple to make—that’s part of the appeal. If you tailor the prizes and designs to your event, you’ll create special memories filled with children’s smiles. Give it a try and set the stage for a fun time with a handmade raffle!