Handmade summer festival games: a collection of ideas you can enjoy at kindergartens, daycare centers, and at home.
At the festivals held all over during summer, you can enjoy all kinds of games like goldfish scooping, target shooting, and raffles! If you could bring fun summer festival games to a daycare, kindergarten, or even your home, the kids would definitely have a great time! In this article, we’ll introduce a bunch of ideas for handmade summer festival games.
They range from games you can actually play at festivals to make-believe play with a summer festival vibe.
Pick a few ideas from the ones we’re about to share and try hosting your own DIY summer festival!
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Handmade summer festival games: A collection of ideas you can enjoy at kindergartens, nurseries, or at home (21–30)
Anpanman fan
Introducing a fun idea for an Anpanman fan featuring a cool cape that spreads out! Here’s how to make an Anpanman fan.
You’ll need origami paper, construction paper, a pencil, a wooden skewer, craft glue, a ruler, scissors, tape, colored pens, and colored pencils.
The Anpanman fan has a mechanism: when you rotate the wooden skewer, Anpanman’s cape opens up, making it look like he’s flying—so fun, right? It’ll be exciting to make together with kids, too.
Give it a try!
Gem scooping
Stalls where you scoop things—like goldfish scooping, yo-yo balloon scooping, and super ball scooping—really spark a sense of challenge, don’t they? They’re appealing because people feel, “I think I can get one!” thanks to how easy they seem.
So how about “jewel scooping,” where you snag sparkling gems? You’d be scooping toy jewels, of course, but combined with the festival atmosphere, kids will definitely want them.
You can probably source realistic-looking fake jewelry cheaply, so it’d be fun to mix a few in as special prizes.
Candy shaped like rings is also recommended!
ladle scooping
Try “ladle scooping,” a twist on the classic goldfish scooping game! Fill a box with balls of various sizes, then just have players scoop them up with a ladle.
That alone gives you a summer festival vibe.
It’s super easy—no need to fill a tub with water or prepare the special scooping tool (poi) used for goldfish.
When someone manages to scoop a ball, celebrate together! As a variation, you could add a rule like “How many can you get within the time limit?” for an extra dose of excitement.
Fun-to-shake shaker
Here’s a fun shaker made from a plastic wrap core.
Use origami made of film.
Wrap double-sided tape around the core and seal one end with the origami.
From the other side, add beads or similar fillings and seal it the same way with origami.
Wrap washi tape around it, then cut the origami into strips and wrap them on.
Add googly-eye stickers and a mouth to finish! It’s fun to dance with to music, too.
Little kids will enjoy it, so be sure to make it together and have a great time!
You can make it in 10 seconds! Marble run
Want to play something right now? For you, here’s a marble-rolling game you can make in 10 seconds.
All you need is a food tray and a pencil.
A slightly larger tray might work better.
To make it, just poke several holes in the tray with the pencil.
Roll lots of marbles on the tray and fit them into the holes you made—done! You can also write point values next to each hole and turn it into a game to see how many points you can score by placing marbles in them.
It’s quick to make even if you don’t have much time, so give it a try!
You can make it in 10 seconds! Marble run
Want to play something right now? For you, here’s a marble-rolling game you can make in 10 seconds.
All you need is a food tray and a pencil.
A slightly larger tray might work better.
To make it, just poke several holes in the tray with the pencil.
Roll lots of marbles on the tray and fit them into the holes you made—done! You can also write point values next to each hole and turn it into a game to see how many points you can score by placing marbles in them.
It’s quick to make even if you don’t have much time, so give it a try!
Marble maze made from a candy box
Here’s a marble run you can make using an empty candy box! Prepare a box where the lid and the compartment for the candy are separate.
On the side that held the candy, glue cardboard strips along two opposite edges and cut a hole where you can retrieve marbles that fall through.
On the lid, sketch the course, glue cardboard where you want walls, punch a few holes, and mark a start and a goal.
Once it’s ready, stack the two parts with the lid on top, and you’re done.
Depending on how you design the course, you can create marble runs with various levels of difficulty!