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, daycares, or at home (41–50)
Newspaper Dart
Let’s make it from scrap materials! Here’s an idea for newspaper darts.
When you hear “darts,” you might worry that you’ll need to buy special equipment.
This time, let’s make darts using newspaper and cardboard.
Cut round, triangular, and square holes in the cardboard and assign points to each hole.
Roll up strips of newspaper to make dart-like projectiles, and score points by getting them into the holes.
It’s also a good idea to adjust the starting line depending on the age of the participants.
crane game
If you want to create an authentic festival vibe, a handmade “claw machine” is perfect.
You can make it with familiar materials like cardboard, string, and paper cups, yet the thrill of operating it feels just like the real thing! The mechanism is simple—pull the strings to grab a prize—but kids will take it seriously and get really into it.
Use stuffed animals or candy as prizes to boost the sense of accomplishment when they succeed.
You can adjust the size and difficulty to suit ages from nursery and kindergarten to elementary school, and it’s great for indoor play.
It’s a thrilling idea that can be the star attraction of a fair or summer festival.
Wani Wani Panic
Whac-A-Croc is a guaranteed hit with kids at shrine fairs and summer festivals.
It’s easy to add to daycare, kindergarten, and elementary school summer events, and you can make it with familiar materials like cardboard.
Every time a crocodile doll pops out, the kids go wild! The hammer for whacking can be made safely by rolling up newspaper.
The game is simple, but the speed and suspense get the whole venue excited.
Set a time limit and compete for points to boost everyone’s motivation! With a bit of creativity, you can expand the designs and rules, making a fun, original corner for your event.
Ball rolling game
The “ball-rolling game” is a game where you tilt a cardboard track to roll a ball, and you succeed if you can get the ball into the final hole without dropping it.
To make it, first cut cardboard and connect it in a zigzag.
This will be the path for the ball, so punch holes along one side where the ball can fall.
Insert the zigzag path into the base with the holes, and it’s complete.
If you want to lower the difficulty, it’s a good idea to add some walls along the sides of the path to keep the ball from falling off.
Make a bow and arrow with straws!
A piece you worked hard to make yourself becomes twice as fun if you can play with it afterward, right? So this time, we’re introducing a bow and arrow you can make with straws.
You can use either thick boba straws or regular straws.
Besides the straws, you’ll just need common household items like a toilet paper roll and rubber bands, so it’s easy to prepare.
The projectile that the bow shoots is made from the toilet paper roll and rubber bands.
Make the bow using a straw and a spherical Styrofoam ball.
Once it’s finished, just aim and shoot at targets made from paper plates or balloons.
Kids will enjoy crafting it with the excitement of being able to play with it after it’s done.
Crafts you can play with
In this Reiwa era, where digital devices have surrounded us since the day we were born, it’s nice to enjoy some analog play from time to time.
So here’s a summer craft you can make and play with right away: the “Wobbly Tree.” Glue a branching tree onto half of a toy capsule.
Hang rubber bands from the branches one by one, and the person who knocks the tree over loses.
If you substitute the toy capsule base with something else, you can make an even bigger tree.
There are also videos introducing other playable crafts, so if you’re interested, be sure to check them out.
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!