[Childcare] Easy! Make a DIY target game. Playful craft and fun game
When holding a mock street fair or summer festival at a nursery or kindergarten, it’s common to set up a game corner, isn’t it?
This time, we’re introducing handmade target-throwing games that are perfect for early childhood settings.
From creations using recycled materials like paper cups, chopsticks, and plastic bottles to decorated versions for special events, we’ve got plenty of target game ideas that will make participating children’s eyes light up with excitement!
Choose options that suit the children’s ages and developmental stages, and try making them together.
Target games have lots of benefits—they spark children’s curiosity and help cultivate concentration, thinking skills, and motor control.
Be sure to include them and have fun together with the kids.
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[Childcare] Easy! Let’s make a DIY target game. Playful crafts and fun games (11–20)
Target practice with a bow and arrow made from disposable chopsticks
A game where you make a bow and arrow out of disposable chopsticks and try to hit a target.
While holding the chopstick-made bow with your hand, pull the string and shoot the arrow toward the target.
Like archery or darts, it’s recommended to create a target where the points increase toward the center.
Use cardboard or construction paper to make a large target that’s easy to score on.
Since its range is shorter than a real bow and arrow, shoot from as close a distance as possible.
This activity helps children develop concentration and thinking skills while playing, so be sure to try it in early childhood education settings.
Let’s try playing by launching the sponge
When it comes to target games that are safe and fun for kids, this game—where you throw sponges at sponge targets—is a great choice.
Line up several sponges in front of you and launch small, cut pieces of sponge to knock them down.
Because the sponges are made from soft material, children can play safely.
A tip for playing: pinch the rough side of the sponge, aim carefully, and then launch it.
It’s perfect for playing with friends at preschool and also ideal as a child’s first target game.
Try changing the colors of the sponges or experimenting with where you place them to make it more engaging.
Can you hit it well? Target shooting game
For those who want to prepare something more elaborate and surprise the kids, a “can you hit the target?” toss game is perfect.
First, get some ping-pong balls and stick strips of hook-and-loop tape (Velcro) onto them in a radial pattern.
Next, take some construction paper and attach felt to it.
It’s also a good idea to write point values on the felt.
And that’s it—you’re done.
When you throw the ping-pong balls at the felt, they stick.
There’s also a strategic element in choosing which point area to aim for, making it great for educational play.
Let’s defeat the ghosts with a rubber band gun made from chopsticks!
A target-shooting game where you knock down balloon ghosts using a rubber-band gun made from disposable chopsticks.
You’ll build the rubber-band gun by securing parts with chopsticks and rubber bands.
It fires rubber bands by pulling a trigger, so despite its simplicity, you can enjoy a surprisingly authentic shooting experience.
It’s also fun to choose a theme—like a summer festival or Halloween—and make balloon ghost targets to match.
The rubber band flies straight toward the balloons, so take careful aim before you shoot.
It’s easy to make indoors, so try creating this shooting game that kids will be obsessed with.
A bean-throwing target game for Setsubun!
Here’s a perfect target game for Setsubun, when you scatter beans while saying “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” (Demons out, good fortune in).
You throw beans at an illustration of an oni (demon) to play.
First, draw an oni illustration freely with crayons on paper, then connect milk cartons to serve as trays to catch the beans.
Attach folded-dye patterns—made with watercolor paints and washi paper—to the milk cartons to finish.
It also sounds fun to create the oni illustrations and the folded-dye patterns together with the kids.
It’s an enjoyable target game that lets you play without worrying about beans scattering all over the room.