[For Preschoolers & Kids] Game, Play, and Craft Ideas to Enjoy on Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day)
March 3rd is Hinamatsuri, the Doll Festival.
Some preschools and kindergartens include it as one of their traditional events, and some families may be thinking of celebrating it at home.
We’d love for children to become fond of Hinamatsuri culture while enjoying its festive atmosphere.
So this time, we’re introducing a collection of Hinamatsuri-themed activities, games, and craft ideas that can be enjoyed at preschools and children’s groups.
Every idea is something kids will love.
Adults, please enjoy the traditional festival together with the children as well.
- [Childcare] Fun for Hinamatsuri! Performance ideas perfect for the event
- [Kindergarten/Daycare] Games and Performances for Fun Events
- [Childcare] A Collection of Origami Ideas for Hinamatsuri: Let’s Make Them with Kids!
- [Childcare] Fun Craft Ideas for Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day)
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- Hand-play songs to sing for Hinamatsuri. Songs everyone can enjoy.
- [Childcare] Recommended crafts and activities for March, such as Hina Matsuri (Doll’s Festival) and cherry blossoms
- Indoor games that different ages can enjoy! Ideas for fun everyone can get excited about together
- [Entertainment/Performances] Ideas for Performances to Introduce at Kindergartens and Nursery Schools—Great for Children and Staff
- [Childcare] Perfect for Hinamatsuri! Hanging Hina doll craft ideas you can make with kids
- [Daycare/Preschool] Let’s Make Handmade Hinamatsuri Costumes! An Idea Collection You’ll Want to Copy
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- Games and activities everyone can enjoy together. A collection of fun play ideas.
[For Preschool/Children] Hina Matsuri Games, Activities, and Craft Ideas to Enjoy (51–60)
Sketchbook Theater: Happy Hinamatsuri
Sketchbook theater is a play activity where you flip through a sketchbook—each page featuring drawings or simple mechanisms—and enjoy interactive call-and-response with children.
For the March 3rd Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day), why not create a themed sketchbook theater to enjoy together with the kids? It would be lovely to advance the story while singing along with the children to the nursery song “Ureshii Hinamatsuri.” Looking at the hina dolls arranged on their tiered stand will also provide a great opportunity to experience a traditional Japanese custom.
Blindfold Taste-Guessing Game
How about a “Blindfold Taste-Guessing Game” as a party game for the Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day) event? It’s a simple game where you put on a blindfold, eat the designated food, and guess the flavor.
If children are playing, we recommend items they love and that come in many flavors, such as ice cream, sweets, or sushi.
You could also prepare prizes for those who guess the most correctly to make it even more exciting.
It’s sure to be a hit for family gatherings and events or parties at daycare centers and kindergartens—perfect for parents and kids to enjoy together.
Hinamatsuri Event Quiz
If you post quizzes in a place where children can easily see them before the Hinamatsuri event, it seems like the event will be even more exciting.
It’s simple, but by having everyone look at the questions together or having the teacher read them aloud, the children can deepen their knowledge of Hinamatsuri before participating.
Displaying photos of the teacher’s Hinamatsuri from when they were a child could create an opportunity to hear about how the teacher spent the festival back then, helping the children participate with a sense of familiarity.
Please use this as a reference for how to present the quizzes.
Handmade Hinamatsuri Quiz
Become a Hina Matsuri expert with a quiz! This time, each question has only two choices, so your chances of getting it right should be higher! For example, there’s a question like “The Hina Matsuri scene looks like they’re doing something—what is it?” with the two choices being a wedding ceremony or a graduation ceremony.
Did you figure out which one is correct? The answer is a wedding ceremony.
Kids might ask, “Why?” so it’s good to be ready with a brief explanation.
By the time the quiz is over, we might have a brand-new Hina Matsuri expert!
Hinamatsuri Food Quiz
Let’s turn foods eaten during Hinamatsuri into an illustration quiz! Draw pictures of items like hina-arare and hishi-mochi on construction paper.
Show the children only part of each illustration and ask, “What do you think this is?” and have them guess the answer.
When they get it right, it’s lovely to also explain why that food is eaten on Hinamatsuri.
Especially for preschoolers, telling them, “Teach this to your family at home, too,” can boost their motivation even more! Since hishi-mochi and hina-arare share the same colors, they make great trick questions.
Have fun with the quiz while getting creative with your illustrations!