Fun for adults and kids alike! Home festival ideas to capture the lively spirit of a Japanese matsuri
Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have probably found fewer opportunities to fully enjoy themselves outdoors or spend time in crowded places.
There are plenty of fun things to do at home, but lots of kids still look forward to festivals and fair-style events.
However, sometimes festivals aren’t held, or it’s difficult to go where there are crowds.
In times like these, why not host an at-home “Ennichi” fair that you can enjoy with family and friends? Prepare classic festival-style foods and games, and have fun with attractions that are every bit as appealing as the real thing! It’s not just for summer—doing it for your child’s birthday, for example, is sure to make them happy!
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[Fun for adults and kids alike!] Home festival ideas to enjoy a festive atmosphere (1–10)
choco banana
Chocolate-covered bananas that are so fun to look at with their colorful toppings.
You can make them at home even with a small amount of chocolate.
Halve the bananas and stick them on skewers, or cut them into bite-size pieces and stick them on cute picks—perfectly safe even if you have kids around.
Next, melt chopped chocolate bars in a hot-water bath and coat the bananas with the chocolate.
Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle on your favorite sprinkles or silver dragées, and you’re done.
Stick them into a piece of Styrofoam to give it that authentic festival feel!
shaved ice
Many families make and enjoy shaved ice when summer comes around.
You’ll always find a stall selling it at festivals, and kids agonizing over which syrup to choose is a familiar sight.
If you plan shaved ice for a home festival, it’s sure to be a hit.
Don’t limit yourself to just one syrup—letting everyone mix and match will make great memories.
It’s also a good idea to prepare toppings like fruit and ice cream.
Shaved ice machines aren’t very expensive, and once you buy one you can enjoy it every year, so definitely consider adding shaved ice to your home festival.
French fries
When it comes to foods loved by everyone from children to adults, French fries might be at the top of the list.
The ones you often see at festival stalls are the classic thin, crispy fries.
Even though we eat them regularly, they somehow taste even better at a festival, don’t they? French fries are also sold as frozen foods and only need to be fried, so they’re easy to include on a home festival menu.
Even if you make them from scratch, it’s not too much work—just julienne some potatoes, soak them in water, drain them well, and fry.
[Fun for adults and kids alike!] Home festival ideas to capture that summer fair vibe (11–20)
Yo-yo fishing
When it comes to game booths that delight children at summer festivals, yo-yo fishing is a classic.
The colorful yo-yos with beautiful printed patterns look cool just to gaze at, and to children they shine like treasures.
Yo-yo balloons are sold at 100-yen shops and often come with a pump for air or water, so it’s surprisingly easy to include them in a festival-at-home.
Prepare a small inflatable pool and try recreating the yo-yo fishing from the festival.
Candy and toy fishing
A simple game where you use a fishing rod to hook and lift the treats or toys you want from those available on the spot.
You can customize and adjust the difficulty in various ways, such as by changing the length of the rod, the weight of the prizes, or the mechanism for catching the target.
An easy-to-understand approach is to attach magnets to the end of the fishing line and to the prizes, then pick them up by sticking them together.
By mixing stronger and weaker magnets, you can also enjoy the added challenge of not always being able to catch what you want as easily.
Yakisoba on a hot plate
When you go to a festival or a fair, isn’t yakisoba the go-to main dish? It’s relatively inexpensive and really filling.
Plus, the appeal of eating it fresh off the griddle can’t be beat.
How about recreating that fair-style yakisoba on an electric griddle at home? Just serving it in a plastic container instantly sets the mood.
By the way, pairing it with corn on the cob or trying your hand at candy apples is also recommended.
Both are simple to make, so be sure to look up some recipes.
Make special money for the at-home festival only
When you go to festivals or street fairs, one thing you always end up doing is paying, right? It might be hard for children to handle money at actual food stalls, but at home it’s totally possible.
And if they give it a try, it can spark their interest in money and arithmetic.
So, what I recommend is making your own original play money.
They can draw pictures on paper or stick on stickers.
If you want to make it look more realistic, place a coin under a sheet of paper and gently rub over it with a pen.