Ideas for pretend festivals you can enjoy at home
We’ve always taken it for granted that we could enjoy festivals, but during the COVID-19 pandemic many were canceled, and even when they were held, they were scaled down, so the chances to enjoy them dropped dramatically.
Amid this, a quiet trend has emerged: enjoying festival fun at home—kids love food stalls and festival games, while adults savor stall-style gourmet foods with a drink in hand.
Even just serving dishes you don’t usually eat at home or switching up the tableware can instantly create the right atmosphere, so try using items from 100-yen shops and have fun with it!
It’s not just for home—you can enjoy it at preschools and elementary schools too!
Festival Play Ideas You Can Enjoy at Home (1–10)
shaved ice
Shaved ice has become a craze these days, no matter the season.
Kids and adults alike love it! If you have children, there’s a good chance you’ve got a shaved ice machine at home, right? Having those Styrofoam cups with the “Festival” character on them would make it even more exciting.
Prepare a few types of syrups and let everyone pour on as much as they like—this dream setup is sure to be a hit.
Enjoy flavors and all-you-can-pour syrup in a way you can’t at a shop—because it’s a make-believe festival at home!
Handmade lantern
https://www.instagram.com/p/CELvjNvhJgE/When it comes to items that add a festive splash of color, lanterns are a must! Just hanging one can transform your ordinary room into a festival venue.
Why not try making your own lanterns? You can use construction paper, repurpose plastic bottles or milk cartons—the method is up to you! If you search online, you’ll find plenty of tutorials to use as reference.
You could even place LED string lights like the ones used for Christmas trees inside.
Enjoy the festive mood with these elegant decorations!
lottery; drawing lots; raffle
Many children look forward to the lottery-style games at festivals, don’t they? Adults, too, have all kinds of memories when they think back to the festivals they enjoyed as kids—like winning that one special prize in a raffle, or never managing to get the thing they really wanted.
You can offer candy or toys as prizes and have participants draw paper lots from a box, or you could make a trickier setup like a ‘thousand-string pull’ game.
You probably tell your kids, “Only once!” when it comes to raffles, but with a pretend festival at home, you can create a dream stall where they can enjoy it over and over!
choco banana
How about making chocolate-dipped bananas that will get both kids and adults excited? They’re easy to eat: insert a wooden skewer into each banana, coat the banana with melted chocolate, and sprinkle colorful chocolate sprinkles on top.
Chill them in the refrigerator and they’re ready.
All the ingredients are easy to find at supermarkets.
The method is very simple and you can prepare them in advance, so they’re great as a festival-style treat or a dessert.
Try making them with chocolates in different colors!
Frankfurt
Don’t you ever get an irresistible craving for frankfurters? They’re great as-is, or with ketchup and mustard.
And when you spot them at festival food stalls, you can’t help but grab one like a snack, right? If you pan-fry them and stand them up in paper cups, they’re easy to grab and perfect for kids.
Cooking them on a griddle to create that food-stall vibe is a fun idea, too.
Festival frankfurters are usually big, but if you prepare smaller ones, they pair well with other foods and are great for children.
Target shooting
For a festival-style game that lets you experience a break from the everyday, I also recommend a shooting gallery.
Prepare a toy gun that can fire pellets and some items to use as prizes.
As long as they can stand on their own, snacks or figurines are fine.
If you want to use items that don’t stand up on their own—like cards or clear files—get some stands to hold them.
By the way, there are even products sold as sets that include both a shooting stand and snacks.
If you don’t have time to prepare, buying one of those is a good option.
yakisoba (fried noodles)
Yakisoba would probably rank in the top three must-have festival foods.
If you have yakisoba for your pretend festival at home, it’ll really boost the festival vibe.
Even if it’s the same yakisoba you always eat at home, just putting it in a food tray instantly puts you in a festival mood! Since it’s a make-believe festival, it might be fun to cook it right in front of everyone on a hot plate.
How about wrapping a headband around your head, holding metal spatulas in both hands, and cheerfully calling out “Irasshai!” while you cook?