Lovely childcare

Recommended for childcare! Game and activity ideas to liven up a summer festival

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
Nursery Teacher Mom Writertsukada moe
After working for five years at an after-school childcare club and three years at a nursery school, I began working as a freelance writer. I’m a mother of two children. Inspired by playing the flute in the school wind ensemble in elementary school, I joined a jazz club at university. I’ve also incorporated ukulele and piano performance into childcare. Playing, laughing, feeling sad, feeling frustrated—through all kinds of experiences, I want children to grow.

The once-a-year summer festival that the kids look forward to is here! At nursery schools and kindergartens, you’ll want to make the special time with friends even more exciting.

Here, we’ll share recommended ideas for games and activities you can do together with the children.

Enjoy the preparation time together, too.

Classic activities like target tossing and yo-yo fishing can be even more fun with a few simple twists.

Choose ideas that fit the size and atmosphere of your school, and make it a summer festival that thrills both children and adults!

Recommended for childcare! Game and performance ideas (31–40) to liven up summer festivals

Target practice with an extendable sword

[Toy] Rolling paper made from posters! [Festival] – How to make –

Target practice with an extendable sword

Do you know rolling papers? They’re toy papers that are rolled up into a stick shape, and when you flick them forward, the curled paper shoots out and extends.

You can make one yourself using a poster.

Let’s use the popping force of a rolling paper to create a game where you knock down targets.

To make a rolling paper, just cut a poster into long, narrow strips, tape them together to make a long piece, and roll it tightly around a chopstick.

Rolling it a bit tightly will give you a cleaner finish.

Feel free to decorate the paper cups you’ll use as targets.

Try competing to see how many paper cups you can knock down by skillfully handling the rolling paper!

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Target shooting

Handmade Toy: How to Make a Paper Cup Pop Gun

Target shooting

You can make a safe shooting game using a paper cup and a balloon.

First, cut out the bottom of the paper cup.

The teacher should prepare this in advance.

Next, attach a tied balloon to the bottom area.

Cut off the side of the balloon opposite the knot, then stretch it over the cup.

Secure the seam between the balloon and the cup well with tape.

After that, put a ping-pong ball into the cup and pull the balloon—pop! The ping-pong ball shoots out, and your shooting game is complete! Make various targets and enjoy the game.

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ring toss

Apia Summer Festival: Festival Stalls and Ring Toss Corner – Jul 27, 2013 (HD)

ring toss

When it comes to festivals, you can broadly divide things into food stalls like takoyaki and cotton candy, and participation-based attractions like goldfish scooping and lotteries.

Among the participation-type games, the classic of classics has to be ring toss—you just can’t leave it out.

One reason it’s so recommendable is how easy it is to customize: you can change the throwing distance based on the children’s ages, or adjust the size of the rings.

You can probably rent a ring-toss target board—one with numbers and wooden pegs—from a rental shop.

It’s also fun to lay out snacks directly and use them as the targets to toss rings onto.

And of course, it’s almost a given to display one or two big snacks that are practically impossible to win.

Great for sparking conversation!

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Taki no namida pin ku

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Goldfish scooping

Handmade Festival: Goldfish Scooping ♪ Easy Craft! Festival Vibes! Make it and play!

Goldfish scooping

You can even make a classic summer festival game—goldfish scooping—by hand! All you need are everyday items like a milk carton, vinyl tape, and PE tape.

First, make a “poi” scoop using a ring-shaped strip cut from a milk carton and a drain strainer net.

It’s safer for the teacher to handle the cutting and stapling.

Wrap the vinyl tape around the scoop you made.

For the goldfish, cut the milk carton into an egg shape, draw goldfish-like patterns, and attach PE tape as the tail with tape—that’s it! These goldfish actually float on water, so it feels more realistic.

Hope you catch lots of goldfish!

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Handmade Uchiwa [Festival Mood]

[Summer Craft] Roll marbles to make a hand fan♪ Perfect for summer festivals! [For 2-year-olds]

Handmade Uchiwa [Festival Mood]

Colorful uchiwa fans are a summer festival staple, aren’t they? Using the marble painting technique, kids can enjoy making bright, eye-catching fans all by themselves! They can carry them around and play with them on the day of the festival, or make lots and set up a little fan shop—that sounds fun too.

At summer festivals in preschool, whether outdoors or indoors, the heat is always a concern.

Having a fan they made themselves means they can cool off when it gets hot.

When helping them make their favorite fan, be sure to provide plenty of colors.

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Recommended for childcare! Game and performance ideas to liven up a summer festival (41–50)

[Shaved Ice Shop] Rainbow Shaved Ice

[Nursery/Kindergarten] Rainbow Shaved Ice for Summer Festival Pretend Play! [July Craft]

[Shaved Ice Shop] Rainbow Shaved Ice

Let’s make rainbow shaved ice using coffee filters.

Line up lots of handmade shaved ices and your shaved ice shop is open for business! The best part of a festival is shopping while chatting—saying things like “Welcome!” and “Which one do you recommend?” It’s also fun to let the kids’ imaginations lead and make their favorite flavors, like melon or strawberry.

When you open your shop, prepare price tags and play money to really set the mood.

Have fun with your shopping game!

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[Yo-yo Fishing] Let’s try fishing for handmade yo-yos

[Summer Festival Craft] Easy Yo-Yo Fishing – Simple for Toddlers and Elementary School Kids! Make and Play: Kids’ Craft

[Yo-yo Fishing] Let's try fishing for handmade yo-yos

Yo-yo fishing has long been a favorite game for children at summer festivals.

Because real yo-yos are heavy and hard to catch, let’s make lightweight yo-yos out of construction paper so kids can catch them more easily.

All you need to do is connect paper strips into rings, but this might be tricky for little hands.

In that case, let them do the decorating with round stickers and the like, so they can still feel a sense of accomplishment.

Make the pipe-cleaner loop attached to the yo-yo a bit larger.

Easy-to-catch yo-yos are sure to be a hit with the kids.

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