Games that liven up festivals. Ideas that children can enjoy.
Festivals and fair days are fun events that kids can take part in, aren’t they? In addition to local festivals, many kindergartens, nursery schools, and elementary schools also plan summer festivals, don’t they? In this article, we’ve gathered ideas for festival games and activities recommended for those who want to find games that kids will love or want to know about events beyond food stalls.
It’s packed with fun ideas you can enjoy both indoors and outdoors, so please use it as a reference.
If you’re making the games by hand, having the children help will make great memories!
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Games that liven up festivals. Ideas kids can enjoy (21–30)
Balance game
A balance game made with paper plates and cardstock is a perfect festival activity that demands more focus and finesse than it looks.
Fold a paper plate and place cut pieces of cardstock on top to form the base.
Then stack cardstock parts taped together on the base.
The subtle wobble created by the plate’s curvature makes the balance precarious, so a careful touch is essential.
The tension of seeing how many pieces you can stack and how you read and respond to the wobble draws kids into deep concentration.
Since all the materials are paper, it’s lightweight, easy to handle, and safer, too.
From crafting to playing, you can enjoy the whole process, making it a hit for parents and children or groups of friends.
Dice game
This is a twist on a classic festival game.
Participants roll a pair of dice twice, and the prizes are determined by the total or by specific combinations of the results.
Beyond leaving it to luck, the anticipation of predicting the outcome is part of the fun.
If you display the prize lineup in advance, it will heighten participants’ excitement.
The rules are easy to understand and enjoyable for all ages, so it naturally creates moments where parents and children can join in together.
To make it a game people want to play again and again, we also recommend adding a rule where certain rolls earn a special prize.
Games that liven up a festival. Ideas kids can enjoy (31–40)
crane game
If you want to create an authentic festival vibe, a handmade “claw machine” is perfect.
It can be made from familiar materials like cardboard, string, and paper cups, yet the thrill of operating it feels just like the real thing.
The mechanism is simple—pull the strings to grab a prize—but kids get totally absorbed.
Using plush toys or sweets as prizes boosts their sense of achievement.
You can adjust the size and difficulty to suit daycare, kindergarten, or elementary school events, and it’s great for indoor play.
It’s a thrilling idea packed with excitement that can be the star attraction of a fair or summer festival.
Pinball
A handmade pinball machine made from cardboard is a festival-friendly idea that lets you enjoy the fun of crafting and the excitement of a game at the same time.
The mechanism where you move the flippers to guide a marble into scoring zones looks simple but is surprisingly deep, keeping kids fully engaged.
Seeing how the ball bounces makes it appealing as an introduction to basic physics.
The materials—cardboard, chopsticks, rubber bands, and other everyday items—are easy to gather, with many available at 100-yen shops, so preparation isn’t a high hurdle.
You can decorate it freely or add more scoring zones to create your own original version.
It’s a hands-on game where you can learn how it works while you play.
Ping-pong ball cup-in
This is a game where you line up clear cups and throw ping-pong balls into them.
It can be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders.
Set rules such as a time limit or the number of balls to throw, and award prizes based on how many balls land in the cups to make it more exciting.
soap bubble
Bubbles are loved by both adults and kids, and it’s exciting when lots of them float around all at once.
We used to play by blowing through straws, but now there are all kinds of bubble products.
There are ones that make big bubbles and ones that create many bubbles at once—you can choose what to use depending on the occasion.
Shaved ice making
When you think of festivals, especially summer festivals, shaved ice is a classic, right? Kids and adults alike have fun choosing from all the different flavors and can’t decide which one to get.
How about recreating that shaved ice stand you’d see at a festival stall? These days, various types of shaved ice machines are available.
You can rent professional-grade machines like the ones used at festival booths, but I think home-use machines are more than enough to enjoy it.
They’re colorful to look at, too, and really help build that festive, exciting atmosphere.