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!
- [For Kids] Fun Entertainment and Activities to Liven Up a Festival
- Great for festival stalls! Handmade game ideas
- Fun for adults and kids alike! Home festival ideas to capture the lively spirit of a Japanese matsuri
- [For Elementary Schools] Recommended Exhibits and Recreational Activities for a Cultural Festival
- Liven up your children’s club event! A collection of ideas everyone can enjoy
- [For Kids] Popular party games. Fun games that get everyone excited
- Elementary School Fun Day a Big Hit! Indoor Game Idea Collection
- Handmade summer festival games: a collection of ideas you can enjoy at kindergartens, daycare centers, and at home.
- [For Kids] Today's Recommended Recreation Idea Collection
- Recommended for school cultural festivals! Stall ideas that let you enjoy a traditional fair atmosphere
- Handmade decoration ideas for summer festivals
- Recreation Activities That Excite Kids’ Clubs! Plans and Ideas Children Will Love
- [For Kids] Fun Indoor Game Ideas for After-School Day Services
Games that liven up a festival. Ideas that children can enjoy (51–60)
Chikirin Tournament
Chikirin refers to the small metal gong used in festival music.
At the Chikirin competition, groups perform traditional rhythms using this chikirin along with Japanese drums and flutes, and they compete based on their performance.
It’s an attraction that lets you enjoy and become familiar with traditional Japanese instruments and classical music that have been passed down since ancient times.
Festival music is indispensable to any festival, so it’s highly recommended—spectators can soak up the festive atmosphere too!
grab bag
How about a candy grab, where you fill a box with lots of sweets and let people scoop them up with a ladle or their hands? It keeps costs low, people can eat what they get right there, and it also makes a nice take-home treat—so these grab-and-go booths are said to be popular.
It’s exciting and fun when someone manages to grab a lot of candy.
When stocking up, it’s convenient to use a local candy wholesaler or shop online.
If you put the candy in a large inflatable pool and have participants grab it with a toy grabber arm, it adds even more of a game element.
Pocky & Pretz Game
Let me introduce a heart-pounding Pocky & Pretz Game where you’ll be on edge wondering if it will topple over.
For the Pocky sticks, roll sheets of newspaper into long, thin rods and use yellow and black duct tape to make them look like Pocky.
For the Pretz sticks, roll newspaper the same way, wrap them with yellow tape, and use colored pens to draw toasted patterns.
The key is to keep the length and thickness as uniform as possible.
Since you’ll be working with your hands while seated, you can enjoy the activity from the preparation stage.
Once you’ve set the Pocky sticks in a ring, take turns removing one stick at a time.
The person who causes the Pocky to fall when they pull a stick loses.
It’s a great game for getting a big group excited!
Okonomiyaki Game
A perfect pick for summer festivals and fair booths is the “Okonomiyaki Flipping Game,” which is fun to watch and even more fun to play.
Using a spatula, players try to flip a large okonomiyaki made from felt or cardboard—simple, yet super exciting! You can adjust the size of the tools and the difficulty to match kids’ ages, which is a big plus.
Decorate it to look realistic and you’ll feel like you’re at an actual food stall.
You can also tweak the gameplay however you like—time the flips, aim for consecutive successes, and more.
It’s safe to enjoy indoors, easy to set up, and perfect for creating an event filled with laughter and cheers.
All-you-can-fill candy
From a child’s perspective, an all-you-can-pack candy game is a dream come true.
There are all sorts of “pack-as-much-as-you-can” activities out there, but for kids, candy is the way to go! Prepare lots of individually wrapped treats like gummies and hard candies, set them out, and add a time limit—the excitement will skyrocket.
You can even have a contest to see who can pack the most by being the most clever.
Just be sure to avoid meltable sweets like chocolate if the festival is held outdoors in the summer.
Lucky Ball
Lucky Ball is a game whose play style and format vary by region.
Similar attractions are popular at places like Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan.
You line up cups or use a pegboard-style target with holes drilled into a board, then throw balls about the size of a baseball.
You can set your own rules—like getting the ball into a designated color, or lining them up vertically and horizontally like bingo.
As long as you can throw a ball, anyone—young or old—can enjoy it, so it’s perfect for festivals that draw a wide crowd.
And don’t forget to prepare some eye-catching prizes!
Takoyaki Ball Toss
@yumelabo Hello, this is Yume Labo! Here’s Part 2 of the second installment introducing the summer festival corners from the Kannon Classroom⭐️ We’ve made a small improvement to the takoyaki machine, adjusting it so it goes from a slant to a flat surface. It’s now easier for children to put them in! The staff member from last time is making a comeback—how many will fit this time!? The summer festival is finally happening this weekend! We hope parents and children will enjoy it together 😊#YumeLabPraise-based therapyChild Development SupportChild Development Support Yume Lab#HandmadeToysA child's potential is limitless.Aki District, Fuchu TownNishi Ward, Hiroshima City#Minami Ward, Hiroshima City#Parent-Child Event#TherapeuticSupportGoodsExercise TherapySummer FestivalTakoyaki
Sounds great! – Appare!
Let’s have fun throwing balls! Here’s an idea for a Takoyaki Ball-Toss game.
When you think of summer festivals, delicious food stalls are the highlight, right? This time, let’s try a ball-toss game decorated like a takoyaki stall.
Cut nine holes into a black cardboard panel.
It’s cute if you color the balls to look like takoyaki.
The key is to control your strength so the takoyaki balls land in all the holes! Be sure to include this at your summer festival.
Curling game
A handmade curling game that lets you enjoy strategy and a satisfying feel using familiar materials.
Cut cardboard to your preferred size to create the course, then lay a PVC sheet on top to form a slick playing surface.
Use plastic bottle caps as stones and flick them with your fingers toward the target area.
Beyond the fun of aiming by adjusting force and angle, competing with friends makes it a hit at festivals and events.
You can also customize the caps—add stickers or weights—expanding the gameplay depending on your ideas.
Balancing competitive play with crafting, it’s an easy-to-join game for children from lower to upper elementary grades.
ladle scooping
Try ladle scooping instead of goldfish scooping! Just put balls of various sizes into a box and have them scoop them up with a ladle.
It’s a simple idea that lets you enjoy a summer festival vibe.
You don’t need to fill anything with water or prepare the delicate paper scoops used for catching goldfish, so it’s super easy.
When they manage to scoop up a ball, celebrate together! As a twist, you could add a rule like “How many can you get within the time limit?” to make it even more exciting.
Children’s Dedication Sumo Tournament
Local festivals are Shinto events held to pray for a bountiful harvest and safety for the year.
Among these is children’s offering sumo.
It is held to wish for children’s health and growth.
Let’s have not only boys but also girls participate and make it lively and fun together.
It’s a good idea to divide matches by gender or by age.
Let’s also make a handmade sumo ring so both adults and children can enjoy it!
