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 a festival. Ideas kids can enjoy (31–40)
children’s portable shrine (for festivals)
When it comes to local festivals, the mikoshi is a must, isn’t it? The large mikoshi carried by adults is powerful and impressive to watch, but the ones carried by children, shouting in unison as they do their best, are adorably charming too.
Even children—by the upper grades of elementary school—can carry it steadily and seem quite dependable.
It’s also cute to see little kids pulling the mikoshi or walking alongside it while chanting “Wasshoi!”
Slime Treasure Hunt
A slime treasure-hunting game where you turn the pool water into slime and search for hidden prizes inside.
There’s a product called slime powder, and using it lets you easily transform water into slime.
Lots of kids love slime, and if you play in summer it might feel nice… or maybe a little gross? Either way, you can enjoy a quirky kind of treasure hunt.
Put in small items like super balls, and the child who collects the most within the time limit wins! How about offering prizes to the winners? If you fill a vinyl pool with water and run it there, it won’t take up much space, so it’s great for small festivals.
agar play
Agar-based safe clay: agar clay.
With its unique, jiggly texture that’s surprisingly addictive to the touch, this clay is made primarily from food ingredients, so it’s safe even if a little ends up in the mouth—perfect for playing with small children.
There are products from various brands, but you can also make it yourself, which might be fun to try.
You can use agar and water, and even a mold like a milk carton to pour it into, so you can make it with items you already have at home.
Mix in different food colorings to create lots of colorful batches!
Children’s Bon Odori
Speaking of bon-odori, it’s a quintessential summer tradition and an event that everyone—adults and children alike—can enjoy together.
Festival music and Japanese drums are performed atop a yagura decorated with neatly arranged red-and-white banners and lanterns, while everyone dances in circles around it.
There are also many children’s bon-odori songs used as anime ending themes.
Even without a yagura, just playing the music and dancing is sure to get everyone excited!
Kids Flea Market
How about hosting a kids-only flea market, a “Kids Flea Market”? From listing to selling, everything is done by children, and even the customers are only children.
Kids often get bored with toys quickly or outgrow them, leaving many unused.
Knowing that the next person will make use of them makes the seller happy and also fosters a greater awareness of valuing things.
Games that liven up festivals. Ideas that children can enjoy (41–50)
Frog Toss Game
https://www.tiktok.com/@kureha_planning/video/7258584872804011265Let me introduce a frog-flinging game everyone can enjoy.
Make a target on a large sheet of poster paper and write point values on it.
It gets more exciting if you prepare a range of scores from high to low.
Once you’ve set a frog on a plastic bottle, try launching it toward the target.
It’s fun to think about how hard to launch and which section of the target to aim for.
If you set up a table and chairs, you can enjoy it while seated, so kids and seniors alike can join in the fun!
lottery; drawing lots; raffle
When you went to festivals as a kid, didn’t you always try the lottery at least once? Those lotteries had so many toys and stationery that drew children in.
You’d hear rumors like, “Does the first prize ever actually come out? Has anyone even won it?”—almost like an urban legend.
Still, you can’t help but give it a shot.
Let’s prepare lots of prizes and make the lottery fun!