[For Kids] Fun Entertainment and Activities to Liven Up a Festival
We’ve collected ideas for entertaining performances and attractions that will liven up large community fairs as well as school and daycare festival events.
Since these are aimed at children, this is perfect if you’re looking for things like “performances involving lots of kids” or “entertainment for children enjoying the festival.” We’ve selected a variety of ideas, from activities that are especially fun within a close-knit group to ones that get everyone excited—even among people who don’t know each other.
Feeling unsure if you can pull it off? Don’t worry—keep challenging yourself to create wonderful memories, and let’s make it a fun festival!
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[For Kids] Fun Entertainment and Booth Ideas for Festivals (31–40)
Live painting
Live painting is the act of creating a painting on the spot and turning it into a show.
These days, you might see it at live music events or on TV, so many people may already be familiar with it.
You don’t usually get to watch someone paint in real time, and experiencing it together is sure to get everyone excited!
Japanese classical dance (nihon buyo)
How about performing some Nihon buyo (Japanese dance)? Nihon buyo combines traditional Japanese dance and movement.
Like the tea ceremony, it has many schools and styles.
The dance incorporates elements from classical performing arts such as gagaku and Noh.
That said, there aren’t strict rules you must follow—feel free to dance as you like.
The elegance of kimono attire will captivate the audience and is sure to get them excited.
Sparkle scooping
A glitter scoop game that’s popular at festivals and easy for kids to try.
It’s a booth where children scoop up shiny floating trinkets and super balls bobbing on the water.
There are all kinds of scoopable toys—candies, animals, goldfish, bugs, and more—so choose according to the target age.
You can float the toys in an inflatable pool, a washbasin, or a bucket; if your budget allows, renting a basin with a flowing-water feature could make it even more fun for the kids.
Stacking empty cans
Precisely because it’s a fun festival, it’s important to stay mindful all the way through to the final cleanup.
By washing the empty cans generated during the festival and using them for a game, people may become more conscious about keeping the venue clean.
The rules are simple: within a time limit, players compete to see how many empty cans they can stack.
Even if the stack collapses, you can try again as many times as you like within the time limit; your record is the highest number of cans you successfully stack.
Even when it feels like you’ve reached your limit, boldly going for one more layer can be the key to victory.
Stomp
“Stomp” is a type of performance where you treat anything as an instrument to make sounds and create rhythms.
You might bang the floor with a brush, clang a trash can lid, or crunch a plastic bag—without using a single item that’s typically called a musical instrument—but it still packs quite a punch.
You’ll need to coordinate in advance about what rhythms to play, but leaving some room for free expression can make it even more interesting.
Let’s share fresh, original sounds and beats for everyone to enjoy.
pantomime
Pantomime expresses a story using only gestures and movements.
Because there are no lines, it takes a fair amount of practice to captivate the audience.
However, for children who are used to plays and films with sound, a silent pantomime is sure to be an intriguing performance.
If you include it in a festival program, it will undoubtedly draw attention.
Come up with a short, easy-to-understand story and invite children into the enchanting world of pantomime.
Props are handy, so if you can prepare them, use them actively.
paper puppet theater
“Paper-theater” shows, known as “peep-sart” and hugely popular at daycare centers and kindergartens, feature paper pieces with different pictures pasted front and back onto chopsticks used as handles.
Performers spin them around to match songs or stories.
There are also versions without handles or with mechanisms built into the paper itself—there are many ways to present a paper-theater show.
Once you’ve picked the song or story theme, try coming up with fun staging ideas to match.
The children will surely watch with sparkling eyes.
soap bubble
When you see lots of soap bubbles gently floating around at events, it’s not just kids—adults get excited too.
Let’s fill the sky with bubbles! The classic way of everyone blowing through straws is fun, and these days you can buy sets that make tons of bubbles at once or even create giant bubbles.
Giant bubbles aren’t something you see very often, so they’re sure to be a big hit.
Henshin Tunnel
The kamishibai-style act “Henshin Tunnel” is, as the name suggests, a performance based on the idea that you transform when you pass through a tunnel.
For example, before entering the tunnel the word is “tokei” (clock), but while going through the tunnel everyone chants “tokei” over and over, and the word transforms into “keito” (yarn)! It’s a show that combines wordplay with kamishibai.
Let’s take words and ideas offered by the children, turn them into illustrations, and make them part of the performance.
The audience joins in by chanting aloud together, which really helps build excitement.
Kendama performance
Kendama is a toy where you place the ball on the cups of the part called the sword, or stick the ball onto the spike.
If you’re around elementary school age, chances are you’ve tried it at least once.
It’s so popular in Japan that tournaments are held, and many tricks have been created.
How about taking on a “Kendama Performance” as one of your acts? If you can show off some cool tricks, thunderous applause is guaranteed! If performing tricks is tough, we also recommend “Rhythm Kendama,” where you play along to music in time with the beat.