Non-food attractions for school festivals! A collection of hands-on ideas that will get everyone excited
Are you struggling to decide what to do for your school festival booth—other than food? Let’s energize the venue with unique ideas that are a bit different from the usual food stalls! From hands-on attractions like those at amusement parks, to photo spots, to performances your whole class can take on together, this article is packed with ideas that will win over your visitors.
We’ll also share helpful tips from preparation through day-of operations, so use this as a guide to create a booth that’s uniquely yours.
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Stage (21–30)
Charisma de Stage LIVENEW!
How about staging “Charisma de Stage LIVE,” a theatrical adaptation of the superhuman share-house story Charisma, at your school festival? The work features a cast of distinctive characters who not only act but also perform songs.
There’s also a live event called “Gather! Charisma Culture Festival!”—an interactive show popular for involving the audience.
The exercise segment with the performers is full of laughter and humor.
You don’t have to copy it exactly—why not express Charisma in your own unique way?
Dynamic calligraphy performanceNEW!
When it comes to shodo (Japanese calligraphy), the New Year’s kakizome is well known, but it’s also popular as a cultural festival performance.
Instead of writing characters on small washi paper, you create dynamic expressions on large poster paper using an oversized brush.
You can buy a giant brush online, and it’s a good idea to keep the ink in a bucket.
Move the brush in broad strokes to the beat of music or chants to captivate the audience.
It might also be nice to have several people perform at the same time and unveil the finished piece as a collaborative work at the end.
Magic experienceNEW!
@takumimomose Which one do you like?? Four magic tricks to be popular at schoolPrankreveal of the trick#fyp#tiktok video contest#tiktok classroom
♬ оригинальный звук – Человек жиза
To start, how about kicking things off with a magic show? Divide the classroom into a stage and an audience area, and perform four magic tricks! A nice thing about these four tricks is that their setups are simple and they require only a few props.
However, that also makes it challenging to deliver engaging patter and perform in a way that doesn’t reveal the secrets.
If you expect young children or elementary school students to attend, setting up a hands-on corner where students can learn the secrets and try the tricks themselves would likely make the event even more exciting.
Exhibition (1–10)
Ridiculously cool video
How about producing a video piece as your performance? You’ll need some preparation time to make the video, but on the day itself, all you have to do is press the play button and it’s done.
The idea is simple: string together clips based on the concept of doing everyday, ordinary actions in a cool way—something anyone can easily relate to.
Classics might include tossing trash into a bin without looking, or throwing an item to a friend who’s far away.
It’s not something you can nail in one try, so perseverance until you succeed is key to this project.
If you include the failed attempts as a blooper reel, the effort will feel even more rewarding.
Mosaic art
Mosaic art is a technique where you arrange image materials like tiles to create a large piece.
From a distance it looks like a single artwork, and when you get closer you realize it’s made from many images—that surprise is part of the fun.
The more materials you have and the wider the range of colors, the larger and more beautiful the piece you can aim for, so be mindful about thorough preparation.
As the number of images increases, placement becomes more challenging, so using dedicated software is recommended for designing large works.
To produce a high-quality final piece, it’s important for the team to work together and gather a large collection of images.
An aquarium without water
In a situation where you’re exhibiting works in a classroom, wouldn’t it be important to clarify the concept? It might be interesting to choose the theme of an aquarium without water and create a self-contained world inside the classroom.
You could craft a large fish at the center, small fish hanging from the ceiling, and coral reefs on the floor to build an ocean-like space.
You’ll need to make sure your setup doesn’t affect the original classroom, but by paying attention to wall colors and lighting, you could bring the atmosphere even closer to that of the sea.
Toothpick Art
Toothpick art is made by sticking lots of colored toothpicks into a Styrofoam base.
It’s like pixel art.
You add a grid to the sketch, separate the colors, and insert the corresponding toothpicks—that’s the method.
Really, you just stick them in the designated spots, so even people who aren’t good at drawing can easily take part.
If the whole class works on it, you won’t be short on hands, so it’d be great to tackle something as large as possible!
