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!
Games that liven up festivals. Ideas that children can enjoy (41–50)
Cotton candy making
Cotton candy is something that almost always catches children’s eyes at festivals.
At large festivals, adults make it for them, or pre-made cotton candy is sold in bags, but you can buy a small cotton candy machine for a few thousand yen, and there are safe models that kids can use themselves.
If children can twirl the skewers on their own to make it, it would surely become one of the festival’s most popular attractions.
White cotton candy is nice, but if you use colored sugar crystals, you can make colorful and cute cotton candy.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Gem scooping
Shops with scooping games—like goldfish scooping, yo-yo balloon scooping, and super ball scooping—really spark that urge to take on a challenge.
Part of the appeal is how easy they seem: you find yourself thinking, “I could do that,” or “Even I can get one.” That’s why I recommend the glittering “gem scooping.” You’re scooping toy gems, of course, but combined with the festival atmosphere, you somehow end up wanting them.
You can probably source fake jewelry that looks real at a low cost, so it’d be nice to mix a few in as prizes.
Candy shaped like rings would likely be a hit, too!
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!