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 a festival. Ideas kids can enjoy (1–10)
Wani Wani Panic
A handmade “Whack-a-Gator” is guaranteed to be a huge hit with kids at temple fairs and summer festivals.
It’s easy to include at daycare, kindergarten, and elementary school events, and you can make it with everyday materials like cardboard.
Every time the crocodile-themed puppets pop out, the children go wild with excitement! If you roll up some newspaper to make the hammer, it’s safe to use.
The game is simple, but the speed and suspense make the venue burst with energy.
If you make it time-based and compete for points, everyone’s motivation goes up! With a bit of creativity from the maker, you can expand the designs and rules, creating a fun, original booth.
ring toss
When it comes to festivals, you can broadly divide things into food stalls like takoyaki and cotton candy, and participation-based attractions like goldfish scooping and lotteries.
Among the participation-type games, the classic of classics has to be ring toss—you just can’t leave it out.
One reason it’s so recommendable is how easy it is to customize: you can change the throwing distance based on the children’s ages, or adjust the size of the rings.
You can probably rent a ring-toss target board—one with numbers and wooden pegs—from a rental shop.
It’s also fun to lay out snacks directly and use them as the targets to toss rings onto.
And of course, it’s almost a given to display one or two big snacks that are practically impossible to win.
Great for sparking conversation!
Coin Drop
It looks simple but it’s actually tricky! It’s a low-key game, yet you can’t help getting fired up: the coin drop.
Fill an aquarium with plenty of water and place a cup at the bottom.
Drop a 1-yen coin from the water’s surface—if it lands in the cup, you win.
But because the 1-yen coin is so light, water resistance makes it sway and it won’t go straight into the cup.
Prepare a prize for anyone who manages to get the coin into the cup!
watermelon splitting
Here’s an idea to enjoy the popular summer festival and fair game “suika-wari” (watermelon splitting) in a safe and worry-free way.
Use plastic bowls, decorate them with green and red colored paper or paint, and stack them together to create a watermelon.
Instead of a stick, use a bat made by rolling up newspaper so even small children can join safely.
By adjusting the rules to suit different ages—nursery, kindergarten, or elementary school—it becomes a game everyone can enjoy.
It can be played indoors and is easy to set up.
This idea is perfect for summer events and can be just as exciting as the real watermelon-splitting game.
Target shooting
When it comes to festival stalls that even adults can’t help getting absorbed in, it has to be the shooting game.
Kids who don’t usually handle rifles are sure to get excited.
And if they can keep the snacks they knock down, it’ll be an even bigger hit! Cork rifles and cork guns for festivals are likely available from large rental companies.
Toy guns that shoot soft sponges can probably be found at toy stores.
Please choose the type of gun according to the children’s ages.
Just having a red-and-white curtain and a white table to rest the guns on makes a huge difference to the atmosphere, so if you can get those ready in time, definitely do!
PET bottle darts
At first glance it may seem plain, but once you try it, it’s guaranteed to be a blast! That unexpectedly exciting game is “Plastic Bottle Darts.” The rules are simple: stand a plastic bottle upright and drop a pair of chopsticks from above, aiming for the mouth of the bottle.
Despite its simplicity, the real appeal lies in its depth—it tests focus and fine motor skills.
It’s perfect for summer festivals and fair-style events at preschools, kindergartens, and elementary schools, and by adjusting the distance or the number of chopsticks to match the age group, students of any grade can enjoy it.
It’s a game with very simple prep and materials, yet it creates unforgettable memories.
Thousand-string Fishing (Senbon-tsuri)
The festival game Senbon Tsuri that everyone loves—I’ve heard some regions call it “Senbon Biki.” What about in your area? In Senbon Tsuri, you pull a string that’s connected to a prize, and you get whatever you hit.
It’s fun precisely because it’s so simple: you just pull a string.
I wonder if old-fashioned candy shops still have small lottery games modeled after Senbon Tsuri.
If the prizes are candy and snacks, it’s an activity everyone can enjoy, from little kids to slightly older boys and girls.
At a large venue, a jumbo Senbon Tsuri could even be the main attraction!