School festivals are a great way to build a school community and teach children about different festivals, traditions, and special events. These interactive events are also a great way to raise funds for meaningful school projects and encourage student interaction. This list of 30 festival ideas is designed to inspire you to incorporate more games, family activities, and booths this festival season.
1. Pumpkin Golf
Everyone loves Fall! It’s a season filled with comfort food, hot drinks, and changing colors. This pumpkin golf activity is the perfect addition to any fall festival. Collect pumpkins to create a miniature golf course and have students buy a ticket to play.
Learn more: Eighteen25
2. Pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe
This huge version of tic-tac-toe is a great way to entertain festival-goers. Create a big board with tape and give each player 5 white and 5 orange pumpkins. Their challenge is to place three pumpkins in a row to win.
Learn more: Toddler Approved
3. Punch Cup Game
This large-scale game challenges players to find sweet treats or prizes that have been hidden in cups. Students need to buy a ticket to punch a cup. They can punch through the top of any cup and keep the surprise that is inside.
Learn more: Craftibilities
4. Guessing Game
This simple game is the perfect addition to any fair or festival. Place pieces of candy in big glass jars and have participants guess how many pieces of candy they contain. If they guess correctly, they win a prize or a jar of candy.
Learn more: Momtastic
5. Duck Race
For this fun game, you will need two rubber ducks, two long bowls filled with water, and drinking straws. Place the ducks at the one end of the bowl and let two students blow on the ducks to move them over the finish line.
Learn more: Cul de sac Cool
6. Fishing Game
A fishing booth is always a hit at any festival! Set up a small pool with real goldfish or toy fish and host a tournament where the person who catches the most fish wins a prize.
Learn more: Orvis News
7. Ring Toss
This quick and easy tutorial will help you make your own ring toss game to share at an upcoming school festival. Simply gather sticks or dowels, a few plastic rings, glue, and a circular base. Once everything has been assembled, learners can enjoy tossing rings in an attempt to loop them over the dowels.
Learn more: Momendeavors
8. Relay Race
Relay races are always a lot of fun and can be so versatile in terms of your approach! This relay race with a pumpkin is perfect for a Fall festival, but other items can also be used. Simply grab a pumpkin and create a course where participants can run and hand the pumpkin to whoever is next.
Learn more: The Inspired Treehouse
9. Knock ‘Em Down
This cheap and easy game can be made by gathering 6 plastic cups and stacking them one on top of the other. Set a spot where participants need to stand and give them three balls to try and knock the cups over.
Learn more: Morena’s Corner
10. Pop-A-Balloon Game
For this fun carnival game, you’ll need a corkboard, balloons, tacks or tape, and a few darts. Blow up a few balloons and stick them to the board. If a student can pop three balloons, they win a prize.
Learn more: Queen Of Theme
11. Children’s Craft Table
Arts and crafts provide kids with a wonderful opportunity to express their creativity. This site will help your children create beautiful crafts to sell at their own booth at a craft fair and also learn how to conduct market research as well as work with money.
Learn more: Chair Coffee Crochet
12. Fun Run
Every festival needs an interactive group activity! These fun run examples are a great way to get members of the community to join in and are a fun way to motivate participants to raise funds. Whether you host a foamy escapade or a color run, be sure to invite your local community out to enjoy the fun!
Learn more: Party Goat
13. Face Painting Booth
Calling all creatives with a flair for painting! Gather a few teachers or older students to help paint beautiful patterns or animals on children’s faces!
Learn more: Queen Of Theme
14. Karaoke Booth
Setting up a karaoke booth will ensure hours of fun for parents and children alike. Simply source a screen or TV, a few microphones, and some catchy music to sing along to.
Learn more: Simply Sparkles
15. Hayrides
Create an exciting hayride for festival-goers to ride on throughout the festival. Simply get a tractor and a wagon with haybales on it, and charge a few cents per ride. Alternatively, you can make a little ‘train’ that children can sit in.
Learn more: Gathered Again
16. Dress-A-Doll
Most kids love playing dress-up with dolls. This fun booth will allow them to do just that. These dolls are quite affordable and are easy to make should you choose to go that route. Children can also purchase dolls and their clothes after they have finished dressing them up.
Learn more: Joy With Purpose
17. Cookie Decorating Contest
A festival isn’t a festival without some delicious food. If your school has the facilities, you can host a cookie decorating contest. Parents and children can decorate together and be judged on taste, display, and teamwork.
Learn more: The Decorated Cookie
18. Pie-Eating Contest
Another fun and tasty activity to include at your annual festival is a pie-eating contest! Ask local bakeries or parents to sponsor the pies, and then challenge participants to see how many they can eat in a given amount of time.
Learn more: Ehow
19. Dunk Tank
A dunk tank is the perfect addition to any Summer festival. Get one unlucky person to sit in the ‘wet’ seat and have participants try to hit the target with a ball to dunk the person sitting on top.
Learn more: The Green Head
20. Cake Walk
A cakewalk ensures plenty of festival laughs and is a great way to get the community together to enjoy some tasty treats. Simply ask the community to bake cakes and sell entry tickets for the event.
Learn more: Grace Grits Garden
21. Sand Art Booth
Sand art is a creative form of entertainment. Create a booth where children can sit and craft beautiful art out of this natural material. All you need are different colors of fine sand, paper, glue, small scoops and funnels, and a few different-shaped bottles.
Learn more: Fern And Maple
22. Football Throw Game
One thing that will make your festival a real patriotic event is a football throwing game. Simply cut a circle from a board that can stand up on its own and get participants to throw a football through the hole.
Learn more: Cul de Sac Cool
23. Apple Toss Game
Apple tossing is another great addition to any Fall festival! You’ll need three different-sized buckets, paper to write points on, and of course- apples to toss. Participants can stand behind a line and try to get as many apples in the buckets as possible.
Learn more: Frugal Fun 4 Boys
24. Photo Booth
No festival is complete without a photo booth! Create an interesting backdrop and provide fun props where festival goers can capture photographs to remember their special day.
Learn more: Amazon
25. Giant Jenga
This giant Jenga can be played by kids of all ages! Cut pieces of wood all the same size, and stack them in a tower of three blocks per layer. Then, try to remove one block at a time without causing the tower to fall over.
Learn more: Spaceships And Laser Beams
26. Giant Ker-Plunk Game
This game of kerplunk is a fun way to entertain everyone at the festival. Begin by creating a circular cage with wire, and grab a few long sticks and a few lightweight balls to insert. The goal of the game is to remove the sticks without letting the balls fall through.
Learn more: Rachael Jess
27. Outdoor Twister
A fun game to include at your next school festival to get people active and engaged is outdoor twister! All you need to do to prepare is spray some colored dots on the grass and create a spin wheel to indicate which body parts correspond to which colors.
Learn more: Spaceships And Laser Beams
28. Frog Flinger
This fun frog flinger game is easy to use and will ensure hours of family fun! Simply set up the flinger and challenge participants to try and get a frog in the hole.
Learn more: Etsy
29. Water Balloon Painting
This crafty activity is the perfect addition to any art festival. Grab a big roll of paper and fill a few balloons with paint. Allow students to roll and paint with the balloons to create unique masterpieces.
Learn more: Raising Dragons
30. Giant Angry Birds
This life-sized game is sure to be a hit with players of all ages! Create a big slingshot and set up targets all around for festival-goers to try and hit them.
Learn more: Instructables
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