Christmas fair ideas

sammyw

Hi, I've recently joined the school PTA and our aim is to raise money for the school, without spending more than we raise lol. So ideas for a moneysaving fair would be great please!

MrsTinks

Photo competitions are always a fun idea... 50p per entry? beg steal or borrow to get a few prizes from local traders like a butchers (in return for advertising in the program maybe?)
then pick a theme and make sure you add a few "classes" for the younger artists

Contact your local dog training group - some agility clubs will do a demo for you for very little money if not free if you let them advertise or supply them with free burgers at the event

Do a lucky dip! £1 bags, £2 bags and £5 ones... set a limit on how much to put in each to work out your profit margin - the £1 ones could be a little toy from a multi pack and a lollipop? You get the idea

CAKES!!! You HAVE to do a cake stand It's a must! lol - ask for mums to help by baking a cake but to let you know in advance which they will be baking so you can ensure a bit of variety, infact you can give them a list of cakes and ask if anyone will volunteer to do these cakes specifiacally
SO long as you ask nicely it's amazing what mums will do to help

jaccol

I have always found Tombola stalls very popular.Children and parents can donate drinks, bottles, cans etc.Also if someone is prepered to approach local shops/businesses for small gifts,vouchers, sponsorship etc in exchange for an advert in the entry programme.Lots of small local businesses are often amenable to supporting a local school..Lots of good Luck to you

LydiaSophia

Santas grotto is always very popular - charge £2 entrance per child and spend 50p - £1 per present.

pippa_h

jaccol wrote:

I have always found Tombola stalls very popular.

I second this. Tombolas at Christmas always make a fortune for my school.

MrsTinks

And rent out stalls to relevant businesses...

You could even have a bric a brac stall and ask for bric-a-brac donations

Do you have a WI group nearby? They might be interested in hiring a stall?

stressedoutmumof1

One idea we have used before is a cookie decorating stall. Get mums to bake christmas shaped cookies (or when I was Chair of the PTA just me lol :rolleyes: ) and get kids to pay 50p to decorate them with icing, sprinkles etc, and then put them on a paper plate for them to take away. In previous years they asked the local bakers to donate some cookies - but it's just as easy to make your own. HTH

Pooky

One great idea that our school did last year for the tombolla was to ask for old cuddly toys that were in good condtition, lets face it most of us have quite a few we could spirit away, and they had a teddy tombolla - they had over a hundred teddies and such and there was only 2 left at the end of the fair.

Face painting is always a good one too - especially if you get a couple of the year 6 kids to do the painting - keep it simple with a christmas theme.

sammyw

thanks guys, keep those ideas coming, they're great!!

Where can I get cheap, but good, santa gifts?

Sallys_Savings

Have you thought about gift baskets stall? ....theres lots of threads on the boards about these. You could either ask people to donate baskets and bits and then make up your own or ask them to actually make up a basket to donate.

Winter warmer stall - selling homemade wheat heat bags (and lavender if you wish). Homemade scarfs and hats. Hot chocolate packs..mug/hot chocolate satchet/chocolate spoon/marshmallows. Bath bombs / salts etc.

Sweetie jar stall Ask for donations of jars with sweets in and get the children to decorate festive paper tops or labels. (or use wrapping paper circles and put around the top with elastic bands). You can either ask for jars to be donated and sweets seperately so you make them up or ask people to donate full ones. We always make the stall up with cardboard boxes (giving a tiered effect) and cover with some fabric (we use gingham but a tablecloth or old curtain would be fine)


Pocket money/stocking filla stall You could buy bits from ebay to sell on this stall ...or ask at local shops for donations. To decorate the stall hang christmas stockings along the front looped up on some string.

Teddy Tombola stall just ask for clean teddies/soft toys from the kids. Give them all a name and sellotape on then put another set of the names into box to draw out. We tend to give a prize every time, but its entirely up to you.


Magical Christmas stall...selling Magic Father Christmas Keys we sold them for £1.50 each (google for a different rhyme to go on if you dont like this one. Just print out and stick on brown luggage label and then I dipped in coffee to stain.
This key is very special, you see,
It won't work for you or me...
Hang it just outside your door,
Go to bed and worry no more...
Close your eyes and close them tight,
'Cause Santa Claus is coming tonight

)..just ask for donations of old keys.

How about making reindeer food:
Mix porridge oats (basic tesco really cheap) and glitter in a plastic bag and print this rhyme on the sticker to go on the bag.
Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle on the lawn,
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn.
The smell of oats and glitter path will guide them on their way
And you'll wake up to Santa's gifts next morn on Christmas Day!

And the give a hug (empty box/bag/envelope)......sorry just going to try and find this poem

and then there is the guardian angel dust...(glitter in a bag)..sorry going to find this poem

Homemade pickle/relish stall ...get making them now and they'll be ready for christmas.

Hire stalls in the past we've hired stalls (£10 a go) to chocoholics, local florist, usbourne books, and local crafters. (but if you have lots of stalls yourself it can take your profit away if you have too many others)

Classroom with make a gift for parents We have had a classroom open (next door was selling refreshments for the parents) and the children had a few options of items to make for their parents for christmas. Decorate a mirror and make a table coaster (a tile with felt on the bottom) when they just paid and could make their own things. It also included a decorated paper bag to put them in to take home.

For the raffle, how about asking for tins/boxes of food and then make up a super duper hamper for the first prize?

Have to rush out now but if I think of anything else I'll pop back on.

Good luck.

scuzz

Fill a glass jar with sweets or marshmallows

Ask people to guess how many are in there for 20p a turn, then whoever gets it right or is the closest wins the jar of goodies