I need Christmas craft club help, please...

[lucysmam]

School asked for parents to help with organising the Christmas fair so I volunteered to run a craft club for some of the children, making small things to sell.

All ok-ed. Yes I can use this hall because it's easier to clean up. Yes this member of staff will help me. Yes we can make X, Y and Z.

Except, come today, I walk in to "we can't use school's resources, we haven't got any of the things we said we would have for you (makings of snowman soup including labels, some white acrylic paint, and some tea lights), there are oats there that we've been given, but we have enough 'reindeer food' " (the oats, on further inspection, were mixed with glitter at some point for reindeer food).

Wtf am I suppose to fill five weeks, with eight dc with, with no budget and no resources?!?!

Please help me come up with a plan, or I'm going to throw a strop! They want the bloody kids and parents involved so surely they need to give me something to work with!!

( this may just be me being idiotic- i'm half asleep) but im not sure i fully understand, are you asking for craft ideas? and is this a craft club (so you need 5 different activities for 5 weeks) or just for the fete (so more like 3 activities)?

whoops, i answered my own question about the craft club part by rereading, but are you asking for craft ideas?

Hmmm. I think honestly I would email the head and say you can't do it without resources. If they don't give you anything I wouldn't do it because you'll end up paying.

But if you can get a small budget baker ross are good for craft kits.

At minimal to no cost (but there's no way you'll be able to sell them) are stained glass "Windows", black sugar paper cut out with coloured cellophane behind, really simple shapes for younger children, more complex cut outs for older ones. Paper chains. "Nativity" boxes, showboxes decorated with card cut out figures. Stamped wrapped paper (Kirsty did a great penguin design), just cut a roll of brown paper into sheet sizes.

Good luck

Do you have a tiger or pound shop near? Pom pom makers for £1 and some cheap pound shop yarn. They do sparkly - 3 balls fkr £2. Xmas tree decorations. I've made them with kids and they're great

I have just come up with a list of Christmas crafts using minimal materials. PM me with your email and I can send it to you.

Can you email the parents (or set up a whats app group) and ask them to donate some resources? could you bring a big shopping bag on the school run (or ask another parent) and collect donations. The trick is to keep updating the list
e.g we need 30 toilet rolls/ we need 5 more toilet rolls/ we have enough toilet rolls
or you'll be swamped in materials.
You could also ask every child attending to bring either a prittstick or a bottle of paint (get them to agree to a colour) and again keep updating the list.

Can you either ask for a loan from the PTA which will be repaid with the proceeds from what's sold at the fayre, or get an agreement that you pay for materials and are compensated from fayre proceeds?

If they say no, your last resort will have to be asking parents of children at the club to contribute, and then telling the school you'll have to cancel.

We have a parent running a Christmas Craft Club on a similar idea at the school I work in, and she's charging the children to come to be able to afford materials. I'm going to be running a Craft Club after Christmas, and the school have agreed on a small budget for materials.

It's a bit rubbish that they've said they'll provide things, but haven't (although I completely understand not being able to provide them - school budgets are tight at the moment - but in that case they should'nt've promised you!)

@sleepismysuperpower1 the idea was 6 weeks of crafts that would be cheap, and easy to produce with a small number of children. Discussed and ok-ed while the Head was still in the room, and then double checked with her yesterday while at work (I work there too).

PlaymobilePirate, thank you they look simple enough.

I think half the trouble is the TA who usually does the organising hasn't actually got the time to do it any more, but has been doing it that long that she's not willing to loosen the reins a little bit & let someone else have a stab at organising events. Which I'd happily do, and have the time to do. (I suppose it was a rant/moan/sound off as much as needing a plan for things to do really).

@ForgivenessIsDivine thank you very much. Pm on it's way in a mo :)

oh okay, makes more sense to my half asleep mind now!

GetTheGoodLookingGuy the parental involvement is supposed to be an attempt at a PTA type organisation. We try every year with not much luck.

Resources were supposed to be coming from a separate budget to the school's own (what would be a pta budget, if we had one). But no-one had the time to shop...and no-one thought to tell me until dinner time today when I saw the lovely TA who is helping me even though it's eating into her only night with her dh.

I'm wondering why I bother atm

Present decorations made from paper (newspaper, magazines, anything really), hang on, I'll look for instructions.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=HPEYWjLpluI

Also quite a lot of things you can make with loo roll middles and egg cartons, Pinterest is your friend (search Xmas kids activities or words to that effect).

Sorry to be a killjoy, please don't make "reindeer food" - it's not very animal and environment friendly.

Pine cone decorations are my go-to easy craft.

Have you thought of doing a 'craft amnesty' send out a school email, asking for fabric scraps, ribbons, glitter, unwanted Christmas decorations, card. A lot of people will be glad of a clear out.

You could also ask the children that come along to bring in craft supplies for the following week. Say, bring in one Jam jar and a tea light to decorate a Christmas lantern.

Ask for some Christmas magazine supermarket giveaways and ribbon or twine to make some collage gift labels and cards.

Ask for odd earrings/sequins/decorative things to make Christmas decorations. Plus 50p for the salt dough ingredients. Use BBC recipe (But does have to be baked if you don't mind taken them home)

@TheQueenSnortsAvocados, we dyed sugar to make ours - I'm not sure where the bags of glittered oats came from, they were left with a note for me.

Any other ideas for them would be gladly received, seems a shame to waste them (but I'm not up for picking out the glitter bits ).

KC225 a craft amnesty is a good idea! I'll pop in in the morning and see about a text going out to ask for any unwanted supplies and other bits and pieces.

I've calmed down now, thank you all. I think I have a plan for next week (only think...we'll see what sort of reception it gets when I cost it in the morning but should only be a few quid and use of a freezer drawer).

I think I'm going to do as someone suggested upthread & ask for either a small budget specifically for craft club use or for some of what is made to be set aside for future use.

Hopefully, in time, more parents will be involved and we might get somewhere! They certainly need to be...it feels pointless going through the same thing every year but I think it's worse this year because usually staff are involved with christmas crafts with the children after school but there aren't enough of them to do everything & if they're doing prep at home then they don't get any downtime. It's just bloody frustrating!