Any ideas for a primary school Christmas fair?

[december25]

Just wondered if anyone with experience of fundraising could recommend any ideas for stalls/activities etc, and offer any suggestions about what to avoid?! There are thoughts of organising a 'grotto' with Father Christmas, elves etc...but wondering if that is too ambitious, and whether as in department stores/shopping centres etc there will be long queues and frustrated children? Also, what sort of price might be reasonable?

grotto is one of our best sellers (am on PTA)
we charge £3 (present is usually £1 -£1.50)

Trays that children take home. They fill (with sweets / smellies / Christmas bits, etc) cover in clingfilm, then decorate (with pretty ribbons). The only cost to the PTA is a few cheap polystrene trays.

These go down a BOMB! They sell for about £2 each. The chidlren love them and often buy their own!

Grotto is always popular and you could do a ticketing/number system with the children during school time so that you avoid huge long queues.

Do any of the mums do body shop Virgin vie or similar that might offer their service to us mums with a mini facial/bit of pampering.
Our school do things like this and the mum doing it keeps her commision on anything she sells and there is a feww of a couple of quid for getting the treatment done.

Oh and one thing we also did was the children made little decorations and ornaments in class that were sold you did have the option of ordering your own childs beforehand and paying/collecting on the day.

Avoid anything that needs plugging in i.e. hiring a popcorn machine etc!

Oh (sorry keep thinking of things) one really bizarre thing that is always really popular for some reason is a stall with the mums who can do it french pleating hair. Always really popular for some reason.

We too have grotto with a ticket system and our yr 6's act as "elves" to help out santa ( who is getting a little bit past it!) One year we took photos of the children with santa and produced Xmas cards which were a great hit, we have a similar idea to the trays, we use small brown paper carriers which the children take home to fill, normally we have 3-4 "professional" stalls-usborne Books etc, then lots of tombola/raffle/games stalls. The children also usually produce items for sale, we bake biscuits, make chocolates, decorate small items etc which we then sell, parents love them!

Last year, our fair had a "kids only" area, supervised by staff, where children could go and choose a present for members of their family, and wrap it. It was all donated tat stuff. They decorated the entrance and made a big deal of it being a special, secret area - and I still treasure my dodgy heart-shaped photo frame, lovingly chosen by DD1!

Oh yeah - and Father Christmas is always in attendance. He has a grotto, and a talented parent takes decent digital pictures of him with children, which can be bought.

Much cheaper than a Dept Store FC and kids and parents all seem to like it.

And DD1 has not yet twigged that FC bears a striking resemblance to our next door neighbour!

Have done loads of these for over 10 year so here are some of our most popular:

We have a non uniform day a couple of weeks before and different year groups have to bring in things like chocolate, bottles/tins, smellies, etc.

From that we have a chocolate tombola, general tombola and use the really nice stuff to make up some hampers for a grand raffle (few bottle of wine/nice xmas pud/chocs etc)

Also have a 'pluck a duck' with rolled up raffle ticket stuck in holes on a big wooden shaped 'duck'. Tickets ending in 0 or 5 win and the prizes are cuddly toys dontated in advance (just remembered I've got 3 bin liners full in the loft - must wash them).

Flower pots is always popular - wooden frame with 5 flower pots suspended from strings that hang down the side of the frame. The children pull a string and get the prize under the pot that it lifts up (usually some plastic tat but they love it).

Pick a straw - cut loads of straws in half paint the ends of 1 in 5 and place in tray of sand. Kids pick out the straw and win a prize for getting a painted one (usually a football). Have some cheap sweets/lollies for consolation prizes.

All of the above 50p each or 3 for £1

Lucky dip £1

Santa - definately but do have a number system or some poor kids end up spending the whole fair queueing. If you can get someone to take photos too you can charge about £3 for a visit with present and £5 to include photo.

Craft stall? Might be a bit late now but in the past ours has had a craft group that meet weekly and do stuff for the summer fete and Xmas fair so keep busy all year.

Food - taste of India/China/Carribean, etc (if you have an ethnic mix in the school lots of parents are happy to show off their culinary skills).

Play your cards right - pack of oversized playing cards and a wooden frame. Charge 50p a go and if they get to the end they win £1.

Hook a duck - plastic ducks in a paddling pool. Bamboo canes with curtain hooks -prize for hooking a duck with painted bottom (watch they don't knock the ducks over to check where the winner is )

Splat a rat - drainpipe, stuffed sock,plastic rounders bat - bob's your uncle.

buzzer game

Refreshements (especially home made cakes/fudge/toffee etc)

Get everyone to dress their stalls up with tinsel etc.

TBH the kids just love taking part and winning a load of tat (and yes we are in nice middle class area) and the parents are happy to try and win a nice hamper/bottle of plonk/choccies.

Have a good one

Many thanks for so many fantastic ideas - the tray idea seems inspired and AllGone South - you should write a book!

P.S. Please do keep the ideas coming!

ahh thanks december25, you wouldn't believe the amount of useless crap useful information I have suffed into my brain

Oooh yes Father C essential. We charge £2 I think. Do a raffle ticket system and regularly announce what number they are up to. Smithagain our FC is usually a dad (not always the same one). His DC never twig!

Parents have to stay around and thus spend more money.

allgonesouth I am loving your weekly craft group idea.

The school of a pal of mine always has a craft stall of stuff made by PTA - lavender bags, chutney, Christmas decs etc - all from donated/scrounged stuff (free tomatoes, offcuts of fabric) and they sell it at reasonable prices. Last year that one stall took (and therefore made - all profit) more than £350

Face painting is always a good moneyspinner if you have anyone skilled.

We had a jar tombola - people filled jars and donated them, £1 a go, guaranteed to win something. It might be a jar of cornflakes or pasta. I usually do a few jars with cheapy sweets and a couple with those toys you get in party bags (culled from our large collection which everyone wants to win

Wine and water stall £1 a go, bottles in newspaper, 3 water to 1 wine (donated).

Adopt a teddy, £1 a go, pick a certificate (with details of teddy's name, fave food etc) and win a teddy (donated).

A money tree.
Children all given envelopes. Parents put money in and return to school. At fair, envelopes hung on a Christmas tree. Charge punters 50p/£1 per envelope. They win, break even or lose!!

Our Christams Fair has been cancelled this year.

All these idea are great and are ones we usually use. Santa's Grotto is a huge hit.

Sell reindeer food, face painting, cakes and bakes( we sell a lot of homemade bread at ours), lucky dip, We also did decrate your own fairy cakes (20p a cake and 20p to decorate)

Do Father christmas' need to have CRB checks btw?

Most of the good ones I know of have already been mentioned, but one very good one is colour stalls - ask for donations of things - sweets, stationery, toiletries etc of a particular colour - red & green are good for a Christmas Fair- or you can wrap stuff in coloured paper, so you can use up lots of oddments, or get some cheap multipacks, plus a few nicer prizes. Stick tickets on them and every ticket wins a prize. It was always the first stall to sell out because the kids love knowing they are definitely going to win something.

No he should be fine. Not left alone with kids, parents will be there.

Gruesome lucky dip- fill big bowls (like plastic washing tubs) with jelly, spaghetti etc, and put prizes in old film tubes. Have lots of towels, plastic sheets to hand- boys loved this one.

At DDs school they have a non uniform day about 2 weeks before the event.

Each year group is asked to bring in different things for a tombola. e.g. Year 3 and 4 chocolate years 5 and 6 smellies.

The chocolate tombola is always very popular with the children and the other stuff is used for an adult tombola. The school makes an absolute bomb from these.

A second-hand book stall is a great money-spinner. You have kids' as well as adults' books and DVDs. Depending on the quality of the donations and the parent customers, this can raise several hundred pounds.