Summer Fair

[Guest terrydoo73]

Our local Community is holding a Fun Day on Saturday fortnight and I was thinking of asking our Committee if we could organise a little fundraiser at it. We have a large gazebo so even if it rained we would provide shelter or shade. I want to provide an activity which will bring the children to the area and give them something to do for say a few minutes but also when they are there try and get something off their parents cash wise if you understand what I mean. What could I organise on both scores that would be easy and hopefully generate some cash for the Playgroup? It would be a good opportunity to publicise the work of the Playgroup in the community which only opened in January.

[Inge]

we used to do a sand sieving game...

 

lots of pots of dry sand each containing a prize of some sort... we used cash from 1p to £2.00 coins.. and tokens for other prizes... children and parents bought a pot to sieve and won the prize.. all got something usually a 1p lolly or some other small prize which was less than the entry cost... we had parents donate some prizes to win and had all sorts of items to win.. these were numbered to match the tokens to win

 

cost us nothing to set up as we had the sand and used plastic cups for the pots.. money prises could easily be added depending on how much was coming in and how much was sold.. so no running out of prizes.. and children enjoyed the sieving of the sand..

 

other stall which always did really well was one with the temporary tattoos... you know the sort of sicker thing... we bought a load of different ones.. had water and a stall and a long long queue all afternoon.

 

hand print mats or pictures.. we had pre printed handprint rhymes on A4 size card.. paint and children put handprints on them... we were lucky to have an electricity supply so we laminated them to be collected later.. charged cost of the pouch plus paper and ink... plus our profit... could use foot prints as well using the right rhyme..

[Guest terrydoo73]

Like the idea of sand sieving - no handling too which means it can be used again and again I guess. I think I might use little packets of sweets and maybe charge 10p a sieve? Or is this too much?? I probably would be able to buy this from the likes of a cash and carry?

 

The rattos and laminating mats sounds like too much work really and it is in a field so not sure if have electricity or not. At least with the 10p charge it will be matter of throwing the coins in a bucket and hopefully there might be a few more donations at the same time!! I was wondering about counting number of buttons in a jar or perhaps nail painting with straight nail polish - something I could possibly rope in a few older girls in the community to help with??

[Inge]

we used to charge 20p a pot and most had small change less than this in it... children loved finding just 1p when they had paid 20p! and they did get a small 5p item as you say cash and carry sweets were good, although sometimes you can get supermarket bargains cheaper.

 

it was used over and over again and went into the preschool after so no real cost... we had sieves in our sand equipment to use but you only need 3 or 4 to do it at most.

 

unless you already have dry sand in the sandpit just make sure any sand you get soon and dry it out.. it always comes damp and it must be dry

[Rea]

We've done the seiveing sand and it really is a hit. We charged 20p each or 3 for 50p. The pots had anything from 1p to £2.00 sometimes two or three coins in a cup. We also bought big bags of sweets and split them into small bags to sell at 20p. A jar of sweets or objects to guess the amount, a teddy to win if you guess the name from a selection on a list, lolly pop stick in sand, some sticks had a red dot, these won a small prize, losers got a sweet. All games are usually 20p or 50p a go.

[finleysmaid]

decorated biscuits always go down well ...buy digestives and provide glace icing in lots of colours then lots of decorations (100's and 1000's , tiny smarties etc etc) very sticky ...lots of fun and easy to organise

[Fredbear]

Oh Finleysmaid great minds think alike, do you have a sale or return brochure like Baker Ross, Yellow Moon, these cost you an initial outlay for the items purchased, but any non sales can be returned and money refunded they have lots of activities, games etc.

Another one is The marble game for both children and adults.

Okay you need a terracotta flower pot and saucer you could paint it if desired, some marbles, a fork for the adults and a teaspoon or desert spoon for the children and a stopwatch.

Turn the pot upside down on the saucer,we normally charge 30p a go get as many marbles into the hole in a minute. Make a sheet with names one for children one for adults with a contact telephone number, buy two prizes and the one that gets the most for each section wins the prize, great fun, adults get very competitive.

Good luck

Edited June 2, 2011 by bridger

[Guest]

In the past we have done

Treasure Chest - couple of different versions

No.1 - squared sheet with picture of a desert island labelled alphabet down the side and number across the top. People can buy a square eg A1/D4 and write their name on it when all squares are purchased the winning square is announced and wins a treasure chest of goodies (made a simple treasure chest and filled it with gold coins, pirate pencils etc). But everyone who purchased a square also got a chocolate coin as well.

No 2 - Cut out cardboard keys and number them, sold each key for £1 (each key had a paper ticket with corresponding number on and that was folded into a tub when that key was purchased) when all keys sold simple draw decides the winner. I was fortunate that a local restaurant donated a meal for two which was in the chest but depending on the number of keys you can sell you can offer a cash prize. Also gave a chocolate coin out again as the kids like that.

You could link either one to a simple craft such as making pirate hat or decorate triangles of fabric to make neckerchiefs. These can entice the children in and bring parents with them.

[Guest terrydoo73]

OK so I have got permission from my Committee to run with this idea - just need to sell it to my parents who are meeting on Wednesday night. We have decided to go with say 20 pots of sand with a lollipop stuck in each. There is a colour on the end of the lollipop that is stuck in the sand - pink you get a packet of fizzer sweets, blue you get Haribo packet and red for another packet (these are on offer at my local Tesco's hence me going for these). How many should I cater for?? It will mean we just stick the lollipops back in each time which is easier for us to manage when we see what will go etc and means less sand sieving etc, getting the right packet that doesn't get covered in sand - you know what I mean.

 

I have also got a teddy bear (bought in a local charity shop!) and am filling a jar with buttons so it will be a piece of paper with the name, address and telephone number of people taking part with a column for guessing the total number - that will be fairly easy to set up!

 

I have also devised a great publicity brochure even if I do say so myself!! This will be given out to anyone who is interested in the Playgroup only.

 

Now I would like a few more suggestions if you have any please. I reckon if we could have say 3 more easy to operate things it will make life easy as we are suggesting 20p a guess and 20p for the sand game. The marbles is good but difficult to manage - there might only be 2 of us on the stall at any one time and hence we need something that requires little intervention if you know what I mean!!

 

Thanks for all your replies so far - really appreciated!

[Guest terrydoo73]

I know that there are loads of people out there reading this thread so am going to add another little bit to it! I am still looking for ideas - our parents meeting last night produced the idea of bubble jars. We can buy these for 30p so if we sell them at 50p it might give us another little bit of money!

 

I am thinking of something else in the pocket money idea - any suggestions? Some sort of toy that would appeal to the very young.

 

What about Hama Bead coasters - in the shape of stars and squares. Would these be attractive and how much do you think we could sell them for.

 

Our parents who live in the community and have attended the Fair in past years expressed a desire for us to supply crisps and drink but we are looking at whether the Youth Club will also be doing this. It is difficult to produce something that will bring a generous profit! We have decided to make little fairy cakes which will be iced and sold at 20p each - we reckon on about 12 dozen in total. Some of our parents offered to help but we tried to show them that while they bake or supply they will also be called upon to buy!

[Fredbear]

Do check with the group running this event if they have sole rights to particular stalls, refreshments etc, i know schools that have lots of outside crafts,community groups come and they do this so that they raise the most from running the event. What about decorate a biscuit, name the teddy, how many sweets in the jar, hook a duck always popular but would have some initial outlay to buy ducks, hooks and a small paddling type pool.

One of our more popular stalls at our funday that we have each year is a trike track, it's basically the pre-schools bikes some loaned tyres make a track and off they go, no outlay and lots of fun, do check your insurance though.

I do hope you raise lots of pennies what ever you decide to do.

[Guest terrydoo73]

Thanks Bridger. We have a guess the number of buttons in a jar and win a teddy bear organised. We also have sand in cups with lollipops and corresponding sweet packets relating to the colour of the lollipop pulled out - both of these are being priced at 20p each. We decided on fairy cakes as our own personal contribution and these will be priced at 20p each. We were trying to think of things that children could afford ie £1 to spend at our stall hence our idea of a bottle of bubbles and rubbers/pencils etc. I am thinking of going to the cash and carry for the bubbles so will have a look and see if there is anything else we could buy and sell for a good mark up. The Community is organising someone to do face painting, balloon modelling and bouncy castles as well as little quad and trailer bike rides. There will be no room for us to set up another track for rideons and this is one of the reasons we are organising a stall - to buy ride-ons for the Playgroup!! Overall we will probably only make about £100 but it is the fact that we are publicising our work and setting ourselves up as being part of the Community.

[Fredbear]

Sounds like you have some lovely ideas already, hope the sun shines and you raise lots of pennies as well as promoting your setting.

Good luck

[Guest terrydoo73]

Thank you so much - hope it does work out now!! The parents mentioned the possibility of doing something with the children that we could sell but we have drawn a blank on that score!

[Guest terrydoo73]

Well our Summer Fair is over ...

 

The day started out good with dry and sunny spells but as the afternoon went on it just didn't stop raining! The Committee had decided to put up a large marquee which was great for shelter and ensured people hung around for longer. Children could see our tent and were darting back and forth buying stuff which encouraged the adults to come to.

 

Our fairy cakes went down a real hit as did the sand game but the bubbles, balls, pencils and rubbers didn't do as well. One woman whose niece attends our playgroup gave us some beautifully embroidered items - napkin holders, table centre pieces, peg bags, pin cushions and material brooches. Unfortunately these were not a seller either. There was a stall which had some necklaces and plant pots made by the older members of the community in the marquee and we just thought maybe we should have placed our stall beside these to create a bit of interest.

 

When we took our expenses and float we made about £80 and we received a donation of £20 from one parent who apologised but couldn't attend the fair due to a wedding they were attending.

[Guest]

Hi,

 

Sorry I missed this.

A little late but we ALWAYS do our thing called Lucky Cups.

Every fundraising we give out 5 cups to each family and ask them to fill with goodies. Could be sweets, small toys, rubbers, marbles, money, chocolates.

All cups have a raffle ticket on them and tickets ending in 0 and 5 win a ticketed cup. All others get a sweet.

We often find it's the teenagers spending most money at the stalls, but the children love it.

 

Rachel

[Cait]

We do the same, a Tombola. It's always a good money-maker