Question: Redemption Center for Prizes?

Does any one know of a better way to give out prizes at a school carnival? We have always had a redemption center, but it is so unorganized and turns into a nightmare. We are in the school gym.

Asked by lolesk

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
The key to running a less crazy redemption center is to limit access. It's OK to make kids wait in line to get in and redeem their tickets. Sort prizes by number of tickets required for redemption. Limit the amount of time kids have to make a choice, and have plenty of volunteers on hand. If you've ever run a holiday shop, think about arranging your redemption center the same way -- sort items by price, have volunteers available to help the child make a choice, and push them along by mentioning that people are waiting. Also, it helps to have kids exit from a different place than where they enter. For staffing the redemption center, keep in mind that you'll need more volunteers later in the day. The alternative is to give a set small prize at each game or to give a door prize to each child who attends.

Community Advice

lolesk writes:
It is so hard to keep an orderly fashion. We hold our Fun Fair in the school cafeteria. Kids must first stop and get their tickets counted. When this happens, they are given a slip of paper with how many points they have. They then come and redeem their points. With so many kids and not that much space, the redemption center is often the place it is the most crazy. Kids some times bypass the checkin and go straight to the prizes thus causing more confusion. I tried to have the school go back to not giving out so many useless prizes and get some bigger ones and not have that many, but they are not too keen about loosing the redemption center. They know kids love to do this. Thanks for your suggestions.