Hi hmcbridex4:
We just had our annual Back To School Night which includes a LARGE bake sale. I have a few thoughts for you:
1. We encourage all to bake and all to buy. While we put out a notice, we also have Room Parents contact parents by phone to request that they bake. If yours is to benefit the whole school, that may be helpful to you.
2. We end up with QUITE a large variety of yummy stuff! We also encourage items to be wrapped individually or for cookies and small items, 2-3 per baggie.
3. Your bake sale is even closer than ours to Halloween. Parents who like to bake tend to add the holiday flair which is great as people buy them up! Another favorite site of mine,
www.copykat.com
has some great recipes for baked goods and Halloween!
4. Make SURE that you ask parents to mark items that have ANY kind of peanut product (including peanut oil!). So many kids are allergic to peanuts these days! A choice to avoid peanuts all together is not a bad choice!
5. Morning of Bake Sale:
- Have a good crew set up to help.
- Come with supplies of "food handling gloves" - or baggies in a pinch; baggies and plastic wrap to separate items for those who forgot; small stickers and pens for pricing -OR-
written or computer printed sheets stating items are ".25, .50, .75, 1.00, etc." ; extra serving
platters or baskets, etc.
6. Looking again at your post I realized that yours is probably just for the students (and school staff) during school hours. We've done that before, too for our 5th Grade MemoryBook.
7. Candy is a BIG seller (especially small bags of it), as are things like Popcorn and Candy Corn Hands - ask YOUR kids for suggestions!
8. Think in terms of .25, .50. 75 and 1.00. Only teachers and staff are apt to spend more unless you open it up to parents (after school)?
For a night bake sale, we've sold items at drastic reductions the next morning before school...
9. What to do with "leftovers"? We make up a box for the Police and Fire Depts, DPW and other local organizations (Alliance Halfway House for Teenagers, Boys and Girls Club, Senior Center, etc.)
10. One last thought: Encourage those who are helping to be sure and have spare change... Our teachers come "armed" with lots of change for bake sales knowing that some families forget and many can't afford. All kids love that stuff and it's sad to see anyone left out... I hope that I've been of some help! Good luck! [img]smile.gif[/img]