I didn't actually make the plinko board one of our teachers made it. But I have found instructions for it on the web before. I don't remember where right now though........I'll try to find it again. It is basically a piece of plywood with wooden dowels put in holes. Maybe you could find the peg board with larger holes and glue dowels in like every other hole, depending on the size of your plinko chips.
We turned our cake walk into a junk food walk when we couldn't have home made goods at school any more. They had full bags of chips, cookies, candy, boxes of twinkies, etc... and the winner got to choose each time just like a cake walk. The kids loved it and the parents didn't have to be concerned about where the cake came from. It doubled the profits of the cake walk from the year before.
We do a carnival (fall festival) every year. It is not really a fundraiser but we let the teachers run booths to earn money for their classrooms. Most of the booths are homemade games but we can get pretty creative. We even have Plinko from Price is Right. You can also do activity booths - spin art, hair painting, face painting, etc... Plus some of our teachers like to do food items - sodas, snow cones, nachos, popcorn, etc... The teachers ask for candy donations from their class and use that as the game prize. We do not do the redemption booth. We also do a basket raffle, junk food walk and last year tried a small hay maze. Last years carnival made double the money from the year before. Everyone has a great time and doesn't go broke doing it. If you need more info let me know. We are getting ready to start our committee meetings and are planning to include bounce house and similar items.
Remember to invite other clubs, etc...to run a booth so the PTO doesn't need so many volunteers. Some of our booths are run by the 6th grade parents trying to earn money for camp. You can also ask the high school for volunteers.
Ok rereading your post on the costs 2.00 for 8 tickets still breaks down to 25 cents each...which is the norm. But I still think even with that breakdown the kids are paying 2.00 a game. How many games do you plan on having?
One of our members brought up having a carnival as a fundraiser, and my intitial gut reaction was that it sounds like too much work for the money it brings in. Now I know I'm right! Talk about details I never even thought of! While I can understand your partner's attitude, you're in the right here. How does she feel about it if she has extra help?
One of our churches has a carnival fundraiser, and they bring in pros, and we all HATE when it comes to town. It's EXPENSIVE--the giant, three person slide is 4 tickets, and tickets run close to $1 each! AND they charge for the adult if a little one wants to go! The games are a lot as well, and typically impossible to win. It's a small town, and the church is on the main drag, so it's impossible to miss--needless to say we go at least once, or risk being the meanest parents in the world!
BUT--as a fun thing to do, and as an aside, how do you guys do your carnivals? How "professional" does one need to be--are homemade booths (like something you'd see at a birthday party?)the norm? Do you have rides etcetera? Like I said, it was mentioned by one of our members, but it seems like a lot of work for little return as far as fundraisers go.
