I agree that Oriental Trading has some cute things. However, we were caught by surprise as room moms when we ordered some Christmas items. They came with what seemed like thousands of pieces. It was a mess. We had to sort the pieces into ziploc bags to make it easier for the kids. What we thought would be a simple project ended up being a nightmare. When ordering find out how many individual pieces are involved. The foam glue is a must otherwise it won't hold together.
Another good source is oriental.com (Oriental Trading Company). They have tons of craft supplies and kits. They allow returns for Carnival fundraisers 30 days after the event so maybe you can do the same for a craft fair.
If you get foam kits, be sure you get foam glue. Regular glue doesn't work.
The number for events is 1-800-526-7400. Make it clear that you are a school.
One year our K-2 EC teacher had the kids make Santa pins.
She used dried okra pods which the kids painted white on the bottom for the beard and red at the top for his hat. Then they painted a small section fleshtone for the face.A small piece of cotton ball was glued on for the beard and top of the hat and tiny google eyes. Then the teacher hot glued on a jewelry pin back.
They were a hit with the kids to give to their moms. They enjoyed it so much, they made lots extra that the teacher sold $1 each to make money for a class project.
We are doing our shop WITH a craft make-it-take-it table.
we will be offering 2 choices so far:
1. Fleece scarves. The kids will have 3 fabric choices and the base pattern will be cut out in a rectable leaving the kids to cut slits and tie the ends. IT makes a cute and easy scarf.
2. Layered soup.brownie mix. Using a mason jar (we are starting to collect jars now at garage sales and donations) kids move from station to station down the table filling each layer (this will be layed out ahead of time so they know how much, which kind, in what order etc.) and then at the end of the table when they are finished layering they can choose (again) 3 fabric choices pre-cut in circles with pinking shears (to make the edgy look) to cover the top of the lid by gluing it on and 3 choices of ribbon/raffia to tie around the top. Lastly there will be "holiday" labels with space to write what kind of mix they have and computer printed instrucitons to attach to the ribbon using a hole punch.
I'm looking for one more but don't quite know what to do. Maybe pre-cooked dough ornaments to paint and decorate.
