Deb -- where did you buy the ceramic plates? Also -- do you break the kids into groups -- and if so by age? I need more information on this -- could you please e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.?
Our elementary (pre-k thru 3) had always donea Santa's Secret Shop type thing. Two years ago, the principal turned it over to our PTA. The volunteer hours for running this thing was incredible and hard to fill. So last year we did a Holiday House Make and Take Craft Day. It was so successful and will do it again. The idea is for kids to come in and make items to give as Christmas presents. We set the day as the first Saturday in December. We order craft kits from OTC. The coordinator stays away from Christmas themed items, makes it more winter or seasonal. We set three price levels: we pay under $1, the cost is $1; we pay $1-2, we charge $2. The third level was for ceramic plates that kids make a picture on (HUGE HIT!), for those we charged $5. We were open from 9 am to 2 pm. and had just under 200 kids.
We will tweak it a bit this year. My concern is really for those children whose parents won't or can't bring them to the school on Saturday but would have sent a few dollars in for the Santa's shop.
We also offered free make your own gift wrap.
I would like us to offer a small selection of inexpensive ready-to-give items, but I'm not sure if that will happen.
This was offered as a service and we hoped to only recoup our costs, but we ended up making about $200.
Well, on one hand I like it! I think the jog around school is great, the movie night/shopping should be an easy draw and a Santa visit is always good. My only problem would be how do you service the kids who can't get back up to school (i.e. your bus students and parents who don't/won't bring them up?) This is one school fundraiser that actually lets the kiddos get stuff cheaply for their family members, and is educational teaches consumer skills about shopping and budgets....
Would the prinipal consider doing these evening projects and then maybe on the last day let the remaining kids bring money to school to shop? Then they only have to deal with bringing the money to school one day instead of several????
Perhaps, this could be a good compromise with you and principal? I would think most would come during movie night and such therefore there shouldn't be that many left who need to shop on the final day?
BTW, if you do it in the evening will you still have available to the kids helpers to shop instead of their parents? I know my son doesn't want me anywhere near him when he is shopping for me or dad! Just a thought.
Anyways, ultimately if you have no choice and can only go after school then I think you are onto a wonderful idea.
Well--I'm looking for ideas on how to make this work. Our principal, who is a wonderful lady, doesn't want us to run the HS during the school day. She'd prefer that we open after school for a couple of reasons
-kids won't have to bring money to school (the thought being their parents would come)
-no unlimited spending (we actually had a kindergartener bring 75 dollars last year)
-no impact on children that cannot afford to shop.
So I'm trying to think of ways to make this fun, like perhaps an event each evening after school that will pull folks in. I was thinking the opening day we could start by holding a Jingle Bell Jog around the school for kids after class. Give them Jingle Bells for their sneakers, Santa hats etc....and then let them come into the activity room for cookies and milk and take turns shopping...
-the second night do a holiday movie - Grinch or whatever and let the parents go through (or at least monitor their children going through) to shop and finally
-A Santa visit craft night with other holidays like Kwanza and Hannuka represented.
What do you guys think. Will this run? We actually made 4k on our last holiday shoppe and I know we will get no where near that this year, but I'm hoping these type of activities will mitigate the loss a bit. I don't need a huge profit but I don't want folks to not come at all. So--let the murder board begin --....dianna
