Fabulously Fun School Carnival Ideas

Transcription

1 Fabulously Fun School Carnival Ideas Inside this ebook: Ideas for how to organize a carnival for Schools, Churches and Community groups Suggestions for games, activities, food, and fundraisers Tips for making the carnival fun for all ages! A FREE VolunteerSpot ebook

2 VolunteerSpot Philosophy Please feel free to post this ebook on your blog or it to whomever you believe would benefit from reading it. THANK YOU! ~ Team VolunteerSpot At VolunteerSpot, we believe that volunteers should be rewarded for stepping forward and sharing their time and talents with those in need. All too often, volunteering means putting up with a certain amount of hassle or frustration whether that is late night s, reply-all messages, reminder phone calls, or searching for a parking space. Our sponsors enable us to provide FREE tools that simplify volunteering, powering your good work in schools and clubs, in your congregation and neighborhoods. We can t find you a parking space, but with VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just got easier! 2011 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier! Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution

3 Carnivals are FUN! Many schools and congregations hold carnivals every year because they are fun, involve the community, and can be a profitable fundraiser. We ve collected ideas from carnival veterans to help you plan your event. Whether it is your first or 50th, we hope you will find some ideas to make your carnival a fresh success!

4 Carnival Basics Share the work and have more fun! Create subcommittees with a chair responsible for key teams. Use VolunteerSpot for simple volunteer scheduling and parent signups! Ticket Sales Concessions Rentals Sponsorships Publicity Booths Raffle or Auction Music and Entertainment Setup/Cleanup More stuff means more money. Offer a variety of booths and activities attractive for all ages. Once you have a theme, let it guide your booth and entertainment choices. Good publicity and signage drives attendance. Start spreading the word 4 6 weeks before your event. At the carnival, hang brightly colored signs identifying booths and concessions stands. (Kids can help make them.) Prominently recognize sponsors on banners and signs. Choose a theme to tie the carnival together. Your carnival can be planned around any theme, for example: The Circus Beach Party Future/Outer Space Hollywood Mardi Gras Sports Fiesta

5 Save time, Plan your Carnival Online with VolunteerSpot Example: General Carnival Committee Signup VolunteerSpot s simple online signup tool makes it easy to get the help you need. Volunteers signup on the go, from their smartphones! Example: 4 th Grade Balloon Pop Booth Signup Once volunteers have picked a shift, VolunteerSpot sends automated confirmations and reminders to help everyone keep their commitments.

6 Where should we hold our carnival? You can hold your carnival anywhere that is safe and has enough room. Either indoors or outdoors Any area that's safe for kids In a space that is big enough to fit all your booths and activities A backyard A big garage A church or school A playground Our school holds a carnival every year. The kids, teachers, and parents, all look forward to it. It s such a fun way for our families to spend time together while raising money. -- Parent, Campbell, CA Need Permission? Need Permits? Plan ahead!!

7 How can we turn our carnival into a fundraiser? Sell Tickets! Offer tickets for sale in the weeks before the carnival at a discount. This builds interest in your event while earning a base of funds. Avoid cash handling at all the activity booths and concessions stands by having a few designated ticket booths. Set a ticket price (# tickets) for each booth or food item. Sell student designed t shirts, community recipe/cookbooks, arts and crafts, etc. Keep costs down. Ask local businesses to donate food or supplies. Purchase inexpensive prizes for the games at party stores. Add a bake sale or cake decorating contest. Hold a silent auction or raffle. Include themed baskets where each class parent donates one small item for a collectively generous basket. Possible themes: Family Games, Backyard Fun, Cook s Delight, Gardener Goodies, Puzzles, Arts & Crafts, Pampering, Slumber Party, Water Fun Don t forget to give recognition and send a Thank You note to those businesses that helped!

8 What else can we do besides games? A carnival isn't complete without at least a few good shows. Feature your community talent and charge tickets for admission. Some ideas: Magic Show Puppet Show Talent Contest Skateboard Freestyle Demo Dance Performances Short Play Choral Groups Local Bands Art Show Ask teachers and staff to support the talent show by allowing students to practice during lunch period or after school.

9 Activities for Little Kids Learn a cheer with a High School Cheer leader (in uniform) Diva Center paint nails, glitter hair, face painting, etc. Dress up corner Face painting Decorate a flower pot and plant a seed Football throw or soccer kick (with a uniformed HS player helping) Basketball toss Tackle the quarterback (with a uniformed HS player as the tackle target) Water balloon toss Knock stacked cans with a ball Carnival Ideas / VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just g

10 Activities for Older Kids American Idol like Karaoke Stage (charge per song) Who Wants to be a Millionaire like Trivia Stage Hot dog or pie eating contest Chalk mural, Group Graffiti Canvas or Trash Sculpture group art project where everyone contributes Temporary hair coloring, hair braiding and tattoos Dunk Tank Balloon dartboard Corn Hole Toss Cake Walk Basketball Shoot (Miniature for indoors) Silly Photos (Create painted character panels with head slots cut out. Have a digital camera and printer on site.) Guess how many pennies in the jar closest number wins the jar! I love going to my church carnival. It reminds me of when I was a kid! -- Grandparent Freehold, NJ Chicken Drop (Create a numbered checkerboard in a 5 x 5 space. Sell tickets for each number. The number the bird drops on wins.) Cow Drop (same as chicken drop, but section the football field into a numbered checkerboard.) Carnival Ideas/ VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just got easier!

11 Activities for kids of all ages! Silly string corral (sell small cans of Silly String and rope off a fun zone) Shaving cream/bubble corral Cascarones (confetti eggs, kids smash them on each other) Please visit our blog for more volunteering suggestions and to share your carnival ideas and stories. Box maze (made out of refrigerator boxes from a retail warehouse and lots of tape) Hula Hoop/Jump Rope contests Pick a pop Fishing booth Duck race Ring toss Dime toss Water gun targets Balloon Pop Relay Fun fortune teller or palm reader

12 Creative Carnival Game Ideas Potty Toss Players try to toss toilet tissue rolls through toilet seats hung from the ceiling. Each seat is marked with a different point value. Human Slot Machine Setup three large refrigerator boxes in a row & cut out a large window in the front of each. When a player pulls an imaginary lever, a volunteer standing in each box tosses possible wax fruits (orange, banana, apple) up and down, finally picking one. Three in a row wins! Dinosaur Dig/ Treasure Dig Players dig in shallow boxes of sand for plastic dino eggs. Each egg contains a slip of paper with a number. Players can redeem the prize assigned to the number found on their paper. Pirate variation: hide chocolate gold coins & trinkets and players dig for buried treasure. End of the Rainbow Draw a rainbow in chalk on an outdoor surface. At the end of rainbow place a miniature pot (or fake cauldron). Players try to flip pennies into the pot from a designated point. Prizes increase depending on the number of pennies the player tosses into the pot. Quack Shack A costumed volunteer pretends to be a mad scientist and decorates the kids with fake scars and wounds.

13 Carnivals are a good way to teach kids how to work in teams, make decisions, and get organized! Organizing a carnival is a fun way to use math, art, music, science, and language arts skills. With a few simple clicks, VolunteerSpot can help you organize your next carnival and it s free! Just log on to to get started! Fun for Rent! You don t need a big budget to have a successful carnival; however, adding a few well selected rentals can increase ticket sales and expand the fun. Bounce castle Giant slide/ Water slide Photo booth Pony rides Petting zoo Dunking Booth Video game trailer Lazer tag Go carts Test your strength hammer game Sumo wrestling Jousting Transportable Carnival Rides

14 Spreading the Word Having a big turnout is key for your Carnival fun raiser! Getting people to show up takes planning and effort. Fliers. Hand out information about your carnival at school or congregation and to everyone you know. Include the date, time, location, what kinds of things you ll have at your carnival, and a list of sponsors. Newspapers, newsletters and local websites. Ask your local newspaper, congregation, or school newsletter to run a free announcement about your carnival. Posters and Banners. Make colorful signs that tell people about your carnival. Tell the date, time, location and all the things you ll have: Games! Prizes! Food! Entertainment! Silent Auction! etc. The more posters you put up on telephone poles, at school and at nearby businesses, the better. Word of mouth. Tell all your friends and their parents.

15 Food and Drinks Popcorn Snow cones / snow balls Hot dogs/hamburgers Cotton candy Soft Drinks & Italian Soda Peanuts Cookies Candies Pretzels Churros or Doughnuts Trail mix Fruit Caramel or candy apples Ice cream/ Italian Ice Many local restaurants and businesses will donate food in exchange for sponsored publicity. Carnival Ideas/ VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just got easier!

16 Tips for a Successful Carnival Print maps of your carnival space. Share the fun! Give each class or group the responsibility of planning and staffing a specific booth. That team should consider decorations, setup, cleanup, and prizes. Have plenty of lined garbage cans and a trash team to keep them ready. Set the trash cans back away from your serving area to avoid flies or odors. Price your tickets so a typical family can have a lot of fun and enjoy multiple activities. Give discounts to people who buy 20 tickets at once, or pre order. Consider selling fixedpriced wristbands if your carnival is more of a community builder than a fundraiser. Wristbands are simpler than tickets, but typically not as profitable for the carnival. Offer both substantial food and treats. Hungry carnival goers appreciate something filling like pizza or hot dogs in addition to candy and popcorn. Give out prizes right away at each game booth, or kids can collect point tickets redeemable at a prize booth. Ask yourself, Can everybody play this game? You may have people come to your carnival who use crutches, wheelchairs. or have less strength in their arms and hands. Set aside a safe, shaded area for babies and toddlers to crawl and play without having big kids around. A few gym mats, some baby toys, a fence of some kind, and chairs for parents could be all that you need. Cash Sense. Keep cash handling locations to a minimum and staffed with two or more people. Have locked cash boxes on hand, and a process for moving and storing large sums of money. Many banks and supermarkets provide an auction and carnival service and can help with your cash process.

17 Simplify ALL Parent Volunteering Helping parents, teachers and volunteer leaders coordinate activities and events simply and easily all year round! Soccer Snacks Scout Campouts Walk a Thons & Fun Runs Swim Meets Sports Tournaments Vacation Bible School Girl Scout Cookie Booths Neighborhood Clean ups Coat, food and toy drives and more... Class Parent

18 Additional Resources Click here for Sample Class Parent Letters: See our other free ebooks with ideas and best practices for: School Carnivals Teacher Gifts Family Friendly Volunteering Fundraising with Kids Bake Sales Talent Shows and more... Class Parent

19 We love to hear what you have to say! If you: Thank You! Thank you for downloading this FREE ebook from VolunteerSpot. We take the hassle out of volunteering and make it pointand-click simple to schedule all your volunteer activities with our FREE powerful real time calendar signup tool. Liked this ebook Shared this ebook with a friend Used some of the ideas in this ebook, or came up with some of your own Love volunteering Want to be more involved with your kids school And much more Be sure to visit our blog to post your comments and read what other volunteers have to say! by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier! Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution