Planning a School Fair

The school fair is usually one of the biggest events of the year and a great fundraiser for raising extra money for the school.

Who runs the stalls?

One of the trickier tasks is encouraging people to get involved with running the stalls - but there's lots of ways to make this fun. If you have a mature year 6 cohort, they are usually very happy to help run some of the stalls and love the responsibility. Putting a stall list up in the staff room usually gets a great response and staff are usually more than happy to help out!

Prizes

You'll need some prizes which you can usually pick up for a few pennies in local shops, or staff and parents are likely to have things they're happy to gift as prizes.

A raffle is a brilliant fund raiser. You could try approaching local businesses and ask them if they could spare a raffle prize - lots of companies are happy to help in some way, and you can offer to spread the word about their business. A cash 1st prize or if you're able to get a hotel stay, this can definitely help get the sales up!

Tickets need to be printed (make sure you have a lotteries licence) and get the tickets out to parents to sell at least one month before the event. Make sure you draw the raffle at the event as this will encourage parents to come along.

Coffee and cakes

After playing lots of energetic games, a refreshment stall with tea, coffee and cakes will be welcomed by everyone! If you put a request out to parents you can usually get lovely donations of cakes.

If you have a good weather forecast, a BBQ and ice cream stall goes down very well for raising funds. If you ask the local Ice Cream Van they are usually happy to make a donation for letting them sell the ice creams. Fruit kebabs with a chocolate fountain is always popular and sells out quickly.

Entertainment for everyone

If you have a local martial arts club, ask them to come along and give a demonstration. This is great advertising for them and unique focus at your event.

Ask your local dance school if their members would like to come along and show a routine or two. The audience might even try to join in!

Playing music is a great way of adding atmosphere, whether through a music system or local bands willing to perform. It's a brilliant way for the band to showcase their music and brings entertainment for everyone.

For something a little more unique, you could even approach the Fire or Police station and ask if they are available to send a car or fire engine along, even just for an hour or two.

The Stalls

  • Bouncy Castle - Lots of fun, especially for the younger children.
  • Face painting, nail painting and hair styles - another busy stall the kids love - the younger ones want their faces painted and the older ones can enjoy getting their nails and hair done!
  • Plant stall - If you approach local nurseries they are usually happy to donate some plants to you in return for a little advertising.
  • Guess the name of the teddy - have a selection of names to choose from, keep the name of the teddy in an envelope to reveal when all the names are chosen, and the winner wins the teddy.
  • Sweet tombola - fill jars with large bags of sweets and put a raffle ticket on each.
  • Guess the weight of the cake - ask a parent to make a cake, players must guess the weight of the cake, and the closest guess wins the cake.
  • Card deck - you'll need 2 sets of playing cards. Lay a few cards from one pack out face up with a small prize on each. The other pack has all the cards in. Players pay per card, taking in turns to pull out a card from the full pack, and if the card matches one on the table, you win the prize on the corresponding card.
  • Throw a wet sponge at the teacher - Rope the teachers into sitting patiently while the kids (and parents!) pay a few pennies to throw a wet sponge at the teachers. You can even make it competitive by having one jar per teacher, and the teacher with the most money in their jar is the teacher that gets soaked at the end of the fair!
  • Cone targets - place the cones on the floor and the children aim to throw the hoops around the cones. A hoop around the furthest cone gains the most points.
  • Beat the goalie - get the PE teacher in goal and win a prize for scoring a goal.
  • Tin Can Alley - Use the bean bags to throw at the cans. Win a small prize for knocking 1 can down and a larger prize for clearing them all. (View Tin Can Alley here)
  • Quoits - aim the quoits around the targets and keep a score of all the entrants. The player with the highest score by the end of the day wins a prize.(View Quoits here)
  • Basketball or netball hoop - win a small prize for shooting 1 hoop and a bigger prize for 5.
  • Coconut Shy - speak to the local market, they're often very happy to offer a good deal on a bag of coconuts. Aim to knock the coconuts off their stands.
  • Human Fruit Machine - like a fruit machine but people choose the fruit instead! Pick the fruit out of a sack and if 3 pieces of fruit match, you win a prize.