Cotton Candy, balloons, carnival games. Woo Hoo! Have playspace committee members dress up like clowns. Recruit vendors to sell their treats and donate a percentage of their sales to your project. Carnivals can be a lot of work, but some communities thrive on them and make them annual fundraising events.
Prep Steps:
1. Secure a date and location such as a school parking lot for the event.
2. Recruit vendors (games, food) to be a part of the event. Negotiate their donation with them.
3. Recruit parents/adults to help with the booths such as the “Ring Toss”, “Pick a Pencil from the Haystack”, “Design a Thumbprint”, “Bars and Bells”, “The Dunking Booth”, etc.
4. Get prizes donated for the games.
5. Charge an admission fee or sell tickets that folks can use to play games and purchase food.
6. Secure portable toilets and trash cans.
Materials Needed:
1. Booths and tables
2. Games
3. Prizes
4. Tickets
Helpful Hints:
• Make your won games instead of renting them. Card games are still popular—try Black jack without the money!
• Contact local churches, chambers of commerce, and other community groups who may have games that could be used at your event.
• This can be an event that takes place inside and/or outside. If the entire event is outside, select a rain date during your planning process.
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As far as fundraisers go a school carnival can be great. The idea though is to have the fun games and activities for the kids (cakes walk, hook a duck, etc) at an inexpensive price and then have a silent auction and raffle where the big bucks come in. I am in the midst of planning my second annual. Last year we made $5000! Wow.