PTA+ Ideas for your Christmas fair

We made decorations from school jumpers

Pre-loved uniform not only provides an affordable alternative for parents, but once it’s too old and worn, it also offers upcycling options.

Two of us on the PTFA are handy with a sewing machine, so we decided to make bell decorations for Christmas. I already had a lot of scrap haberdashery, so I didn’t need to buy much apart from the bells, which I purchased online. The whole thing took around six hours.

There were enough school jumpers with logos to make around 20 decorations. I gave one to each class and sold the rest at the fair. I priced them at £1.50 each, and they sold out very quickly. If there had been more jumpers, I could have easily sold double the amount. However, this kind of sewing project isn’t about the profit but more about the message of reducing waste, upcycling and making something that someone might enjoy.

Laura Higgins, chair, PTFA, Long Sutton Primary School, Somerset (100 pupils)

Our craft fair is a Christmas winner

Our small secondary school hosts a seasonal event every year in the form of our Christmas Craft Fair. We have been running this event for about 20 years and have found it more effective to focus on one big event rather than having lots of smaller ones.

Our school is located in mid-Devon, and the fair attracts stallholders from across Devon and Somerset. We charge for the stalls, and the stallholders keep all their takings. The PTFA runs a tombola, raffle and kitchen. What makes the event a success is the contribution of the parents, staff and students who offer their help. As a result, stallholders and customers return year after year.

Last year, we had 125 stalls and more than 2,000 visitors, raising over £11,600. The school uses the funds to enrich the lives of the students. Past projects have included a sensory room, portable display boards for the art department, cameras for performing arts, robotics equipment, a potting shed, a popcorn machine for food technology and many footballs!

We’ve learned two important lessons: it’s the little things that count, and our students are our greatest asset. Their involvement is enormously helpful and we wouldn’t be able to do it without them.

Lou Phillips, chair, Uffculme PTFA, Devon (1,200 pupils)

We made it a December to remember

At our Festive Fun event last year, a talented mum made an impressive Christmas background that wowed us all. Her company, Shindigs and Dos, specialises in renting out sequined backdrops and providing balloon decorations. A local photographer took pictures of families and we charged £4 a photo, splitting the profits with him. Each customer received a link to access their photograph, and they could buy as many as they wanted. The children told us it looked truly magical and had a great time posing with the inflatable nutcracker soldier.

Lucy Harrington, chair, Swalecliffe Primary School PFA, Whitstable (600 pupils)

We ran a festive square grid game

Our family’s upcoming trip to Lapland inspired a festive 100-square grid game and a chance to do some research for our holiday. We thought the game would be a great addition to the PTA’s Winter Wonderland fair. 

I work as a cartographer and also volunteer for the British Cartographic Society. I created the map using Adobe Illustrator with the MAPublisher plugin – it was a fun way to test the new AI graphics technology by doing something that wasn’t part of my more serious transport consultancy work! With the AI tool, I made a bespoke Santa with binoculars, elves and a flying sleigh.

Lots of children and parents joined in the game. They could buy a square for £1 and guess where Santa had dropped all his presents. At the end of the fair, we used a random number generator to determine the winner.

The winner received a prize of £20, and the PTA made a profit of £80.

To download a map template, go to the files section of PTA Ideas and Advice Network Facebook group.

Clare Seldon, social media lead, Oakwood Primary PTA, St Albans (315 pupils)

Year 6? You’re hired!

Every Christmas, we hold an Apprentice-style competition we call Year 6 Games, where we ask pupils to create stalls and games for our Christmas event. They form teams of up to six members, select a leader and submit a business plan.

My job in recruitment means I understand the significance of entrepreneurial education. When I became the chair of the Parents’ Association, I noticed there was no youth enterprise scheme on offer, so I decided to revive an old idea that the teachers thought was a thorn in their side and turn it into a project we could manage.

Once we approve their plans, we give each team £10 to design and create games and stalls and buy prizes. The group that earns the most money is declared the winner. Teams can choose their own theme, rules and prizes. They market their ideas using approaches such as posters and space in the weekly newsletter. The children love this activity and learn a lot from it, including product and concept planning, finance, sales and marketing, and cost versus profit.

Year 6 Games is a big money spinner, too. In fact, it’s the biggest contributor to our Christmas event, raising more than £750 last year. Around a third of this money came from a game called Santa’s Snowballs, which was created by the winning team, The Christmas G.O.A.T.S. Our local Cineworld donated some movie tickets for their prize. Santa’s Snowballs was so popular that we have bought the game and plan to use it as an independent stall this year.

Chloe Gardner, chair, St John’s Primary School Parents’ Association, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire (200 pupils)

You told us

In a recent poll on our PTA Ideas and Advice Network, 44% of respondents said Santa’s Grotto was the most important element of their Christmas event.