101 Fete Stall Megaguide

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Mega Guide
Fete Stall Ideas

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101 Ideas
Mandy Weidmann, owner and
editor of the Fundraising
Directory, is Australia’s
‘Fundraising Whisperer’. She
wrote the Practical Fundraising
Handbook for School and Club
Volunteers, often talks all
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Adopt an Animal
1Ask families for donations of good
quality soft toys or scour second hand
stores and online shops (gumtree or
ebay), give them a good wash and
dry. Once they’re all clean, tie a
name tag around their necks and
adopt them out for a fee.
Amusement Rides
2From jumping castles to major rides,
they are a must have for any event.
>> Search fetesandfestivals.com.au
for supplier options.
Asteroid Blaster
3An easy sideshow for the kids to make. All you need is some very
large water pistols and some empty soft drink bottles – 3 litre ones
are good. The object of the game is to have a ball balancing on
the top of the bottle and it has to be hit by a blast of water from
the water pistol. If you dislodge the ball, you win a prize. Spray
paint your bottles with whacky colours and make your balls look
like little planets. Experiment with different balls – table tennis,
golf etc. to find what suits the force from your water pistols. You
don’t want everybody to win, but you also don’t want it to be too
hard. You can vary the degree of difficulty – every ball has to be
dislodged or only one.
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Auctions
SILENT AUCTIONS are auctions that are held without an auctioneer. Instead, your guests
write their bids on a sheet of paper and the highest bidder wins the prize. You can set a
minimum bid amount, you can even set a minimum increase bid amount - if a participant
doesn’t follow these rules their bid is void. You can use this method for several items at the
same time so try and get as many items donated as possible!
>> Guide to running a Silent Auction
Traditionally for CENT AUCTIONS you purchase a sheet of 100 tickets for $1 (hence the
name “cent”), these days you tend to charge a bit more $5, $10? That will also depend on the
quality of your prizes. You will have your prize items displayed (or a photo of) with a bowl in
front of them. The participants can choose which prize they would like to win and add one
of their tickets into that bowl. The participant can choose to put all of their tickets in the one
bowl or spread them around. At the end of your event you draw out the winning ticket and
that person can collect their prize.
>> Guide to running a Cent Auction
4
Baby Animal Farm
Very popular with young children
and a great stall to give the
preschoolers to organise. Several
companies offer this service bringing
a variety of small animals suitable for
children to feed and pat.
Balloons
6Either ask a sponsor to provide
printed balloons and helium to give
away or ask your local balloon
shop to set up a stall. You can also
look at a balloon twister to provide
entertainment.
>> Other ideas on how to use Balloons
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7
Engage a car yard or rental car company as your sponsor, or a
sponsor that has a company car and have them bring one of
their cars to your event. Fill the car to capacity with inflated
balloons and punters can pay to guess how many balloons fit
into the car. Correct or closest guess wins the prize. This is a
great branding opportunity for your sponsor and with some
great salesmanship, you could even get them to donate a prize
– perhaps a luxury car hire for a weekend or depending on
how good your negotiation skills are maybe even a car! Your
sponsor will get enormous exposure for their brand.
Balloon Car
Badge Stall
Hire a badge making machine –
let children colour in their own
artwork and then make into a
badge, always very popular.
9Bar
Set up a designated area for adults to sit back and relax with a ‘grown
up’ drink. Bars can be big money spinners at fetes but you need to check
your state regulations local authority on whether you will need a permit
or license. Guidelines on this change quite regularly and you need to
ensure that you are doing the right thing. Have a roped off ‘adults only’
area with plenty of seating and umbrellas for shade during the day and
fairy lights for evening. You’ll want plenty of ice and eskies and access
to a fridge as well.
>> Guide to running a Bar
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10
Purchase yourself a wheelbarrow (or see if you can
get one donated), fill it with beer, wine and spirits.
You can lay some straw/hay or shredded paper
underneath to fill it up a bit first. You’ll have no
trouble selling raffle tickets for this – but you cannot
sell tickets to anyone under 18 – and someone will go
home very happy.
Barrow of Booze
Beat the Goalie
11Set up a soccer goal on a grassy area. Punters pay to
kick the ball and try to get a goal without being stopped
by the goalie. Each goal receives a prize. Having a goalie
that everyone recognises will encourage people to want
to have a go. Perhaps the school principal, head coach,
PE teacher, a local ‘celebrity’ or even contact your local
soccer club to see if they can provide a goalie for you.
2Bubble Wands
These brightly coloured wands blow
HUGE bubbles and are a big hit
with all ages. Make sure you set
your stall up on grass as they can
become messy.
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Book Stall
3Second hand books and magazines are
always popular – add DVD’s and videos to
your stall to increase your range. For a twist
on this, wrap the best books in brown paper
and write a little bit about the genre and
encourage people to buy a ‘mystery book’.
>> Guide to running a Book Stall
Bottle Stall
14
Collect empty bottles and jars and ask parents to donate items that
can be used to fill them and also ask parents to send in ready filled
bottles. A great safety idea is to empty the winning bottle contents
into a paper bag – much safer than having children running
around carrying glass. Another great idea is to use disposable
food containers - they are cheap to purchase and very safe.
You can put a $50, $20 or $10 note in some bottles to make them a
major prize. Depending upon the number of bottles you have, you
can either make everyone a winner or select your ratio of wins to
prizes. You can put winning numbers on bottles, or you can make it
that every even number drawn wins a prize.
15
Bust-a-balloon
Great fun and easy to run, simply have
balloons attached to a board with a number
behind each board. As the punter busts the
balloon they win the prize corresponding to
the number behind. You can buy cheap
toys as prizes and have a couple of major
prizes for interest – maybe a $5 note.
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16
Send home empty cake boxes the last week of the fete with
requests for cakes to be delivered to school on the day
before the fete. With new food regulations is also a good idea
to ask parents to include a list of ingredients with the cakes.
Check with your local authority regarding health regulations
as many councils now have a requirement that any cakes that
are sold must be prepared in a commercial kitchen. If this is
the case in your area, ask for ingredients to be donated and
Cake Stall
organise to have a bake up in your school kitchen.
Guide to running a Cake Stall

Cane Toad or Cockroach Races
9Cane toads, cockroaches, whatever, we all hate the
little so and so’s – but what a great fundraiser they
make! You can eradicate the pests and make some
money at the same time.
BUT WE DO REMIND YOU, THEY ARE LIVING
CREATURES AND YOU CANNOT ABUSE THEM.
>> Organising a Cane Toad/Cockroach race
20
Chocolate Wheel
Always a big winner – ask
local businesses to donate
goods and prizes. Selling 100
tickets at $1 each you can
always raise good money from
this sideshow. Check your state
regulations regarding raffles.
Guide to running a chocolate wheel

22
This stall is a traditional British
fare attraction where coconuts
are set up on a stands and
wooden balls are thrown at
them in order to knock the
coconut from its stand. Knock
them down and win a prize.
Coconut Shy
Coffee & Tea Stall
3A must and with the popularity of
special coffees, approach your local
coffee shop with a view to setting up a
cappuccino machine. Many coffee
shops now have portable coffee carts
available. Serve Devonshire teas with
home baked scones.
Make sure you give your stall holders a
free cuppa during the day. They’ll
really appreciate it.
>> Guide for Coffee Shop Convenor
Coin in the tub
Find a decent size tub, old
bath, inflatable pool etc, fill it
with water and place some
small tiles or other targets on
the bottom. Contestants drop
coins into the water to try and
land on the targets. If they are
successful, they win a prize.
24F E
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Community Group /
Local Business Stalls
25A great way to showcase your sponsors.
As an incentive to get people to visit
these stalls, have a raffle prize just for
visitors to these stalls. Give your stall
holders a bunch of raffle tickets and
each person that visits is given a ticket to
go into this special draw.
Craft Stall
26
Set up a craft group months before the event to make craft items.
Regularly ask for donations of craft materials in your newsletter,
there are many people who cannot sew but are more than willing
to donate raw materials. If you can’t establish a craft group you
can always scour your local markets for a suitable stall and ask
them to pay a percentage of takings. Craft stalls are particularly
good if your fete is on Mother’s Day weekend. Think about
dividing your craft items up – jams and pickles into a gourmet
food stall, skin care and bathroom luxuries in a pamper stall, toys
and baby clothes in a baby stall. You can also create themes
around colours – a blue stall, a red stall, a pink stall.
Ideas for a Craft Stall

28
This is a simple stall that kids just LOVE. A
simple packet of arrowroot biscuits, icing
mixture and plenty of toppings (sprinkles,
jellybeans, M&Ms, licorice, chocolate, etc etc).
Kids buy a bickie and decorate to their hearts
content! This works just as well with cupcakes!
Decorate a biscuit
Discos
9Discos are always
really popular with
children and school
discos can raise large
amounts of money. If
you are having a night
time event, consider
running a disco in
conjunction with it.
Donut Stall
Your local donut store may be
interested in setting up a stall
cooking fresh donuts.
Or get motivated and do one
yourself. Or how about churros?
Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
30F E
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Dunk-a-teacher
a doubt one of the most
popular activities with the kids!
Your amusement ride provider
should be able to help you with a
dunk tank. If you can’t source a
dunk tank, consider making your
own stand for a wet sponge throw
– just as effective!
31Without
plastic ducks out of a pond is an
age old favourite. Insert a little metal
hoop into the mouth the duck and a
small hook into the end of a bamboo
rod. Number the base of each duck and
make even numbers winners. You only
need a small prize like a mini chocolate
bar.
32Fishing
33
Emergency Services
Kids love anything that flashes and makes
noise, so why not ask your local police station,
fire station or SES if they could attend your
fete. The kids (big and little) can explore a fire
truck or police car and the emergency
services can answer questions and provide
information and education to the community.
Services like the SES or even St Johns
Ambulance are sometimes available to man or
help man your first aid tent.
Ducky Pond
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Face Painting
popular with the little kids.
Select your designs in advance and
make sure everyone can reproduce
them. Photograph the designs and
laminate the images – this makes it
easy for the little ones to make their
choice. Look at temporary tattoos
for older children. You can also
book in professional face painters
who will pay you a percentage of
34Always
their takings.
35
Fairy Floss
A school fete just wouldn’t be the same
without fairy floss. You can hire in a machine
(your amusement rides can probably provide
one) or sell pre-packaged floss if you don’t
want the mess of making it yourself. Leftover
pre-packaged floss can be sold through your
tuckshop. You can also have specialist floss
vendors come to your fete and sell floss,
popcorn, etc. on your behalf. This is a great
way of adding colour and atmosphere to your
event without any financial outlay.
6Fairy Stall
Sooooo popular with the girls. Make
wands and halos and advertise for
mums who can sew and make up
some easy fairy costumes using tulle.
You can add pirate costumes to keep
the boys amused.
>> Guide to running Fairy Floss stall
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Farmers Market
Think of having a farmers
market at your fete to
attract extra visitors
37
Fashion Parade
popular, approach a local boutique to
sponsor the event. Instead of choosing
women’s fashion, look at children’s and
teen’s fashions. For a really fun fashion
parade feature used clothing from your
second hand stall – have some of the
teachers act as models – and include a
selection of teachers modelling used school
uniforms. Guaranteed to be a big hit.
>> Tips and Tricks to running a fashion parade
38Ever
Find a Fossil
In large container (inflatable pools / kids
sandpits work well) bury a selection of
dinosaur skeletons, bones, mini dinosaur toys
in sand. You can add additional treasures eg.
shells, coloured stones. Using plastic spoons
and paintbrushes, allow the guest to ‘dig’
through your prehistoric land and find their
fossil. The small toys and treasures could
even double as a prize that they can keep.
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Flower Stall
0Take a trip to the flower market the day before –
you can make up bunches yourself or buy them
ready made. If you don’t live in a capital city
with a flower market, source a local flower farm.
Make sure you place your order well in advance
to avoid disappointment.
Flower stalls are a particularly good idea your
fete is mother’s day weekend. Don’t just make up
bunches, do some simple arrangements which
make lovely gifts.
41
Fly on the wall
The first thing you’ll need to do is find a
victim, I mean volunteer (the principal or
deputy principal are good options or maybe
even a well known local business owner or
politician with a sense of humour). Then
you’ll need to find a sturdy wall to use and
lots and lots of rolls of duct tape. Have your
volunteer stand on a chair or box to get
them off the ground and charge per piece
of duct tape to stick them to the wall.
2Food Trucks
Food trucks are becoming a very popular alternative to
running your own food stalls. You won’t make as much
money from them but it can alleviate the challenges of
finding volunteers for food stalls. There is a lot of debate
about what to charge food trucks to attend your event.
Some organisers will charge a flat rate ‘stall’ fee, others
will agree with the food vendor on a percentage of their
income that will be taken and some charge both a flat
rate and a percentage. Think about what works best for
you and negotiate with the vendors if necessary.
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Free Dress Day
3A great source of revenue for any school is a free dress day.
There are many variations on how you can raise money.
Charge a gold coin to each child who arrives in free dress, or
use the day to raise items for other events within your school –
leading up to your school fete the children have to bring in
specific items in return for free dress – one week it could be
bottles for the bottle stall, the next it could be cake mixes for
the cake stall and so on. You will find you will get a lot more
donations this way than simply asking the parents to send the
items in.
This activity can also be used in a workplace where employees
are allowed to go casual, or follow a theme for the day. Many
large charities now use this method to raise hundreds of
thousands of dollars Australia wide.
Glow in the dark
a dark area, doesn’t need to be
pitch black - just dark enough to see the
effects of your glowing items. Set up a
shop where you can buy an arrangement of
glow in the dark items. Once your guest
are kitted out, allow them in to the area to
party!
>> More information on Glow Stuff
44Create
Gourmet Foods Stall
Pickles, jams and preservatives,
gourmet biscuits and cakes, all
very popular. This stall can
compliment your craft stall.
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Guess Who
10 - 15 of your school’s teachers to bring in a photo
of themselves as a baby (or child). Have a separate
board with current photo’s of the same teachers. The
goal is to match the correct baby and current photo.
You could add little clues with the photo’s to keep
people guessing. You can give small prizes for individual
guesses or have a major prize if someone matches every
one correctly.
Variation: Teacher’s Pet! The game is the same as above
but match the current photo’s of the teacher to their pet
46Ask
7Fill a jar with whatever you like - lollies,
marbles, lego - and charge a fee for people to
guess how many in the jar or you can have a
single item and have people guess the weight
of the item to win it. Make sure you write
down names, contact details and their guess
and the winner can be announced at the end
Gumboot Throw
Think of this like a shot put event. Have a line for your
throwers to stand behind and a large, clear area for
them to throw in. Have a line marked a reasonable
distance away and whoever throws the gumboot over
the line wins a prize. Alternatively you can have a
prize for throwing the longest distance but be sure to
mark each person’s attempt with their name and
contact details to notify your winner.
Guess the weight /
Guess how many
of your event.
48
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Hair Colour Stall
popular with the kids –
spray on wild colours for
great fun. A good alternative
to face painting for older kids.
You will need to buy several
cartons of spray colour as it is
very, very popular.
49Really
50
Hot Chips
You can’t have a school fete
without hot chips. Always one
of the best sellers. Have a
stand-alone hot chip stall or
combine with burgers. Hire
deep fryers from your local
party hire store or organise a
hot chip van to come in and
vend on your behalf.
1Hot Food Stalls
By far your most profitable area. Ensure you have the traditional
hamburgers, hot dogs and hot chips plus add an international flair with
Chinese and Asian food, curries, Greek food, etc… Food stalls are
traditionally the most popular and will raise a lot of money for you. Ensure
your food is well priced. If it is overpriced, you will be left with food at the
end of the day. Well priced food will all be sold. Be aware of food
regulations when planning your stall - contact your local council.
Look within your school community for ethnic groups such as Asian,
Indian, Greek, Italian. Encourage them to convene food. Seek sponsorship
from local butchers, poultry suppliers and supermarkets for ingredients.
Contact major bakeries and flour millers for donations. The more
donations you receive the more money you will make. Have a working bee
early on the morning to bake fresh scones for the Devonshire tea stall.
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52
Very easy to organise. You simply lay
prizes out on a table – elevate them on a
box – the cardboard boxes you buy from
dollar shops are ideal. Give your punter
three turns for a set price. You will need
hoops that are just a fraction larger than
the box they have to fit over. The prize
is won when the hoop surrounds the box.
Depending upon the price you charge to
have a go, you can give every child a
small consolation prize.
Hoopla
creams are always a popular
treat, especially on those hot days. It
can be difficult for a school to set up
its own ice cream stall because of the
need for refrigeration. Booking an ice
cream vendor is the ideal solution. You
can choose from soft serve, specialty
ice creams or prepackaged favourites.
53Ice
4
F
Jump Lotto
Ice Creams
Use skydiving displays to raise revenue for your
school, and involve a fun and colourful skydive
display as well!
How does this work? Your school holds a raffle by
selling lottery tickets where the purchaser places
their name and details on the tickets. On the day of
the fete the ticket holders place their tickets on the
ground in a designated area, and the ticket the
skydiver lands on is declared the winner (lots of fun
and excitement, and a fun way to raise revenue!)
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55
Karaoke has become really
popular with children.
Consider running a Karaoke
disco. This is an especially
good idea if you are having a
night time event.
Karaoke
Kiss a Pig
6You will need three of four candidates but only one will be picked as
the lucky ‘kisser”. The candidates need to be well known to the kids
and good sports. The kisser will be the person who raises the most
money in the fundraising drive –your candidates can raise money on
their opponents’ behalf. You can commence this fundraiser well in
advance of your fete. Anyone can vote for the candidates by
placing money, or pledge forms, into the jars. On the day of the fete
set up a Kiss a Pig stall. Make sure you promote the event
throughout the day. You can have this event as the grand finale for
the day and you will be able to collect money right up until the last
minute. Book an animal farm for your fete and hopefully they'll
provide the pig to be kissed. This is a great community spirit builder
The ladder climb is a wire ladder with
wooden rungs, it has a swivel at either
end of the ladder. It is attached to a
frame – at the top of the frame you
attach a $50 note. Anyone who can
climb the ladder without falling over
wins the prize.
and the kids will get a great kick from seeing their teacher or
principal have to kiss the pig.
>> Guide to organising a Kiss a Pig Fundraiser
57
Ladder Climb
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Laser Tag
8Played around inflatable objects,
laser tag involves tagging
opposing team members. These
mobile arenas are extremely
popular with older children. You
will need a large area to house
the inflatable arenas. It is great
fun for all ages and really a really
popular activity.
Lemon Balance
have to balance a
coin top of a floating lemon
and count 5 seconds. They win 5
times the amount of whatever
coin they choose to use. Give it a
try - it’s not as easy as you’d
think.
59Contestants
0Lob-a-choc
Another one that is really popular with kids. You can do a
couple of variations. If you have access to a sturdy child’s
paddling pool, cover it in large mesh chicken wire. The idea is
you place the chocolates on the wire – the players throw a 20
cent piece at the chocolates. If the coin lands and remains on
the chocolate, they win the chocolate. Use mini chocolates –
and make sure the chicken wire is large enough for the money
to fall through. Add some larger bars to make it interesting,
but put these towards the back so they are harder to win. If
you don’t have a paddling pool you can vary this by using
shallow plates – but specify that the money must land on the
chocolate to win, not the plate. Make sure you buy plenty of
chocolate as this is very popular.
>> Information on Lob-a-choc
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Lob a Dunny Roll
1This one takes little explanation! It’s
a great one to be sponsored by a
plumber… Have a toilet or two
(without any water!) and have your
players stand behind a white line.
Make it closer for the very little kids.
They get 3 toilet rolls to throw into
the toilet. Lots of fun!
62
Lolly and Sweet Stall
Ask for donations from parents and
repackage into plastic bags. Refer to recipes
on our website. Lollie necklaces are always a
popular item and can be easily made by
children. Confectionery warehouses are a
good source of cheap lollies.
Guide to running a lolly and sweet stall

Lucky Dips
dips are irresistible to most children. A toy or
novelty wholesaler should be able to provide you with
cheap toys suitable for the lucky dip. Also source hair
clips, hair slides, ribbons, necklaces, earrings and
rings. Wrap in bright colours and put in brightly
coloured containers – plastic rubbish bins covered in
wrapping paper are good. It is a good idea to have
one for boys and one for girls. You can make the dip
harder by filling the container with sawdust so the
children have to rummage around to find their prize –
64Lucky
but make sure your prizes are well wrapped.
Lucky Plate
5Another easy sideshow using a paddling
pool. Fill the paddling pool with water and
float a small china plate in the water. Put a
$2 coin in the plate. Draw a line about 2
metres from the pool. If you can throw a
20cent piece onto the plate, you win the
prize. Practice as you set up the stall to
decide the best distance for the line. The
20c coins will usually bounce off the plate.
66
Lucky Socks
You will needs a Hills Portable Clothes Hoist and
hundreds of used socks! The idea is to set up your
Hills Hoist and then peg the socks to the lines.
You can run this stall in a couple of ways. You can let
your customers actually select a sock, which will have
a lucky number inside, or you can number each sock
and let your customers buy tickets, like tombola.
You could put your prize inside the sock – mini bars
of chocolates, scratch it tickets, small toys – or you
could have the lucky ticket inside the sock that
corresponds to your prize table.
Maybe your local hardware store would generously
donate the Hills Hoist and it could be the major prize?
Alternatively, you can string up lines using rope.
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Have $50 up for grabs and placed in an
envelope. Draw up a grids of 100 squares and sell
each square for $1. Make sure the squares are
big enough for a name and contact number so
you can notify the winner. Once all squares are
sold, cut them up and put them into a container
and randomly draw the winning number. You can
run this multiple times (just make sure you draw
your grids up in advance) and you can also run a
$2 grid for the chance to win $100.
Lucky Square
Money Tree
8A money tree is a really novel way to raise money at a school fete.
It is simple to put together, cost effective and an attractive prize.
You simply need to buy (or have donated) a small topiary tree in a
nice pot. Buy a selection of Scratch It cards (select your own
amount). You then punch a small hole in the scratch it card, pass a
small piece of coloured ribbon through the card and tie it to the
tree. Make sure they are placed evenly across the tree. You can
also vary the idea by using dollar notes wrapped and tied with a
small piece of ribbon, or gift vouchers. Make it seasonal by using a
Christmas tree. You can use your money tree as a raffle, chocolate
wheel or tombola prize.
>> Guide to running a money tree stall
Mural Building
Grab a large role of butchers paper,
sell off sections at a time. Once the
current section has been decorated,
roll it back up so you can’t see what
comes before you. At the end of the
event unroll the paper to reveal the
mural masterpiece.
69F E
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Mutant Toys
for your families to donate
broken toy pieces or unloved,
no longer used toys (not
stuffed animals). Charge to to
create your own ‘mutant’ toy.
This will require a few adult
volunteers to man the hot glue
gun and assist putting the
pieces together.
>> More information on Mutant Toy Stalls
70Ask
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Name the …
Have an item like a baby born
doll and sell tickets to name her.
At the end of the day the
winning name is pulled from a
box and the person who
selected that name wins the
doll. Alternatively you can
have 100 names already
selected and you sell the names.
2Paper Aeroplane Contest
A simple idea that can generate a lot
of competition (especially from the
blokes). You can either have a target
(prize) or the longest distance
travelled wins. Charge per sheet of
paper (say $2) and have a pen handy
for them to write their name on it.
You can charge extra (up to $5) for a
sheet of paper and a paper clip
combo (for weighting).
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73
You can either hire a photo
booth or DIY one yourself.
Great for themed events. All
you need to do is supply some
props and charge per photo.
Photo Booth
Pick a pop
yourself a piece of ply and cut out a
design in any shape (Have a little fun!)
Drill small holes all over your design, just
large enough to hold a lollipop stick. Pick
your number of winners and colour in the
sticks. The great thing about this is
everyone's a winner - you can win the
lollipop or if you’re lucky and pull a
coloured stick you can win a bigger prize.
Note: that you don’t need to use ply,
cardboard does work as well
74Grab
75
Ping Pong Bounce
You can use disposable cups or pringle containers for this.
Make them different colours to reflect the level of
difficulty. Then all you need are a whole bunch of ping
pong balls. Charge for 3 attempts and if successful, they
win a prize based on the colour of the cup or container. To
make it a bit trickier for the grown ups, you can set the
rules so that all 3 attempts must be successful to win.
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Plant Stall
6You need to have your convenors
organised well in advance for this
one if you plan growing your own
stock. If you don’t want to grow
them yourself approach a wholesale
nursery. A visit to the local flea
market is also a source for cheap
plants. If your plants are well priced
they will sell out early.
>> Guide to running a plant stall
Plaster Art
77Incredibly popular with kids, but
you need a convenor who is willing
to make all the shapes in advance.
A working bee for parents can be
a good way of getting them made.
There are businesses who will also
supply you with ready made
shapes, or will attend your fete
and pay a percentage of takings.
8Play your Cards Right
There are two ways you can set this game up. Firstly, have
a selection of cards set out on a table. Nominate whether
prizes will be won depending on the colour of the card or
whether it’s odd or even. Players roll a 10 cent piece along
the table to try and land on winning cards.
The second option is to have 2 decks of cards, secure one
deck to the table and place a small prize (lollies or something
similar) on 1 in 3 of the cards. Players pay to choose 3
random cards from the other deck and if they match the
cards on the table with the prize, they win that prize.
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79A classic
80
incentive. Remember to clean up between lottos!
Poo Lotto
This is a really fun activity and always attracts lots of
attention. You can select what animal you choose to ‘poo’
depending upon the area you have available. You can use
anything from a guinea pig to a cow, as long as it is an
animal that does plenty of poos. Using tape or chalk, mark
out an area into equal squares and give each square a
number. 100 is an excellent number as it will correspond
with the number of tickets in a raffle book. The winner is the
person who owns the ticket that corresponds to the box
number the animal poos in. Cash prizes are an excellent
Information on running a Poo Lotto

Pre-Loved Clothing Stall
2Second-hand clothing is always popular.
You can vary the number of stalls you have
by sorting your clothing into:
- baby and children’s clothing
- school uniforms
- women’s
- men’s
Hold a fashion parade featuring your preloved
treasures. Have some of your
teachers as models and you will have a real
winner on your hands.
83
Ring a Bottle
This is a variation on hoopla. Set up a table full
of 1.25 litre soft drink bottles. Use tiny hoops
(available from craft shops). The player
throws the hoop and it must ring the bottle’s
neck. If it does, the winner wins the bottle.
This is very popular with older children so
make sure you have plenty of bottles. If you
have a spruiker yelling out each time the game
is about to start, you’ll get a good crowd.
Make sure you buy several cartons of drinks.
4Sand Art
This is a great interactive stall for
any event involving children.
Children create wonderful
pictures on cards by peeling off
sticky layers one at a time &
covering each layer of the picture
with different coloured sands.
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85
check out our:
Sausage Sizzle
It’s just not a fete without a
sausage sizzle. For all the
information you need to
organise your sausage sizzle,
Ultimate Sausage Sizzle
Organisers Guide > Guide to running a showbag stall
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Snow Cones &
Shaved Ice
very popular,
especially on hot days.
>> Volunteer Stories Series:
Buy your own snow cone machine
88Always
Soft Drinks
9A must have for any event. Remember
to also include bottled water. Soft
drink manufacturers may be able to
supply you with drink stalls to sell from.
Don’t forget to order plenty of ice. The
Yard Glasses featured on our site are a
fantastic item for a school fete –
combine with a slushy machine and you
will have resales all day long.
>> Guide to Drinks stall
90F E
Splat the Rat
You’ll need a piece of drainpipe
(about 1m long), a toy rat and a
baseball or cricket bat. Set up the
drainpipe so that the toy rat can be
dropped into it and participants need
to hit the rat with the bat before it
hits the ground. It’s not as easy as it
sounds.
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91
Have a standard 6′ step ladder. On each
step you place a container. To have a go,
you get the same number of balls/bean
bags as there are containers. To win a prize
you must throw a ball/bag into each
container. To increase the degree of
difficulty, make the containers smaller as
they go up the ladder. Ping pong balls will
be harder to use than bean bags.
Experiment to see what suits you best.
Stairway to Heaven
Stick Lotto
lotto is really easy to organise and great fun. You will need
a large shallow box filled with sand – you can buy plastic
containers from dollar shops that are ideal. You need wooden
coffee sticks. A good number to use is 100. Decide what ratio of
prizes you are going to give away and then paint the tips of that
number of sticks. They are the winners. Push the ends of all the
sticks into the sand box. Make it inexpensive to have a go – say
20 cents. Mini chocolates are an ideal prize. You can vary this by
marking numbers on the sticks and offering corresponding cash
prizes, this is more appropriate if you are charging $1 per stick.
92Stick
93
Temporary Tattoos
You can include this as part of your face
painting stall or run it separately. A great
idea for the ‘older kids’ who are too cool for
face painting. You can have a company
attend your event and pay you a
percentage of the takings or you can
purchase tattoos yourself. Consider custom
made tattoos to promote a special event
such as the school anniversary, a sports
carnival or special fundraiser.
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Tombola
to lucky bottles. Ideally, have all your
prizes donated and have a couple of major prizes
that will attract attention. Stick a raffle ticket on
each prize and put the stubs in a lucky barrel.
Add extra raffle tickets, select your ratio
depending on the value and number of prizes you
have and how many you are supplying for $1. The
prizes are won as the corresponding tickets are
pulled out of the barrel. For easy of selecting
winners, use coloured tickets for winning prizes
and white for non-winners.
94Similar
>> Information on Tombola's
5White elephant, pre-loved, trash
and treasure – there is always a
ready market for second hand
goods. If you can provide a
collection service for donations you
will always get a great selection of
items. You might need to offer
delivery on larger items as well.
Treasure Hunt /
Scavenger Hunt
Fill buckets with sand and bury ping pong
balls in the sand. Number each ball and
have it correspond to a prize.
Alternatively, you can sell sheets for a
treasure hunt and have people explore the
fete to find everything on the list. Correct
entries returned to the stall win a prize.
Trash n Treasure
>> Guide to running Trash n Treasure
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97
Similar to lucky bottles. Ideally, have all your
prizes donated and have a couple of major
prizes that will attract attention. Stick a raffle
ticket on each prize and put the stubs in a lucky
barrel. Add extra raffle tickets, select your ratio
depending on the value and number of prizes
you have and how many you are supplying for
$1. The prizes are won as the corresponding
tickets are pulled out of the barrel. For easy of
selecting winners, use coloured tickets for
winning prizes and white for non-winners.
Wall of money
Read our tip on Envelope Fundraising

Water Warriors
a roped off area with
obstacles to make things a bit
more fun. Supply water guns
and goggles for participants
who pay for a 5 minute
session of water fighting.
100Have
101
Have some bowls of jelly with
plastic toys stuck in them. Kids
will love to smoosh through the
jelly to retrieve the toys. Make
sure you have plenty of old
towels and/or baby wipes
handy for this one!
Yucky Dip
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