If you’re wondering how to organise a school fair and don’t know where to start, take a look at our latest post. It’s full of tips and hacks for organising your event to save you time and effort…and to ensure that yours will be the best school fair yet!

 

1. Get organised

It’s never too early to start planning. Allow a least a couple of months — even up to six if possible — between the early stages of planning and the event itself. This will allow you plenty of time to recruit volunteers, plan your programme, do all your admin and publicise the event.

2. Recruit helpers

You’ll need a core group of volunteers to form an organising committee and as many others as possible to help on the day.

Recruit volunteers the easy way by using a free online tool such as SignUp. They can register using the tool and will receive all kinds of messages and reminders to help the process run smoothly.

To make it easy for people to volunteer, why not provide a free crèche? This means that parents can give their time knowing that their young children are supervised and having fun.

3. Check out our stall ideas

If you’re struggling to come up with original or popular items to sell on stalls, take a look at our suggestions. They’re all things that don’t cost much to put together, can be made in advance and will be a hit with fair-goers:

  • Seasonal crafts
  • Edible gifts
  • Lucky dip bags
  • Raffle hampers
  • Temporary tattoos and face painting
  • Secondhand books
  • Sideshow games
  • Plants and succulents
  • Homemade soaps and bath bombs

4. Contact local businesses

Local businesses are usually supportive of their communities and would love to help out by donating a service or goods or sponsoring your school fair.

Don’t be afraid to approach them to ask for donations and use your contacts too — there are bound to be parents who run their own businesses and would be keen to donate time or services.

You can also seek out talented mums, dads and kids or local drama clubs to provide some free or low-cost entertainment on the day.

5. Plan your publicity

It’s no use organising a fair if no one knows about it. Send out a 'save the date' message well in advance so people have the date in their diaries.

Follow it up once the date has been confirmed, and use social and traditional media for reminders leading up to the fair.

You can also use your school’s existing communication channels — newsletters, emails and parent groups — to keep the date and details about what to expect on the day at the forefront of people’s minds.

6. Security and payment

Security should be one of your major considerations for your school fair. An affordable and effective way to control access to your fair is to use a wristband system.

This means that fair-goers who can show a connection with your school are given a wristband as they arrive, and they may be required to show it throughout the event.

This keeps out people who have no legitimate reason to be on school premises.

You can choose Tyvek wristbands, which are frequently used to keep events secure, as they can only be cut off and can’t be swapped.

You may also want to consider silicone wristbands, which can serve as a memento after the event, or even fabric wristbands, which will give a festival feel to your school fair.

Multi-tab wristbands are ideal for school fairs and other events when admission includes pre-paid items like rides or food and beverages. Attendees can tear off the stubs in exchange for each of the items, cancelling out the need for cash to be held and managed by stallholders.

7. Safety first

When planning a school fair, make sure that there are plenty of first-aiders on site and that volunteers know how to contact emergency services if necessary.

Draft and practise an emergency plan and make sure you have a well-stocked first aid kit available for minor accidents and illnesses.

And have a 'lost child' point so that parents and kids both know where to go if they get separated.

Get insurance in place too so that you’re covered if something should go wrong.

We’re here to make your life easier

Organising an event is hard work, but you should find it so much easier with the help of our school fair hacks.

Your reward will be seeing the enjoyment of kids and parents as they experience everything your expertly planned school fair has to offer!

And remember, we’re here to make your life easier. Order your school fair wristbands from the Handband collection for a smoother and more streamlined school fair experience.