Learning About Fun Activities Planning For Events

An outdoor carnival can be a great way to fundraiser for your child's school. You can have a raffle, carnival games, a dunk tank, and food. The proceeds can all be used to benefit the school. If this sounds like something you would like to do, then you will need to contact a party rental company and arrange for the items you will need. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Raffle Drum

You can raffle off all sorts of items, be it gift certificates to a local salon to dinner at a restaurant. However, if you're planning on raffling off multiple items, then you might want to get a big raffle drum. These are a bit more fancy and visually appealing then using a simple box. People will like to watch the drum spin and see the tickets chosen.

Concession Stands

Selling food is a great way to raise money. However, rather than simply setting up tables with pot-luck style meals, you should get the type of concession stands and items you would see at a carnival. You should consider renting an old fashioned popcorn concession stand that has a large glass box, sits on wheels and has an internal air popper. You could have one parent man the popcorn machine and sell the bags to the carnival attendees. Also, a cotton candy machine and a hot dog cart, complete with the umbrella, would be cool to have on hand.

Dunk Tank

A dunk tank is an awesome way to raise money. You could have one of the parents, or one of the teachers if they are up to it, sit in the tank. Tickets could be sold allowing the holder to have three throws at the bullseye. You should choose a dunk tank that has a protective screen in front of where the person sits. This will prevent an errant ball from hitting the person in the face. This type of safety feature is common on most dunk tanks, but some dunk tanks won't have it, so it is something to be mindful of.

Striped Carnival Tent and Carnival Games

You should also have some carnival-type games. You can set them up under a tent and position them on the perimeter of the carnival grounds. A fun type of tent to get is a striped design (red and white) that gives the carnival a more authentic look than a plain white tent.

Because there might be young kids at the carnival you should avoid carnival games such as balloon and darts, or a pellet gun target shoot. Instead, go for the classics such as the water gun/clown head game where a player shoots water into the clowns mouth until a balloon on the clown's head explodes. Players race against each other to see who will burst their clown's balloon first. The rental company will need to set this up for you because it involves pressurized water tanks.  If you can't find this particular game, you could always opt for other carnival classics such as ring toss or the milk bottle knock-over game. All you need for the ring toss are some large circular rings, and a collection of empty Coke bottles. For the milk bottle toss, you can arrange bowling pins or steel containers (if you are unable to find the aluminum milk bottles traditionally used.)