Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations

| Posted on by

As some of you may know, I am starting a 2nd year as PTO President at my kiddos school. We’ve been super busy getting ready for the new school year. My house now looks like hurricane PTO hit and left total devastation in it’s wake! But really, who cares?! It’s gonna be that way all year! This PTO Survival Kit is one thing that will make my life a little easier this school year.

A scavenger hunt is a great PTA fundraising idea because students and their families can work together to win a prize, and you can raise money for your project, event, or club. Have your PTA members hide items and create clues and makes sure the scavenger hunt is challenging for students of all ages. PTA Printables Useful Links There are some go to websites that I love, just for editing or templates. Here's a short list for your reference. For your designing. Adapting Events for 2020. Virtual holiday party: Encourage families to get festive and make themselves a nice snack or festive beverage and “meet” at a certain time. You can set an organizer to lead some simple, kid-friendly games or holiday songs. Kid holiday dress-up: Lots of groups had virtual Halloween events this year by having kids dress up and show off their.

PTO Today File Exchange. Attach a candy cane to each candygram. Keep the cost affordable for kids; many groups sell candygrams for 50 cents or $1 each. Consider donating the proceeds to a local food bank or children’s charity. Coins for a Claus: Enlist school staff members to participate in a fun charity drive. Video file must not exceed 5 minutes in length and 1,000 MB (1,000 megabyte) in file size and be in MP4 or AVI format. Film Production: Accepted short film styles include: Animation, narrative, documentary, experimental or media presentation. Use of PowerPoint is prohibited. Entrant must be the screenwriter, cinematographer, editor and producer.

Being on the PTO is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life! Nothing compares to the smiling faces of hundreds of kids when you tell them enough money has been raised to buy new playground equipment or new iPads. The kids get equally excited when the PTO fills the halls with the buttery smell of popcorn and they know a snack is coming their way. It is truly something to behold!

All us parents work extremely hard to make our events successful, raise money, and spoil the teachers and students rotten. We can’t forget about those parents who give endlessly to make our schools better for our children. The parents need to be spoiled a little from time to time as well.

Being as I have been the PTO President in the past, I know a few tips and tricks to help one survive the PTO. Therefore, I have created a PTO Survival Kit and free printable to use with the kit. It’s just the right stuff one will need to make it through a year on the PTO.

{*This post contains affiliate links which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small kickback for referring you. It does not change the prices at all for you. All opinions expressed are solely my own.}

PTO Survival Kit 101…

After my first year as PTO Pres, my girlfriend bought me a package of cups that say “Stop Me Before I Volunteer Again”. I think she was trying to tell me something!…lol! Well, I held onto the cups and they sparked an idea and a cute way to use them. If you are looking for a cup that looks similar and has the same saying you can find one here. They also have these really cute napkins with the same saying.
Stop Me Before I Volunteer Beverage Napkin

School supplies are out in abundance right now and I picked up anything I could find that would be useful to a PTO volunteer. These are all items that I could purchase many of and very inexpensively. Once I had my items, I went to writing why these items would be useful. I figured if this is something I would use than maybe some other volunteer organizations might want to use this ideas and printable as well.

I think this list says it all! Click here to get the free printable.

Let me know if you are a PTA and need the lettering changed. I would be happy to provide a PTA form if it’s needed.

UPDATE 2016!!!I’ve added a PTA version below!

Nothing could be possible without all the wonderful parents who make PTO/PTA successful! This Survival Kit makes the perfect gift for your volunteers! I have a lot more PTO ideas coming your way. Make sure and sign up with your email to get all these ideas sent straight to your inbox.

Related

The past number of months have seen plenty of disruptions, and that includes the PTO events usually held each fall. When whispers about Halloween 2020 getting canceled began circulating this summer, some parent group leaders in our PTO and PTA Leaders & Volunteers Facebook group decided to give their fall festival and trunk or treat events some socially distant and virtual twists rather than cancelling them.

Drive-Through Spookiness

Contributors in the Facebook group say they‘re reconfiguring their haunted houses and trunk or treat nights, turning their traditional walk-through Halloween events into socially distanced drive-through versions.

Leah Pisano had no problem coming up with ideas that follow her Beaver Falls, Penn., district’s social distance guidelines for her parent group’s fall event.

“I envisioned a contactless ‘Boo Thru’ with lots of trunks decorated with different themes, a section with a DJ and dancing witches and skeletons (line dances, popular TikTok dances), lighted archways, lots of props and haunted scenes, carved pumpkins, and decorated bales of hay,” says the vice president of the Blackhawk Intermediate PTO. “One big bag will be given to each child at the end that is full of treats and giveaways, handed by a volunteer wearing PPE.”

Another drive-through idea is to hold a “parade or treat” event. During a parade or treat, parent group members and teachers decorate their vehicles in a theme and drive past students’ houses, tossing candy or other treats to kids in their yards. You could invite families to vote on their favorite 'car costume' or recruit a panel of judges from the community to choose winners.
Like the graduation and teacher appreciation parades last spring, these are easier for schools in smaller geographic areas to pull off in a shorter time frame.

The size of a drive-through trunk or treat or haunted house event depend on budget, the number of volunteers who would hand out candy and keep traffic moving, and the amount of space needed for parked cars and a drive-through lane.

Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations

Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations

Tips for pulling off a drive-through event:

  • Have parents sign up for time slots to keep the line under control and prevent traffic jams.

  • Rent or borrow tents, which will protect costumed volunteers, props, and decorations from the elements (you can also see if any party rental companies would donate them).

  • Shop for decorations in October, when fabric and craft stores begin marking down prices a few weeks before Halloween.

  • Minimize handling of food or candy given to students by making treat bags or handing out prepackaged snacks decorated as mummies, ghosts, or jack-o'-lanterns.

Virtual Costume Contests

Part of the fun of fall events is seeing the kids in their costumes, whether they’re wearing Halloween or favorite character outfits. That can still happen with some creative planning.

Many leaders are planning to set up fall-theme display areas at their events and have costumed kids come up one at a time to have their photos taken. Leaders will share the pictures on their group’s social media channels for everyone to see and vote on.

For groups that can’t hold events due to district restrictions, contests can still happen. Ask parents of at-home learners to share photos of their child’s costume on social channels, or hold a Zoom or Google Meet costume contest where students dress to impress. Add some kid-friendly music and encourage kids to show off their dance moves to turn the event into a virtual dance party and costume contest.

Tips for pulling off a costume contest:

  • Set rules about acceptable costumes well ahead of your event. Clearly say what is and isn’t allowed.

  • Decide who will vote. Some groups choose a committee of teachers to vote, while others let the entire school community choose winners.

  • Decide how they’ll vote. The teachers may vote behind the scenes and announce the winner later that night or the next morning. Group votes could be a show of hands on a Zoom call or via a Facebook poll by a certain deadline.

Face Mask Decorating

For a fun twist on costumes, hold a face mask decorating contest this year. Award prizes to “most creative,” “spookiest,” “funniest,” “most imaginative,” and more.

Tips to decorating face masks:

  • Set guidelines to keep the decorations like sequins, feathers, or foam shapes from interfering with breathability and the effectiveness of the face mask itself.

  • Set rules for acceptable and unacceptable decorations or themes.

  • Decide who will vote on winners and how they’ll vote (see virtual costume contests tips above).

Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations Online

Scarecrow Decorating Contest

When Yorktown (Va.) Elementary Magnet School PTA president Ashley Smith and treasurer Shannon Taber had to postpone their Monster Mash Dance this fall, they instead came up with a scarecrow decorating contest. Students will create and decorate their scarecrow and display it in their front yard for one week. The PTA will provide a map of contest entries so families can drive by and enjoy the creations. One scarecrow will be chosen for a special prize.

Tips for creative scarecrow contests:

  • Encourage families to make scarecrows from found objects. If purchased scarecrows are acceptable, check with local craft stores for discounts.

  • Create social media buzz and post a “scarecrow of the day.”

  • Consider giving prizes to winners in each grade.

Pumpkin Painting and Decorating

A mainstay of fall festivals everywhere, pumpkin decorating is getting an update this year, too. While kids still paint their favorite book character or jack-o’-lantern designs onto real or foam gourds, this year’s events will most likely take place on virtual platforms.

Parents submit photos, and either a committee votes for winners or all school families can vote online via Facebook poll or Instagram comments for example.

Tips for perfect pumpkin decorating events:

  • Make sure the videoconference platform you’re using offers a package large enough to let your entire student population participate. For example, many platforms limit attendees to 300 people.

  • Partner with a local pumpkin patch to get free or discounted real gourds, or bulk order foam pumpkins from a discount distributor.

  • Distribute real or foam pumpkins to parents at a set drive-through time.

  • Share Halloween craft and game ideas with families and encourage them to try out a few—like Halloween bingo or a slime-filled jack-o'-lantern—while waiting for judges to choose the winning pumpkin carvers.

Not-so-Spooky Story Night

The Kennydale Elementary PTA in Renton, Wash., planned a virtual version of its popular fall reading event. In past years, the group partnered with the school librarian to find Halloween-theme poetry for students to read in front of an audience. Student readers wore their costumes and performed their poems, and then went trick-or-treating at family-sponsored tables set up around the school gym and common area.

For this year’s virtual version, president Bethany Potter says the PTA will ask participating kids “to record themselves reading a poem or short story and submitting it for review by a team of parents for ‘appropriate messaging’ of their performance. We will have three ‘acts’ of the presentation of the recorded shorts and then balance it out with a volunteer or teacher reading a story or leading them in a song. There will also be a song and dance where we will turn on cameras of those students who want to share their costumes with the group.”

As for the trick-or-treating portion at the end, committee cochairs Elayna Ferguson, past president and current secretary, and Michelle Rauschenberg, membership vice president, are considering a fun food craft like popcorn balls or cereal treats that are easy and inexpensive for families to make.

Tips for a virtual reading night:

  • Get input from your school librarian. She’ll know what’s age-appropriate and fits the season.

  • Consider using Zoom’s webinar tool for larger events to reduce participants coming on and off mute and causing distractions.

  • Ask the kids to practice reading their poems and stories a few times before recording themselves.

Fall Scavenger Hunts

The Coronado Elementary PTO in Gilbert, Ariz., is changing up its traditional fall festival and planning a Fall Questival, which is a scavenger hunt that families will do together in their cars.

Families will be divided into groups, and each group will have a race coordinator. The families will fill out a bingo-style card with photo submissions of specific landmarks and certain businesses around town. The school mascot will make surprise appearances at some locations, adding to the challenge.

File

When families complete the scavenger hunt card, they “win raffle tickets for a virtual raffle at the end of the night,” says Brooke Ewing, PTO president. “We’re just doing all we can to bring families together, those who chose to learn from home and those who are going back.”

Tips for fun scavenger hunts:

  • Include historical and meaningful locations around your town.

  • Keep costs low and send scavenger hunt cards out virtually. Ask families to submit their photos via social media or text messaging to enter the prize drawing.

  • Raffle prizes can include a gift basket filled with goods from local shops, gift cards to local restaurants or attractions, or school spiritwear.

Fall Flower Sale

The Eagle Elementary PTO held a fall flower sale to kick off its new school year colorfully. Teaming up with a local Selkirk, N.Y., nursery, the PTO presold tickets for a planter, hanging basket, and bushel basket-style planter of homegrown mums. Parents picked up the flowers at the nursery during a three-day period. The PTO paired the mum sale with a free back-to-school drive-in movie night for in-person students.

Tips for fall flower sales:

Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations Catalog

  • Source flowers from a nearby nursery and support a local small business.

  • Set up easy payment methods for parents of in-school and at-home learners.

  • Offer varying days and times for flower pickup to accommodate parent work schedules.

Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations Free

More Ideas From Readers

Pto Pta File Grabpaper Crafts & Creations Patterns

  • Hold a fall or Halloween yard decoration contest.

  • Ask a teacher to lead an online art or drawing lesson to help families create fall-related artworks.

  • Sponsor a Halloween-theme kids' bake-off, with kids baking at home and sharing photos of their creations.

The best PTO advice, ideas, and inspiration delivered weekly. Don’t miss it!