Halloween is a fantastic time to do some serious fundraising for your PTA. There are a spooktacular range of PTA Halloween events and activities that you can offer that guarantee fun as well as generating much-needed cash for your school.
It is also a purrfect opportunity to show other parents that you aren’t just a coven of witches and… (hmmm what do you call a group of…?) wizards, and that being part of the PTA is far from doom and gloom!
We have trawled PTA websites and Pinterest boards to put together some of our favourite Halloween fundraising ideas for you. So stash your broomsticks and get stuck in!
PTA Halloween Mucky Dip
All kids love a lucky dip, so a creepy take on this popular game is bound to be a hit.
Use a large bucket or flexi-tub and fill it to the brim with cold, cooked plain spaghetti. Then simply add the toys, sweets or whatever prizes you are using.
Plastic spiders, orange lollies and bouncy eye-balls are great choices for ramping up the horror-factor. Make it even muckier and mix the spaghetti with some pre-made mushed-up jelly.
Then watch the children squirm as they dip their hands in! Mucky Dip is great to do either as a standalone game, or as part of a PTA Halloween disco. (Make sure have a sink & tissues nearby though for clean-up!)
The Monster Mash
Discos always go down a storm with the majority of kids (and parents too!).You can decorate your school hall on a very small budget thanks to budget stores.
Alternatively, ask crafty parents to see what they can come up with. For example, try making a giant black spider stuck to the wall – made with just a few black balloons and some streamers.
Fancy dress can be optional. Many PTAs like to send out some ideas on easy/low-budget Halloween costume ideas in the weeks running up to the event.
Black cat tails, devil horns and witch’s hats can all be made pretty simply with stuff you have around the home.
Scary vs Spooky
We scoured Twitter for shared PTA Halloween piccies and we weren’t disappointed… Seriously, some costumes were not for the faint-hearted! Perhaps your school could issue some guidelines in advance before it gets too real...
Check out these pics tweeted by Greenhill Primary last year of this terrifying clown and Zombie Princess.
Cool pumpkin carvings and face paint at Gorebridge Primary, and a shockingly realistic Freddie Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street! (Eek.)
Check out our Pinterest page for more PTA Halloween Events inspiration, and perhaps some slightly less terrifying ideas… and we certainly would not advise a clown costume this year!
In fact, if you are having fancy dress, it’s probably wise to provide parents with some guidelines and ask them to bear in mind the age of the kids in your school.
Also ask parents to be vigilant about the unsettling ‘killer crown’ craze when taking the kids to and from the event.
Don’t milk it...
Running a tuck shop or selling creepy knick-knacks at the PTA Halloween disco can help raise even more money.
But you might choose to just include a little snack/treat and toy in the price of the ticket, so parents don’t have to deal with pester power and kids don’t have to worry about carrying money.
Pumpkin Carving Competition
Pumpkin carving is great fun and inspiring kids to get creative, have fun and raise money for your PTA.
Some PTAs choose to ask children to pay a nominal entry fee and bring in a carved pumpkin from home. Others (knowing that mum/dad/grandparents may want or *ahem* need to help!) choose to run pumpkin-carving sessions during lunchtimes or after school.
Safe carving kits can be picked up for pennies, or regular utensils will work just as well too.
Charge a small fee for taking part, organise some low-cost prizes – Halloween sweets or a spooky-themed book are popular choices – and rope in the headteacher or a governor to judge the pumpkins and award the winners.
Alternatives to carving the pumpkins...
If you are still worried about having lots of sharp pointy things around the place at your PTA Halloween events, you could try getting creative with pumpkins without carving them.
You could paint them, or cover them in chalkboard paint to draw with chalk on every day, or use felt to decorate them.
Creepy Cake Sale
Cake stalls might be the oldest trick in the book for fundraising, but there’s no denying they work a treat!
Themed Halloween cupcakes, creepy cookies, toffee apples and meringue ghosts can be made or supplied and sold by willing volunteers after school.
Or run the stall in conjunction with your disco or Mucky Dip and turn your Halloween celebrations into a hair-raising event!
Over to yooooOOOoooou...
Not inspired by anything you’ve seen here? We have heaps more ideas for Halloween Events on our Halloween Pinterest Board. Check them out!
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