As the Summer term begins, Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) nationwide are busy preparing for their Summer fete.

The Summer Fete is a fun event that raises money for the school. Parents, teachers, and the community come together for games and activities to support the school. The PTA organises events with many stalls and activities to entertain everyone. They play an important role in making sure these events are successful.

If you're looking for some inspiration for your school's summer fete stalls, we've compiled a long list of  ideas to get you started.

Activities for All

1. Face Painting- A fun and popular stall. Ask your parent community for skilled volunteers to help man this stall. By utilising the skills of your school community you can keep costs low.

- Top tip- have print out visuals for your volunteers to use as a guide.

2. Glitter tattoos- A sparkly and popular stall at any summer fete. Again seek out volunteers in your school community to run the stall.

- Top Tip- If your volunteers are not overly artistic, you can buy stencils online that make the glitter stall stress free and easy to manage.

3. Helium balloons- A stall with a difference but easy to run. There are initial items to buy and then set up but really appealing to your young attendees. All you need is a helium canister, lots of different balloons and ribbon. Once you have inflated your balloons they are good to go!

4. DIY Slime Station: Kids love slime! Set up a DIY slime station where they can mix their own slime using different colours and textures. Provide easy-to-follow recipes and various add-ins like glitter or beads. Top Tip- have little tubs so that the slime can be taken away once made.

5. DIY Bracelet Making: Set up a bracelet-making station where participants can create their own bracelets using beads, strings, and charms.

6. Craft station- Set up a craft station where children can unleash their creativity. Provide materials for making friendship bracelets, painting rocks, or creating handmade cards. Here are some ideas for craft station activities:

• Painting: Provide paints, brushes, and cards or paper for participants to create their own paintings. They can experiment with different colours, techniques, and subjects.
• Drawing: Offer a variety of drawing materials such as pencils, markers, and coloured pencils. Participants can draw pictures, doodle, or create intricate designs.
• Paper Crafts: Offer various types of paper, scissors, glue, and other craft supplies. Participants can fold origami, create paper flowers, or make paper aeroplanes.
• Card Making: Set up a card-making station with coloured paper, markers, stickers, and embellishments.
• Badge Making: Offer badge-making kits. Participants can create their own custom badges to wear or decorate.
• Playdough play: Provide playdough and sculpting tools. Participants can mould and shape the playdough into various objects or characters. Playdough is really easy to make at home. We love a cooked playdough. You can find a cooked playdough recipe here.
• Mask Making: Offer blank masks, paints, feathers, sequins, and other decorative materials. Participants can design and decorate their own masks.

Remember to provide clear instructions, examples, and assistance for participants at the craft station. These activities allow participants to express their creativity, develop their artistic skills, and take home their unique creations.

Games for the Family

1. Hook a Duck: In this classic summer fete game, players use a rod with a hook to catch plastic ducks floating in a water-filled tub. Each duck may have a number underneath to determine the prize won.

2. Coconut Shy: Participants throw wooden balls at a row of coconuts perched on stands, aiming to knock them off. It is a traditional game often seen at fetes or fundraising events.

3. Penalty Shootout: A really popular football-based game where participants try to score goals by shooting footballs into a net, usually against a goalkeeper.

- Top Tip- If you have limited volunteer goalkeepers, get a football goal target net like this one. You could have an enticing top prize for the person who can get a football through each target on their go.

4. Basketball Ball Hoops: Participants attempt to throw basketballs through hoops to score points.

- Top Tip- Set a challenge for a top prize. Give each participant 60 seconds to shoot as many hoops as they can. Write each challenger's name and class on a scoring sheet and announce the winner when you do the raffle at the end of the fete.

5. Nerf Gun Range: Another popular game. It is a bit like marmite this one. You either love it or hate it! But the premise is: players use Nerf guns to hit various targets, typically set up in a range-like setting.

- Top Tip- Ask your parent community if they have any nerf guns you can borrow for the event. You may want to buy your own nerf darts.

6. Tin Can Alley: Participants throw softballs or bean bags at a pyramid stack of tin cans, aiming to knock as many down as possible.

7. Splat the Rat: A traditional fairground game where players attempt to hit a fake rat as it's dropped down a drainpipe. Easy to construct your own game, if you have a handy parent to help you.

8. Panning for Gold: An activity usually aimed at children, where they sift through sand or gravel in a pan to find hidden 'gold' nuggets.

9. Tombola: A popular raffle game in which players draw tickets from a spinning drum. The prizes are given to those who draw tickets with a specific ending number.

- Top Tip- set aside enough time to set up this stall as sticking on the raffle tickets and setting the stall up as it can take longer than you expect.

10. Teddy Tombola: Similar to a standard tombola, but all the prizes are cuddly teddy bears.

- Top Tip- Ask for donations from your school community to keep costs down.

11. Jolly Jars: A game where jars filled with surprises like sweets, small toys or trinkets are won. The player doesn't know what's inside until they win the jar. This is similar to the tombola.

- Top Tip- Have a school challenge, where the class who provides the most jolly jars wins something like extra playtime before the end of term. Remember to check this with your head teacher first!

12. Lucky Dip: A game of chance where players reach into a box or barrel filled with unseen prizes and choose one at random.

13. Mystery Bags: Similar to the lucky dip, players pick a bag without knowing what's inside – it could be a toy, sweets or other trinkets.

14. Lucky Cups: A game of chance where players select one of multiple upside-down cups, each hiding a different prize. The prize is revealed once the chosen cup is lifted.

Games for the Grown ups

1. Wine or water - Buy wine bottle bags and place wine or water in each bag.  You can run this stall like a tombola or for an easier set up, you could charge £1 (or less/more) a go. A suggested ratio is to have 1 bottle of wine to 4 or 5 bottles of water. Top Tip- Ask for donations of wine to keep costs low.

2. Bottle Ring Toss: Create a ring toss game where participants try to throw rings onto bottles of donated alcohol to win.

3. Raffle- Organise a raffle with exciting raffle prizes, such as gift vouchers, hampers, or experiences. Ask local businesses for donations.

Sell tickets in advance and draw the winners during the summer fete. 

- Top Tip- If you are selling tickets before your event, you will need to apply for a small lottery licence with your local authority. Check out PTA+ for their comprehensive guidance here on Raffles.

Food and Drinks

1. Candy floss- Check to see if anyone in your school community has a candy floss making machine. If they do this is a popular stall at any summer fete.

2. Popcorn- Another popular choice, check to see if anyone has a popcorn machine. If not you can bulk buy bags of popcorn to sell at the event.

3. Bar- This is a popular stall for the grown ups. Keep it simple with a few choices and don't forget to apply for your TENs licence to sell the alcohol in advance. Check out PTA+ for their licensing guide.

4. BBQ- Fire up the grill and serve delicious burgers, hot dogs, and grilled vegetables. This stall is sure to be a hit with hungry attendees.

- Top tip- Short on volunteers, this can be outsourced to external food vendors. You may earn less doing this but may minimise logistics on the day.

5. Ice lolly stall- On a hot summer day, this stall is going to be a big hit. You can bulk buy ice lollies to sell for a good profit.

- Top Tip- Make sure you have freezer space on site and ice boxes to keep them cool at the stall.

6. Cake stall- A firm favourite, the cake stall offers a mouthwatering array of homemade treats. Encourage parents and teachers to donate homemade or shop bought baked goods. This can be a pure profit making stall if you get donations in. 

- Top tip- Make sure you are clear in your communications that nuts are not allowed. It is worth checking with your school if there are any other allergens that you need to add to your not allowed list. If people are bringing in home baked goods, ask them to write down the ingredients so you can list them next to the cake.

Entertainment

Fire engine/ Police car- Get in touch with your local fire station or police station and invite them along to your event. If you have the space, you might even be able to get one of their vehicles to come along to the event too!

Other popular stalls

1. Second hand toy sale- ask for donations from your community.

2. Second Uniform sale- this is a good time for a second hand uniform sale as many parents will be thinking ahead to the next term.

3. Second hand books- Encourage reading by setting up a book stall. Collect donations of gently used books from parents and teachers, and offer them for sale at affordable prices.

4. External stall holders- invite local businesses to rent a stall at the fete. This is great for opening up the event to the local community but can bring in a bit of extra cash from the rental spaces.

There are many many activities to have at your summer fete but here is our long list to get you going. 

Remember to promote your summer fete through flyers, social media, and word-of-mouth. Encourage parents, teachers, and students to get involved by volunteering or donating items for the stalls. With a wide variety of stalls and activities, your summer fete is sure to be a roaring success and a highlight of the school year.

Still planning and organising and need some step by step guidance? Check out our planning guide here.

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Photo 1 by Taylor Heery on Unsplash

Photo 2 by Austin Pacheco on Unsplash

Photo 3 by Alexander Grey on Unsplash