Carly-Jane wanted to do something fun and a little bit different for her kids. She says that this project can also work as a maths lesson as the kids have to use their money wisely and work out how much they will need to do the things they enjoyed most. Let’s find out more!…
What did you do?
- I started off by googling PRINTABLE TICKET TEMPLATE and printed off the number of tickets I needed. I then put the information of the fete on the tickets (one for each child) this including the date, time, and name of the Fete.
- I then googled FAKE MONEY TEMPLATE FOR TEACHERS. I live in the UK so used the blank template but there are lots of different options with different amounts and different currencies to choose from. I printed out the amount I needed and cut them out.
- Once the money and tickets were completed I put them into envelopes and presented them to the kids, and told them they will have to use this to attend the fete which would be happening later in the day. (teaches them to wait and builds up excitement).
- The first game I made was the Cup Shy, the kids helped by decorating 6 large plastic cups. We used sharpies but you could use paint, tissue paper, stickers, etc or you could just leave the cup as they are. We stacked the cups on a small table and got 3 small juggling balls to throw at the cups.
The rules for this game were 2 tickets a go, you get 3 balls an have to knock all cups fully off the table. If they successfully did this then they got a prize. the prize was a packet of sweets but you could use anything, for example, the party bag toys you can buy or even small teddies or toys you already have lying around the house. The prizes can be adapted depending on the age of the child.
- The second game I made was the ring toss. We already had a ring toss game so this was quite easy. However you can make an easy ring toss game by using a kitchen roll holder, tubes, bottles for the bases and these can be stuck on cardboard, wood, plastic. For the rings again these can be made with pipe cleaners, paper plates. If you google homemade ring toss game if will give you lots of ideas to help with this. The rules for this game were 2 tickets a go, if you scored the maximum of 150 you would get £1, over 100 and you get £0.50p,50 or above £0.20p and under 50 or no score then you would get a sweet. Again the prizes can be changed and adapted to suit.
- The third game I made was the hook a fish. I had a small sandpit so used this for the fish to go in but again you can use a swimming pool, box or just put them on the floor.
For the fish, I drew the shape of a fish on some cardboard and cut the amount I needed out. I used 8 but you can make as many as you like. I then drew around the fish on to coloured paper and cut this out and stuck on to the cardboard using glue. I then used the glue gun to make the loop but gluing on pipe cleaners, and then I put numbers 1-8 on the bottom. Make sure you don’t let the kids see what numbers are on the bottom, as these matched the prizes to be won.
For the fishing rods, I used a lollipop stick and used the glue gun to glue some string around one end and for the hook end I used a paper clip, I unraveled it and used the glue gun to glue the string along the straight bit. I made 3 different length rods depending on the size of the child.
The rules for this game were 2 tickets per go, and then the child would win the prize matching the same number on the fish. We used different sweets but again can be any prizes you like.
- The fourth game I made was the biggest hit and this was the balloon popping game. I used an old bit of wood I had in the cupboard, once the balloons were blown up I used some small nails and a hammer and hammer the balloon to the wood (make sure you put the nail etc through the bit at the bottom that you blow up. We had a darts game in the house so used the darts from this but you could use sharp things from around the house. The rules for this game were 2 tickets a go and you were given 3 darts. The aim of the game was to pop the balloons with the darts, and you would receive a sweet for every 2 tickets purchased. You could even try putting the prize inside the balloon before blowing up but I had already blown the balloons up when I thought of this. You could just put prizes in some of the balloons to make it more competitive.
- I then made a lucky dip using an old shoebox, I ripped up some tissue paper and put this in the box the filled this with little prizes. I wrapped the prizes up using tissue paper and the prizes ranged from sweets, bubbles money, some better than others but this again can be adapted to suit your children’s ages. This was 1 ticket per go and I made sure there was enough for them to have more than one go each.
- I then did the apple bobbing. This is very simple just get some apples and put them in a bowl of water (you can use a bucket, the sink or anything suitable for apple bobbing) this was 1 ticket and go the prize was the apple as this was more for fun and to get a little wet.
- The last thing I made was the tuck shop, I included drinks, crisps, biscuits but this I what I had lying around the house and you could use anything you like or the kids like.
- I placed the games in different rooms of the house to make this feel like more of a fete and they could all do different things at the same time. There are so many different games that can be made using your imagination and google.
What is next for you?
I don’t currently have any projects planned but this one wasn’t planned either just came into my head and I started it so I’m sure there will be something in the future I just don’t know what it is yet.
Tell us all a bit about yourself…
My name is Carly-Jane. I am a 35-year-old mum of 3 children (2 boys ages 8 and 7 and a girl aged 3).
I live in a 2 bedroom flat with no garden so finding fun things to do can be difficult at times especially trying to find things to keep them all entertained at the same time so this was a massive hit with all of them.
I love spending quality time with my family but the lockdown has been very hard and challenging but we just take each day as it comes and some are better than others. If it has taught me anything its that the kids don’t need expensive toys as they have had more fun with things that don’t cost a lot. For example, making paper aeroplanes and made up games.
I have found the “housebound with kids” site very helpful as it’s lovely seeing other people’s ideas that you may not have thought about. Also, reading how other parents have bad days and are struggling, and it kind of makes you realise you are not alone and we are all in this together.
Carly-Jane
