The most wonderful time of the year
Natalie Keeler starts the countdown to your big Christmas event
EVENTS FOR INDIVIDUAL FAMILIES Hunt for Rudolph’s nose Children will need to put their spotting skills to work with this activity. Place 15-20 red noses around your local area (you could use laminated red card or clown noses), and tell pupils that Rudolph has lost his nose while out flying – and needs their help to find it. Hand out maps so families know where to look, and award a prize to whoever finds the most noses.
12 days of Christmas challenge Ask children to complete 12 exciting challenges in the lead-up to the Christmas holidays. Pupils can choose the activities they’d like to be sponsored for, or create a list for them and reveal a new challenge each day. Ideas could include sending a letter to an elderly relative or neighbour, helping with household chores, doing 20 star jumps, or writing a poem.
Living advent calendar Drum up some Christmas spirit in your community with this magical idea. Recruit 24 volunteers – it’s best if they all live fairly close to each other, so the route isn’t too long – and ask them to create beautiful window displays using lights, decorations and other festive touches. Distribute a map and timetable, then invite families to watch the unveiling of each window in the 24 days leading up to Christmas, starting on 1 December.
CLASS EVENTS School or class disco Nothing kicks off the festive season quite like a party, whether it’s a whole-school event or – if necessary – separate, smaller discos for class bubbles. Throw in plenty of decorations, music and games, and include refreshments in the ticket price or run a tuck shop. Do check that your venue has a music licence too.
Christmas gift shop Use PTA funds to purchase gifts (you could buy in bulk or ask for donations), then invite classes to come along and pick small presents for their loved ones. Toiletries, mugs, photo frames, stationery or keyrings are popular, and if you can, try to make sure gifts are individually pre-packaged to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Supper with Santa Allocate time slots for each class, so pupils can meet Father Christmas at different times throughout the school day. Serve hot food or ask children to bring along a packed lunch, which they can enjoy as they greet the man in red from a safe distance. Once each class has finished eating, ask Santa to announce that he’s left a sack of presents for them outside their classroom.
SMALL GROUP EVENTS Christmas tree sale Speak to local sellers or a nearby garden centre about organising a Christmas tree sale in your school playground or car park. Or check out the Christmas Trees for Schools scheme run by Trees for Christmas, which supplies trees for wholesale prices and lets the PTA set the mark-up – visit treesforchristmas.
co.uk. Ask parents to order their tree in advance, then arrange a day for collection. You could also serve festive snacks for families while they’re picking up their tree, or set up a stall with Christmas decorations.
48 AUTUMN 2021
pta.co.uk
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